Corby school says 'immediate sanctions' in place for pupils following 'brawl'

Parents say their children were ‘terrified’ for their own safety following a large fight at Lodge Park Academy.

The serious incident is believed to have started yesterday (Thursday, February 8) lunchtime with a series of individual fights, which onlookers said spread into a ‘large brawl’ involving dozens of students.

Now the Shetland Way school says that those involved will face ‘immediate’ punishment.

Concerned parents spoke to our reporters after their own children were forced to flee inside buildings to avoid the incident.

Pupils were taken back into their form rooms and lunchtime was finished early in an attempt to keep them safe.

One said: “My child is only very small and he was terrified.

"He said there was lots of rumours going around about fights that were going to happen but he’s never seen anything as bad as that. It sounds as though it was a full-on rampage.”

Another parent said: “Some of these kids were in primary school a few months ago and now they’re witnessing this kind of aggression. My daughter said there was a large-scale brawl and she ran away.”

A spokesperson for Lodge Park Academy said: “We work hard to create a safe and welcoming environment at Lodge Park and, as was highlighted recently by Ofsted, classroom behaviour is very good.

“However, some children are not yet meeting our expectations on behaviour during social time. This continues to be a real area of focus for us.

“Behaviour fell short of the standards we expect, with some students behaving in a clearly unacceptable way.

“We have been very clear about our expectations, and so students will be aware there will be immediate sanctions for those involved.

“We are fully committed to providing a safe and harmonious environment for all. That is what our school community deserves and this behaviour does not reflect our values.”

The school recently received a ‘requires improvement’ grade after an Ofsted inspection. The David Ross Educational Trust school had been rated as inadequate in 2019 after a damning report witnessed violent behaviour in school.

Well-regarded headteacher Carly Waterman arrived later that year and promised to get Lodge Park back on track but her tenure was cut short after she was suddenly replaced, leaving staff in a ‘state of shock’.