Dear Parents and Guardians,

FAO: DFE, Wakefield council, jade botterill (MP), Ofsted, kettlethorpe high school wakefield

I am writing to bring to your urgent attention the critical situation at Kettlethorpe High School regarding the lack of support for children with additional needs, whether diagnosed or not. Immediate action is necessary to improve the schooling system and ensure that no child is left behind.

Many children with additional needs struggle daily, yet the school fails to acknowledge or act upon concerns raised by parents. New rules that mark children absent for being late, despite clear struggles and the school’s awareness, are deeply unfair. It’s heartbreaking to know that children are avoiding drinking fluids and holding in urine to avoid being refused toilet access. Furthermore, many students refuse to use toilet passes to avoid standing out or falling behind academically.

Children’s cries for help through their behaviour are often met with punishment rather than understanding and support. Since key staff members left before the new academic year, the school’s failure to support students with additional needs has worsened significantly. Complaints have been made repeatedly to the Board of Governors without any response, even after 12 weeks of waiting, despite a clear paper trail. Communication among staff is minimal, and complaints procedures are not being followed properly.

There are known cases involving children with a history of domestic violence and sexual abuse, yet the school does not provide adequate support when sensitive topics arise in lessons. With over 500 SEND children attending Kettlethorpe High, more than 80% face significant disadvantages due to insufficient support. Given that diagnosis waits can be as long as 18 months, these children endure prolonged struggles without help, often adopting coping mechanisms that make it harder for them to receive support later.

The overwhelmed CAMHS system highlights the urgent need for a restructured learning environment within the school itself to better serve SEND students. The issues at Kettlethorpe reflect widespread systemic problems affecting the majority of students, including exclusion from school trips and a failure to notice or respond to quiet children in need.

As a parent, it is both deeply worrying and frustrating that our concerns are continuously ignored. The education system needs to evolve from its outdated model of the 1990s, but Kettlethorpe High is sadly not only failing to change but also flouting its own policies. Complaints are mishandled, issues ignored, and many children’s learning, mental health, and behaviour suffer as a result. The current environment teaches children that they must go to extremes to be heard, which is simply unacceptable.

Bullying remains a serious and unaddressed issue; concerns are dismissed if the bully performs well academically. Differences such as sensory needs related to clothing are misunderstood and punished. Every child’s needs must be recognised, with access to therapy and mentoring for those struggling to be heard.

This petition is a call to action to demand real changes. We will not rest until these issues are addressed and children’s mental health and futures are safeguarded. Our children deserve a supportive, understanding, and adaptive educational environment where they can thrive. We need to address some serious safeguarding concerns that have arisen at Kettlethorpe High School regarding children with additional needs. There have been multiple incidents where vulnerable children have gone missing within the school premises, with staff unaware of their whereabouts, or wrongly assuming they had left the school, only for the children to be later found in class. This lack of proper supervision and communication is deeply troubling.

Moreover, there have been consistent issues with the attendance reporting system, where late absences are marked as full-day absences despite the children being present. This has led to inaccurate attendance records, affecting the wellbeing and trust between parents and the school.

Of even greater concern is the behaviour of senior staff members, including the head teacher, who has demonstrated rudeness and unapproachable conduct. In a distressing incident, after a parent lodged a complaint, the head teacher deliberately placed a disabled child at a disadvantage by refusing entry to her disabled car while allowing taxis and other vehicles through without issue. Such actions clearly indicate that raising a complaint results in unnecessary difficulties for both the parent and child.

Further to this, the head teacher’s approach to children with additional needs is wholly inadequate and alarming. For example, approaching a child with autism and bluntly asking “do you have autism” whilst reading the child's confidential autistic report shows a profound lack of understanding and sensitivity. It is deeply concerning that someone who fails to recognise or properly support additional needs holds significant influence over how the school is run.

We, the undersigned parents, stand together in agreement that change is urgently needed at Kettlethorpe High School. We have not been heard, and this petition is our chance to unite and demand that the school takes these concerns seriously and implements the necessary improvements.

Your signature is your voice. Together, we will be heard, and we will insist on a safer, more supportive environment for all our children. Please join me in signing and sharing this petition to make our voices heard and bring about the necessary changes at Kettlethorpe High School and beyond.

Thank you for your support.