Shocking claims from Northfield School and Sports College parents after three teenage suicides
Amid allegations of bullying, three young pupils from the 1,300-strong school in Billingham, Teesside, have taken their own lives within a year
EXAM results are impressive and inspection reports are glowing – but a toxic gloom hangs over Northfield School and Sports College.
Amid allegations of bullying, three young pupils from the 1,300-strong school in Billingham, Teesside, have taken their own lives within a year.
The institution that proudly boasts of its anti-bullying stance now finds itself having to answer serious questions about a problem that some parents say has spiralled dangerously out of control.
Parents of other students have told The Sun that bullying is rife at Northfield.
They accuse head teacher Craig Walker of not doing enough to stop it and allege that ill-disciplined pupils “rule” the school which boasts Billy Elliot actor Jamie Bell and several professional footballers among its old boys.
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One mum said: “For three boys to have died is a damning indictment on the school, but what is really sad is that no one is really surprised. There was a sense that it was inevitable, that is the most appalling thing of all.”
Tragedy struck for the first time last April when popular 15-year-old Harry Gray was found hanged outside his bedroom, a month after a fellow pupil at Northfield had threatened to have him stabbed following a disagreement.
Just two days later, 13-year-old Elton Harland, who had been Harry’s friend at Northfield and who had tweeted a tribute to him, was found dead in Lancashire, where he had moved to.
It is believed he had been the victim of bullying at Northfield.
Members of his family and friends changed their social media profiles to carry the slogan, “I’m against bullying”, and one mourner wrote: “We lost a friend, brother and son to the hands of bullying.”
In the wake of the latest tragedy, Harry’s mother Dannii Hollis, 33, called for an inquiry into how the school handles bullying allegations.
She said: “Some serious questions need to be asked.
“There was an arrogance and lack of caring after Harry died that I found unbelievable.
“It is a disgusting pattern. They have acted disgracefully and the head appears not to care.”
She called for Ofsted to investigate the school.
Now other parents have also told The Sun the school should be “held to account”.
One mum, 44, who asked not to be named, said her son is a target of repeated bullying and her daughter has also had problems. Both are in their early teens.
She said: “We have given up trying to get something done about it because, contrary to what the head Mr Walker says, nothing ever gets done.
“Both my son and daughter have also been physically assaulted. My daughter had her hand stamped on by a boy.
“I went in to see the head. The lad was not punished and the explanation I was given was that he didn’t mean to do it. The school management is weak and the pupils know they can do as they please.”
She claimed that in Year 11 the school is keen not to exclude pupils for fear of impacting on the school’s exam grades.
She said: “They are so desperate to achieve good GCSE results that they don’t want any kids to miss class, no matter how badly they are behaving towards other pupils.
“It means that some classes in that year are chaotic, with teachers being openly mocked and abused by pupils.
“They know nothing will be done so they do as they please. They rule the school because there is no fear of discipline. The parents of , Harry and Elton deserve more answers and more needs to be done to prevent it happening.”
Tracy Waters, 44, said her son Kaiyne, 17, who recently left Northfield, was “tortured” during his five years as a pupil.
He was driven to self-harming and the verge of suicide by regular physical attacks and taunts on Facebook and by text.
She said of the first attack, weeks after the lad had just started at the school aged 11: “Kaiyne’s cheekbone was fractured and the shock of the attack caused a seizure which meant he was rushed to hospital.
“He was off school for a fortnight, yet the lad who attacked him was excluded for two days.”
Regular attacks followed.
Tracy said: This continued throughout his entire time at the school. He would come home in tears, sometimes shaking and would tell me that he wanted to kill himself.” Tracy tried to have the school deal with the bullies but claimed head Mr Walker took “a laid-back approach”.
She said: “He must walk around that school and see nothing, because as far as he is concerned if they don’t see it, it isn’t happening.
“Nothing was done about the bullying Kaiyne was suffering, even when I took in screenshots of the abuse and threats he was getting.”
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Tracy, who said there is no way she would send her ten-year-old daughter to the school, said: “I’ll never know how close I came to being like Harry’s mum or Arin’s. He was just so desperate.
“The school has to be held to account. If they are properly supported, no child aged 13 or 15 becomes so desperate about what’s happening to them in school that they choose to end their lives.”
The first victim, Harry, had reported to the school’s pastoral team that a fellow pupil had threatened to have him stabbed.
The accused pupil later told Harry his report “only made it worse” and the threats continued.
Two youths, aged 15 and 18, were arrested after Harry’s death over the alleged stab threats but police said there was not enough evidence to charge them.
At Harry’s inquest in July, Coroner Claire Bailey heard he had also been upset because he was struggling in art and English lessons.
She quoted police testimony that: “There was no evidence that he was being bullied any more than would be constituted normal child interaction.”
Ms Hollis, a nurse and a single mum to Harry’s two brothers, told the inquest of the police conclusion: “I am absolutely furious about that.
“On his iPad Harry (took a) screenshot of the threats from the child. If that isn’t Harry being picked on, I don’t know what is. The police had all these things. They said Harry was getting threatened but it was all hearsay.”
She said no action had been taken by the school against the pupil who had threatened her son.
Ms Hollis added: “He is still at the school and to my knowledge received no punishment.”
An inquest into Elton Harland’s death is yet to be held and his cousin told The Times that his death was not as a result of bullying.
Marc Yafano, 41, a cousin of Arin Lyth’s single mother Lizzy, has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for her and her two other sons to move from their current address. The boys’ bedroom looks out on the spot just 82ft away where Arin took his life.
He said on the site: “Arin had just changed schools and his family thought things were looking up.”
In a statement, Northfield head teacher Mr Walker said: “Nothing is more important to us than the safety and wellbeing of our students and we take any reports of bullying very seriously indeed.
“The anti-bullying work we do has been recognised with a Lady Diana Award and was praised by Ofsted following an inspection last summer.
“The inspectors’ report found that students feel safe in school, and feel that serious bullying is exceptionally rare and that the school deals with all types of bullying swiftly.
“However, we are far from complacent and we very much recognise the need to continually review and develop the support available to our students so we can respond to the changing pressures in young people’s lives.”
Ofsted said it would review the evidence it had on the school and, if necessary, could conduct an emergency inspection.
A spokeswoman for anti-bullying charity The Diana Award said they had offered the school support.
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