London primary school sparks row after forcing pupils to walk with hands behind their backs

'Disciplinarian': St George the Martyr primary school
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Tom Marshall5 November 2015

A London primary school has been accused of treating pupils "like prisoners" by demanding they walk with their hands behind their backs at all times.

Furious parents criticised St George the Martyr Primary School for introducing the strict new rule which it has dubbed the "university walk".

Under the policy at the school in Bloomsbury, pupils across all years – from ages five to 11 – are reportedly required to keep their hands clasped behind their backs while walking around the school, except in the playground at playtime.

New executive headteacher Angela Abrahams says the measure inspires pupils to “be the best they can be” and helps to improve their safety.

But parents told the Standard that comparisons have been drawn with prisoners moving around jails.

One father, who has a child at the Church of England state school and wished to remain anonymous, said nine out of 10 parents at the school were opposed to the rule.

The 34-year-old said: “The whole principle of getting kids to walk in single file with hands behind their backs is an antiquated and disciplinarian approach to school life.

“I have heard an explanation from the school that it allows the children to walk with their chests puffed out with pride, but in practice when you see them shuffling along, the picture you get is something quite different.

“There’s a lot of concern about the policy.”

He added: “The school was and remains an outstanding school, but there are aspects of the change in leadership that make me wonder if they're treating it like a failing school that needs to be whipped into shape.”

A 41-year-old mother, who has one child at the school and also wished to remain anonymous, said the policy had triggered strong feelings among parents.

She said: “Some parents don’t feel comfortable about children at that age having to do this, they don’t think it’s right.

“My husband thinks it’s ridiculous and unnecessary – that it looks very much like they are prisoners.”

Angela Abrahams became the school’s new executive headteacher in September. She is also head of St Clements Danes in Covent Garden.

She said: “Our recently introduced University Walk inspires children to be the best they can be and to ‘Go Shine in the world.' [the school’s school motto]

“It was introduced to strengthen pupil safety, further raise the aspirations of pupils and to maximise learning time.

“Since introducing the university walk we have seen a 93 per cent reduction in the number of recorded incidents around the school.

“Staff report that they appreciate the impact it has had on learning time and pupils continue to be very happy and excited about learning.”

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