Mossbourne CEO grateful for support and ‘encouragement’ amid allegations against trust’s schools

Peter Hughes: CEO of the Mossbourne Federation, a multi-academy trust

The head of a Hackney academy trust has thanked parents, pupils, staff and governors for their support amid allegations against one of the trust’s schools which have triggered a rare safeguarding review.

Last week, the children’s safeguarding commissioner for City and Hackney, Jim Gamble, announced he was launching a safeguarding practice review into Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (MVPA) after concerns were raised about the school’s treatment of children.

The review will seek “to clarify and then determine if the concerns can be substantiated”, Gamble stated.

In November, the Observer revealed it had a dossier of allegations from 30 parents against MVPA.

The reports from numerous parents, pupils and ex-teachers include accounts of Year 7 pupils being “screamed at” by senior leaders, and five reports of secondary-age children “with no prior incontinence issues” soiling themselves.

Since then, the paper says it has received further evidence relating both to this school and another in the trust, Mossbourne Community Academy (MCA).

Peter Hughes, CEO of the multi-academy trust Mossbourne Federation, has not responded publicly to the commissioner’s decision.

However, prior to the announcement, he posted on LinkedIn, saying: “I’d like to thank all Mossbourne parents, pupils, staff and governors past and present, education leaders in Hackney and beyond and members of the public for their supportive words and encouragement during this time.”

Between 2012 and 2018, Hughes was the principal of MCA in Hackney Downs. He is also the director of education support services Progress Teaching Ltd and The Elephant Group.

He has served as Chief Executive Officer of Mossbourne Federation since 2013.

The trust previously said members were “saddened to read [the] accounts” and “do not recognise the characterisation of the school”.

“Whilst we have high expectations of behaviour and attitudes to learning, we are very proud of being a diverse and inclusive trust, in which children and young people thrive and go on to secure outstanding results.

“We take any issues raised by parents seriously and investigate them fully. We have also had external reviews by Ofsted, and the local authority — in none of these were any concerns raised,” a trust spokesperson said.

In a more recent LinkedIn post, Hughes shared a video featuring a speech by Mossbourne teacher Lord Hampton, who he mistakenly refers to as Lord Hamilton.

“As I contemplate the practicalities of safeguarding in Inner London schools, I am reminded of a recent statement made by one of my teachers, Lord [Hampton], in the House of Lords. 

“As a survivor of child abuse, I felt genuinely heard and understood when Lord [Hampton] read my thoughts,” he wrote.

In the video, Lord Hampton, who has taught at MCA since 2017, reads a passage from Hughes’ book Outstanding School Leadership published last year:

“Children in our Hackney community die. Children in our Hackney community are often routinely stopped under Operation Trident. Children in our Hackney community are strip-searched and subjected to adultification in presumed places of safety.

“I am very aware that these are three very powerful statements, that they are true and that every carer’s, parent’s, teacher’s, principal’s, CEO’s and community’s worst nightmare. It is something we cannot and will not ignore.”

Safeguarding practice reviews are normally reserved for individual cases of serious harm to children.

Since academy schools are not funded by local authorities, councils have limited power to intervene in their activities if they have concerns.

The review will be led “independently” by Sir Alan Wood, former head of children’s services in the borough until 2015.

Hackney’s education chief, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, told the Hackney Citizen that Gamble’s decision to conduct a review of MVPA was an “important step”.

She added that parents and carers with any concerns about schools should “make sure they use the school’s complaints process to raise them”.

“This allows schools to investigate and gives them the information they need to be able to create change or hold individuals to account. 

“[The council] has also engaged with the Department for Education, Ofsted and the Mossbourne Federation on the issues raised, and we continue to liaise with all our partners as part of our formal processes.”