Portsmouth Academy branded a "prison" after high fences and security called in amid emergency Ofsted inspection

Parents were recently sent a letter from The Portsmouth Academy’s principal Natalie Sheppard outlining a raft of new security measures to combat disruptive behaviour from some students.

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The St Mary’s Road school in Fratton has also been the subject of an emergency Ofsted inspection with results due to be published soon, the government department for education confirmed to The News. “We carried out an urgent inspection and the report will be published in due course,” an Ofsted spokesperson said.

New security measures introduced include higher school fences, CCTV, security from external firm Vespasian to “monitor the perimeter, corridors and CCTV to ensure all pupils, families and staff can safely enjoy a calm and respectful school environment”.

Ms Sheppard said in her letter: “There unfortunately remains some students who are not demonstrating respect for their peers or members of staff. As written to you previously, we absolutely will not tolerate students consistently removing themselves from lessons, causing disruption to learning, and not following the instructions of senior staff.

“I, alongside my colleagues, will continue to expect high standards of conduct in and around school and if our behaviour policy is not being followed, we will continue to sanction students as appropriate.”

Referring to the Vespasian team now on site, she added: “I want to make you aware that the team will be in professional dress and wear body-worn cameras. Please rest assured, this is a precautionary measure to help our community feel as comfortable as possible and the trust’s privacy policy will be followed at all times.”

However, the move has not been well received from some. One parent shocked at the move said: “My main concern is that my son has said he hates going to a school that feels more and more like a prison with high fences surrounding it all.

“He's not happy about being videoed simply walking from class to class. I'm also concerned that the school is relying on third party providers to enforce rules which implies the culture is rotten.

“Finally, where is the focus on teaching lessons that are interesting enough to make the children want to stay in the class or the school? My son hasn't had a music lesson for over a year - where's the creative teaching to give students a reason for attending other than the academy's relentless focus on results?”