Anger over nine hour days for Great Barr school pupils

An academy in the Black Country has been accused of working pupils too hard with some doing nine-hour days, which one parent says has led to her child breaking down in tears.

The Q3 Academy in Great Barr has been asking Year 11 pupils to start at 8am and stay late until 5pm so they can do extra work in preparation for their GCSEs. Some children also went into school during the Easter holidays.

Rachel Ansell said it has caused unbearable stress for her daughter who is no longer able to cope with the additional workload.

She said: "I had my daughter come home in tears and break down in front of me with all the pressure the teachers have put on her, being forced to stay at school for an extra two hours.

"They march them over to lecture theatre five minutes before school ends and tells the kids they cannot go home for another two hours. It's not acceptable, even then they send them home with loads of homework expected to be in by the following day.

"They didn't get a break over the two-week Easter holiday as they were given a timetable for them to go into school nearly every day and if they didn't turn up there was a phone call home to parents wanting to know where they were."

Ms Ansell fears the extra time at school is making her 16-year-old daughter ill and insists it is important children are given a break from working.

"The kids have no time off when they should clearly get it – you will then be penalised if you take your kid on holiday in school time. Teachers can have holidays why can't the kids?" she said.

The academy's chief executive and principal Caroline Badyal said: "Q3 Academy is committed to giving its students the best possible foundations for life. Every student deserves to have additional time to support their studies and that is exactly what staff at the Academy do. They are voluntarily giving generously of their time.

"We support after school sessions with healthy refreshments and if any child is struggling to cope we would of course not enforce this. Schools up and down the country are working with their students to give them the additional support they are asking for. The government itself has also recognised the benefits of extending the school day for the benefit of students.

"An increasing number of parents are paying large sums of money for private tuition while our staff give their time generously because they care about our young people."