'Altercation' involving parents and students at Wednesbury school

The principal of Wodensborough Ormiston Academy in Hydes Road told parents about the incident which happened on Thursday in a letter.

Leigh Moore said a number of students saw the altercation, which is being treated with the "utmost seriousness".

In the letter to parents yesterday she said: "I am writing to you today to address some concerns we have received from parents in relation to an isolated but serious incident which took place at school yesterday, which you may be aware of.

"Towards the end of the school day, a parent of a student came into the school via the front doors.

"As we have a robust process which notifies staff of people on site that are not students or registered staff members, we were immediately informed and the parent was straight away met by a senior member of staff.

"Shortly after, there was an altercation involving a small number of parents and students.

Resolve

"As senior leaders were present at the time of this incident, they acted immediately to resolve the altercation and to call the police for assistance, following all the correct procedures.

"I am aware that a number of students witnessed the incident and that there has been some concern on social media, so I therefore want to reassure you that we are treating it with the utmost seriousness.

"As you know, the safety, security, and wellbeing of our students and staff is our absolute priority and we are clear that this incident was completely out of line with the high standards we uphold as a school."

A spokesman for West Midlands Police confirmed they were called but said "no criminal offences were disclosed".

Wodensborough Ormiston Academy is a mixed secondary school. At its latest Ofsted inspection in February 2019 the school, which had 958 students, was rated 'requires improvement'.