In October 2022, Knavesmire was rated “Outstanding” by Ofsted in every area, including behaviour and attitudes. In September 2025, Excel Learning Trust introduced a new behaviour policy at Knavesmire Primary School without prior consultation with parents, teachers, or governors. Teachers were no longer allowed to use their expertise and judgement to set a behavioural policy appropriate to their classroom, but instead were required to implement one centralised system with no accounting for age or nature of the students.
The policy includes a visible classroom chart system under which children are publicly moved between a “good” wall display and a separate sanctions chart on the teacher’s desk. Parents and teachers have reported this system causes anxiety, social exclusion, and damage to children’s self-esteem. Children as young as Year 1 have started gossiping about “who’s on red”, excluding friends who have earned fewer “stars”, and focusing on behavioural stickers, when previously they came home talking about what they’d learned that day.
Parents responded quickly. Within one week of the policy being introduced, a petition of around 90 signatures was submitted to the headteacher and governors, alongside a formal letter requesting the evidence base behind the changes, an immediate review, and direct engagement with the parent community.
What followed was five months of correspondence with school leadership, governors, and trust executives. Parents asked repeatedly and specifically for the evidence underpinning the policy, for safeguarding measures to protect children already being affected, and for a clear timeline for the promised review. While school leadership and governors engaged directly with parents to hear concerns, governors confirmed they had no power to change school policy. At the same time, the headteacher was demoted to “Head of School” and the Executive Principal of the trust placed above him with decision-making authority.
Parents wrote directly to trust executives, requesting direct engagement, a consultation timeline, and suspension of the public sanction system, restoring authority to teachers while it underwent review. The CEO’s response confirmed that the trust has no intention of changing the policy
The CEO’s response, received on 18 December 2025, confirmed that the trust has no intention of changing the policy. While stating that “petitions or campaigns are never ignored,” the letter made no commitment to meet with parents, provided no consultation timeline, and provided no evidence base for the behaviour policy. The CEO stated that the policy had been brought over from Woodthorpe Primary School——which was rated as “Requires Improvement” in 2022——and he was personally confident that it was working. “Through pupil voice, teacher voice, and direct observation in classrooms, corridors and playgrounds, we are consistently assured that behaviour is conducive to learning and that the policy is supporting the flourishing of every child.” Parent voice was not mentioned.
Parents remain concerned. The review process and its outcomes have not been shared publicly, and our core questions about evidence, safeguarding, and best practices remain unanswered. For the time being, these concerns have been eclipsed by the reduction in TA provision.
In March 2026, Excel Learning Trust reduced teaching assistant provision at Knavesmire Primary School by half. One TA is shared across every two year groups. This means a single TA is now responsible for supporting up to 120 children. In Reception, one TA supports up to 60 children who need near-constant supervision to help with basic needs like toileting and emotional regulation.
The staff cuts are in order to enable a new, paid childcare provision for two-year-olds at Knavesmire Nursery——support to students is being cut while Trust revenue grows.
We launched a petition in response. To date, 43% of school families have signed, representing 181 of the enrolled students. We intend to submit the petition formally once we reach 50% of the school community.