Blaise High School: Parent banned by headteacher from school grounds for ‘verbally abusing staff’

A parent has been banned from Blaise High School’s site after receiving a letter from the headteacher alleging he had verbally abused a member of staff.

The letter to Tom Brewer, seen by Bristol World, goes on to state that he could ‘follow this ban with a formal injunction’ if necessary. Mr Brewer denies the accusation, and claims he has not abused anyone at the school.

It comes amid a rift between parents and school leaders over the treatment of pupils which led to a protest at the school gates last Monday (September 12). Video was captured of parents confronting headteacher Nat Nabarro during the protest.

Today (September 21), a representative of the parents was due to meet with school leaders to discuss their concerns, which range from discipline to special educational needs or disability (SEND) support to uniform.

This meeting has since been delayed.

Mr Brewer, who was on of those at the protest last week, received the letter following the alleged incident of abuse on Thursday, September 15.

It read: “It has been reported to me that on September 15, you verbally abused a member of staff as they left the school premises.

“This was on the school grounds. This was inappropriate and made them feel very uncomfortable.

“I am sure you will understand that I cannot allow my staff to be treated or spoken to in such a way. As this is not the first report of an incident by you, towards staff, of this nature, I have taken the sad decision to ban you from our school site.

“If necessary, I can follow this ban with a formal injunction through the school’s solicitors but I am sure this will be unnecessary. I hope you can understand the reasoning behind my decision.”

The letter goes on to state that any meeting between the two parties would have to take place off site.

Mr Brewer spoke to Bristol World at the protest outside the school last week. He expressed his anger at the school’s decision to place his daughter in Supervised Learning (SL), a form of isolation, for breaking its strict uniform policy.

He said: “I’m fed up with my daughter being put in SL for not having ‘the right trousers’.

“The school made her try on every pair of trousers, none of them fit so they arranged to take her to the Mall [at Cribbs Causeway] to buy her some and I said ‘best of luck because you will not find any’.

“They could not find any so they have [given her a pair of trousers and] slightly taken them in at the waist and I can still fit my whole hand down the side of them.

“And the school is saying these are appropriate to wear, no they are not.”

Blaise High School has refused to comment on the ban.

Previously, in relation to the parent protests, it has said: “Our expectation is that all students present themselves in line with school policies and Blaise High School offers support to all parents to ensure all students wear the correct uniform.

“Students’ safety and well-being are the school’s top priority and if any students or parents have any concerns they should contact the school directly.”