Britain’s toughest headteacher moved out of his school ‘after pupil was restrained’ 

A controversial headteacher who divided opinion with his militant school rules has been moved from his school after an alleged incident involving the restraint of a pupil.

Barry Smith made headlines for banning pupils from using mobile phones, ordering them to walk in single file to lessons, be in bed by 9.30pm and up by 6.30am. 

His approach led to him being labelled Britain’s toughest headteacher in 2017 after he took over a failing high school and relaunched it as the Great Yarmouth Charter Academy, Norfolk. 

The education newspaper Schools Week has now that Mr Smith has not been in charge of day-to-day activities at the 740-pupil school since early December.

Sources told the publication that he was ‘moved out of the school following an incident involving the restraint of a pupil.’

The Inspiration Trust, which runs 13 primary and secondary schools and a sixth form college in Norfolk and Suffolk, refused to comment on the reasons behind Mr Smith’s departure, but insisted he had not been suspended.

A spokesperson said for the trust said: ‘Barry Smith has not been suspended. He is working centrally on a curriculum project.

‘The school is being overseen by the executive principal, as usual, and while the principal is out of school, the deputy principal is taking over the day-to-day operations.’

Mr Smith has not made any comment.

The school had some of the worst GCSE results in the country when it was previously known as Great Yarmouth High School and rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, with only one in three pupils achieving a pass in English and maths.

But Mr Smith’s new regime quickly led to dramatic improvements, and the school doubling its success rate at GCSEs.

Its most recent Ofsted inspection last July described it as ‘good’ in all areas including ‘effectiveness of leadership and management’ 

Mr Smith warned pupils that they would be given a bucket to throw up in if they felt ill in class in a bid to cut down on them feigning sickness to get out of lessons. 

While he was praised by many parents, his appointment led to a backlash from others who accused him of ‘Army-like’ behaviour, claiming their children were left scared about going to school.

Despite Mr Smith’s success, a Facebook group entitled Yarmouth Charter Academy Worried parents which was set up after his appointment still has more than 1,000 members.

Mr Smith made further headlines in February 2018 when he banned extreme haircuts including a boy’s style known as the ‘Meet Me at McDonald’s’.

The school had some of the worst GCSE results in the country when it was previously known as Great Yarmouth High School and rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, with only one in three pupils achieving a pass in English and maths. But Mr Smith’s new regime quickly led to dramatic improvements

But schools minister Nick Gibb praised him and the Inspiration Trust for improvements at the school in Parliament in 2018, saying: ‘Within a year, the school had been transformed.’

Mr Smith revealed in September 2018 that he had been subjected to a hate campaign on social media and in the street with some people making false claims that he was a ‘paedophile, a bully and racist.’ 

He added: ‘Clearly, some won’t be happy until I resign or I’m sacked. Or do they want me to be so filled with self-loathing that I top myself? What is the motivation of the haters?

‘I suspect, in most cases, it’s nothing more than a desire to grab a little bit of fame. I don’t believe for a second that any of them genuinely want to help kids. It’s fame hungry virtue signalling.

‘Fear not. I’m impervious to detractors. I’m incredibly excited about what we’re going to achieve this year. I’m more determined than ever to keep doing what I believe in.’

Mr Smith got up at 4.30am every Monday and spent three hours travelling to Great Yarmouth, staying in a local bed and breakfast four nights a week to run the school. 

The Inspiration Trust has been contacted for further comment.