North Cornwall MP wants full inquiry into Athena Learning Trust

A BBC documentary about discipline inside a group of Cornish schools has landed on the desk of North Cornwall’s MP, and he says it matches what hundreds of his constituents have already been telling him.

Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, has called on the Department for Education to open a full investigation into concerns raised about Athena Learning Trust, the academy trust that runs Launceston College. His call follows a BBC Panorama programme he described as “deeply worrying”.

What the programme covered

The documentary featured testimony from pupils, parents and former staff, with allegations centred on strict disciplinary practices at Launceston College and other schools within the trust. Ben Maguire says the accounts in the programme echo concerns that parents, pupils and teachers had already brought to him directly.

He said it had become clear over recent months that “something was very seriously wrong” with the way discipline and behaviour policies were being put into practice at the college.

Why the MP is going to the Department for Education

Academy trusts sit outside local council control and answer directly to the Department for Education. Ben Maguire is pressing Ministers to make sure the concerns are examined properly, and to check that similar problems are not occurring at other schools in Cornwall and across the country.

“The testimonies of parents, pupils, and former teachers in this documentary is deeply worrying, but sadly it echoes exactly what hundreds of parents, pupils and teachers have told me personally about Launceston College,” he said. “It quickly became clear to me that something was very seriously wrong with the way these policies were being implemented.

“Academy trusts are directly accountable only to the Department for Education, not local councils, so Ministers now have an absolute responsibility to make sure these serious problems are fully investigated. Lessons must be learned, especially around the serious impacts the Trust’s polices have had on students’ wellbeing and mental health.”

Ben also said he wanted to see tighter oversight of academies more widely.

“I will be pushing the Government to ensure there is proper transparency and scrutiny of academies. It’s unacceptable to hand taxpayer money over to these organisations without knowing exactly how the money is spent, and what the Government and local communities expect in return.”