Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby.
The site the Academy Trust attempted to close down.
Latest GCSE League Tables: 2019:
Lawrence Sheriff School is now the second worst grammar schools in the region for progression (progress 8), achieving just 0.55.
(SGGS: 0.68, K.E.S. 0.66, Rugby High 0.61, Alcester Grammar 0.29). The school can no longer claim to add high value at KS4.
It is an exam factory with an average of 11.7 GCSEs per student and the second lowest average attainment 8 and EBacc score.
All this, under the leadership of Dr Peter Kent, an Ofsted inspector who claimed to find his own school's admisisons policy complicated, which
would mean it was unlawful under the Admisisons Code!
It is just 4th out of the 5 for attainment 8 for the full grammar schools (Ashlawn is a bilateral school). The school continues its rapid decline in league tables. It can no longer boast high progression compared to other grammar schools in Warwickshire.The exam factory stratgegy no longer works for manipulating league tables. The school "played the system" well in the past with its exam factory strategy to top league tables. Many students undertook 11 GCSEs and 2 A/S levels (EPQ and General Studies) in year 11 to accumulate points. Now the true picture is clear. LSS may be better than many non-grammar schools, in academic performance, but lags behind most other grammar schools in performance and progression within Warwickshire.
During the decline Peter Kent's salary package has grown enormously. Over 10% increase in one year with a whopping £27,989 pension contribution in 2019/20 and total package of £147,894. A reward for a relative decline - the wonders of an academy.
Under his leadership a LSS student, Paul Dunleavy who was part of a banned neo-Nazi group, was jailed for preparing acts of terrorism for 5.5 years. He is apparently the youngest person convicted of terror offences. One could question the environment within the school.
Lawrence Sheriff School (LSS) is a boys` grammar school in Rugby. The school became an academy on 1st September, 2014. The Lawrence Sheriff Academy Trust targeted web-hosting companies to suspend this website by making false statements. After investigation, the original hosting company accepted this site can be hosted. However, the site may soon be hosted in Iceland, as the Icelandic Government are champions of free speech and against censorship of the internet.
The School unlawfully withdrew a grammar school place of boy during July 2013. The school knew the identity of the child and even failed to provide a year 7 information pack and refused to allow him to attend induction when the place was not withdrawn. There was a claim of a fraudulent or misleading application by address without any actual evidence of fraud and the parent moved. The Council accepted that every rule was adhered to and told the School that they had actually no evidence of fraud or a misleading application. They did not even state whether it was fraudulent or misleading. Warwickshire County Council's legal advice was they should not withdraw the school place and had a legal duty to offer an appeal. Nevertheless, the School, refused to abide by the Admissions code and failed to offer an appeal in front of an independent panel until the LGO report. Warwickshire County Council refused to withdraw the place on four occasions and advised the School not to withdraw the place, so LSS decided to take admissions back in to its control and withdrew the place and failed to offer an appeal until the LGO intervened. The school was happy to wait until the first day of term to see if a Caucasian family moved, but not an Asian family, which tjhe Council confirmed had abided by every single rule.
The school did not want the LGO to publish its report. In response, the LGO stated “In our view, the school’s failure to offer Mr [Redacted] a right to which he is entitled to in law is serious and goes to the heart of the schools admissions process. For these reasons we are inclined to publish the anonymised decision on our website.”
The School refused to abide by its own complaints policy the school was directed by the DfE on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education to comply with its own policy. The Local Government Omudsman found fault in Lawrence Sheriff School. Finally, LSS agreed to offer an appeal and then decided to use a solicitor to represent it at the appeal which was adjourned twice.
The parent WON the appeal on 14th Nov, 2014 when an independent appeals panel upheld the appeal at stage 1, directing the school to offer a place. The parent was vindicated and the school was proven wrong. The school was represented by a solicitor by the name of John Galbraith (employed by Warwickshire County Council), and the school attempted to deny entry. The Panel did NOT reach the conclusion that the application was fraudulent or misleading. They found the redetermination unlawful and it was unlawful to reject an application and then refuse an appeal. Download the Appeal Panel's Decision by clicking here.
The parent did NOT apply to the school with a false address. Warwickshire County Council agreed and refused to withdraw the place on 4 occasions until the school took admissions back in house to withdraw the place. The parent did nothing wrong. The school was at serious fault. This is the final decison and cannot be appealed.
Despite the attempts to prevent admission to a grammar school he was offered a place at the King Edward VI Grammar school in Stratford-Upon-Avon (after being offered a place at Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall and then Bishop Vesey's Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield, due to his high score). In 2018 the child achieved eight GCSEs at level 9 and two GCSEs at level 8 (in addition to a A* in R.E. in 2017) and in 2020 he was awarded 3A* at A-level and a First Class degree in Economics from UCL in 2023.
Failure to abide to Complaints policy.
Under section 496 of the Education Act 1996, where the Secretary of State is satisfied that a governing body of local authority have acted unreasonably, with respect to any power or duty `conferred on them in education law, he may issue such directions to them in relation to the exercise of the power or performance of the duty concerned as appear to be expedient. “Unreasonably” in this context has been interpreted by the courts as meaning in a way in which no sensible local authority or governing body acting with due appreciation of its responsibilities would have acted. The Secretary of State has the power to make an order declaring that the governing body to be in default of the relevant duty and giving such directions to enforce the performance of that duty as appear to him to be expedient and has done so. The School was directed to comply.