Elite Church of England School's Policy Put Students at Risk of Suicide, Report Finds
An independent report has found that a school policy which constantly pushed high test scores at an elite Church of England grammar school has yielded multiple students at risk of suicide.
Premier News reported Monday that at St. Olave's Grammar school in South London, former head teacher Aydin Onac's policy of excluding sixth-formers — students in their final years of high school — if they did not get at least three B-grades in their first year tests, left one student feeling he "might as well kill himself." Another student who fell into that category was reportedly overheard telling his parents on the phone: "They just want to be rid of me, they just want me gone."
Onac, 66, who took in a salary of approximately $263,000 annually, was suspended from his position in October. Critics say he had turned the school into an "exam factory." Onac also told parents that St. Olave's had no money due to cuts when in truth it had $2.6 million in the bank, according to the report.
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In total, 16 of St. Olave's students are were affected by the policy of "grade exclusion" because they did not make those required B-grades in their first year exams. Many believe the school was using the exams as a way to remove those who might tarnish their reputation.
The Daily Mail reported Saturday that the borough report also said that six of the students who failed to achieve those high marks were summoned to see a senior teacher and came out of the meetings, "very distressed and with no adult to support them, before or after they had been told they couldn't return."
The report also concluded that Onac was wrong to enforce the rule which allegedly left some of the youth "medically diagnosed at risk of suicide."
In August of 2017, two families of excluded students threatened the school with legal action and the judicial review proceedings against St. Olave's governing body were set in motion. Yet the legal action threats were withdrawn as the school backtracked and allowed the two students to continue on before a hearing could occur.
Rev. Peter Galloway, the chair of governors at St. Olave's Grammar School, resigned from his role in September amid the controversy, though a diocesan spokesperson said his stepping down was not related to the situation.
The prestigious school traces its origins from near London Bridge where it was originally founded in 1561 and was subsequently given a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571.
