Children are being sent to Upper School's far too young.  11 year old children are being subjected to bullying from older children, they are been exposed to pornography via smart phones in school, as well as Web site's on self harm. Our young children do not have the life skills or experience to deal with exposure to this kind of threat.

Our young children are now more likely than ever to suffer from mental health problems than in the past.  More and more children are suffering with chronic anxiety due to the overwhelming environment of Upper school.  Our children cannot be protected properly by the understaffed and overworked teachers of the school's, who are also having to deal with more and more extreme behavioural problems from children, thus causing burn out in Teachers and pupils.

Middle schools provided a necessary buffer in the education system for children transitioning from first school to Upper school. At the age of 9, children were ready to move on, having surpassed their infant life. There were ready to move on to the next stage in schooling from 9 years old to 13 years old.  At this critical point of puberty, a difficult and often explosive point in a young persons life, Upper School provided there right environment for this age group.  Younger children were not exposed too and were protected from teenage behaviours which are highly inappropriate.

The government decided to move to a two tier system to save money. I do not think this has been achieved over the last 20 years as the two tier system is brought about more problems than it has solved, which in turn has needed more funding. This has led to the wholesale sale of schools to private businesses, under the guise of Academies.

Upper schools are now no longer fit for purpose, and our children are unsafe in an environment that is proving toxic.

I constantly hear from parents and neighbors how unhappy young children are at Upper school, how lovely children from good homes are going off the rails. We want this to stop. No sticking plasters, no government programs, no hiding the truth.

Bring back Middle schools with teachers dedicated to that age group.