A FURIOUS dad is convinced that Matravers School has lied to him about why his son was taken out of important lessons during an OFSTED inspection last year.

Martin Gillingham’s 16-year-old son, Jamie, was removed from lessons during an OFSTED inspection in February 2015 and placed in Mechanics instead. A teacher allegedly told him it was because he was ‘likely to cause a disruption.’

After hearing this, the 48-year-old dad made a formal complaint to the school and claims he has since been lied to and kept in the dark as the school has tried to cover up the teacher’s wrongdoing, going against their own policy on several occasions in the process.

Mr Gillingham said: “After my son was removed from important KS2 lessons and placed in Mechanics, I complained to the school but they have failed to hear it in the correct way.

“My complaint was heard at a meeting with the school's governors in November but I wasn’t invited to it, which is a breach of their own policy. The headmaster, Simon Riding, also failed to acknowledge my complaint when I first made it, which is another breach.

“I was first told by the school that Jamie was moved because a teacher had identified some pupils who might benefit from extra lessons in other subjects and the fact it coincided with an OFSTED inspection was purely coincidental.

“Then, a day later, I was telephoned by a different teacher who told me the reason Jamie had been removed from his normal lessons and placed in the additional Mechanics lessons was because the school wished to demonstrate that course to the OFSTED team.

“This is evidence that they lied, and have been trying to cover it up ever since. I just feel outraged that the school's senior governors have tried to cover up the school's lies and have failed to acknowledge their own complaints policy.

“I want them to apologise and admit that they lied, is that too much to ask?”

Following Jamie’s removal from lessons, the Department for Education investigated the matter and confirmed that Matravers did breach several of its own policies after Mr Gillingham complained.

Dr Simon Riding, headteacher at Matravers, said: "This matter is now closed by the Department For Education and all parties are aware of this.

“We do not routinely comment on matters as we focus our time extremely effectively on the education of our students, which has resulted in our transformation of our school; something we are very proud of as a School Community.”