A mum has forked out around £500 on tutors and a home classroom for her 15-year-old son after hearing of a new school policy that prohibits children from talking to each other between lessons.
Jenny Kearns, from Birmingham, pulled her son Regan out of school after learning about the bizarre policy that has been introduced at the Ninestiles Academy.
Advert
She has since transformed their home living room into a classroom and is teaching her son History, English, and Science. She has also paid for tutors to help her son get his education.
This all began last October when students at the school - which is rated by Ofsted as 'outstanding' - brought home a letter explaining the new 'no talking policy' to parents.
Jenny, who has three other children, said: "I was completely bewildered by the introduction of this policy.
"I spent weeks asking other schools in the trust if they had introduced the policy too, and all of them said no. When I asked the school why this was happening they said it was because of overcrowding and for a better learning environment, but they had done no research to back this up.
"If that's the case then they need to stop taking on so many students. Rules such as this can cause a lot of damage and suppressing children can lead to lots of issues."
She continued: "There is already a lack of communication caused by computers and technology so why add to that.
"The children are not allowed to talk during lessons and exams, in assembly and now in the corridors.
"Where do they have the time to discuss important issues surrounding their age group, such as puberty, social issues or talk with others regarding cultures and ethnicity?
"These are the times that they should be talking and learning about each other, but the school is trying to stop this.
"They teach the kids 1984 (George Orwell) but the school is just the like the book with posters telling the children to be silent.
"The school is rated as outstanding so what else do they want from students?"
Jenny now hopes that the policy will be dropped, allowing Regan to return to school. However, the school's co-headteachers - Andrea Stephens and Alex Hughes - said: "This initiative was introduced on 5th November 2018 on a phased basis.
"It has been well received by the vast majority of our students and has resulted in classes starting promptly on time.
"As planned, we have been reviewing the policy and because it has worked so well achieving its objectives, we will be announcing a few changes in due course which we believe will be of further benefit to the smooth running of the school."
They continued: "We are sure these changes will be welcomed and reflect the positive response we have had from students.
"This is an initiative that has worked well in many other schools and we are pleased that it has had a positive impact here."
Featured Image Credit: Mercury PressTopics: UK News, School, Weird, UK, Education