PARENTS of students suspended or excluded by West Somerset College after last week’s mass walk-out are registering complaints against the college with both the governors and Ofsted.

 “We hope this will result in an Ofsted inspection very soon,” said Samantha Sweetland, mother of two, who has co-ordinated the parents’ reaction to the protest.

She added: “Parents of children suspended have had individual meetings with various staff members where parents and children voiced their concerns. We will wait to see if the school acts on any of these concerns.”

 This week more students have come forward to explain why they joined the demonstration which resulted in 70 suspensions and at least three expulsions. One, who the Free Press won’t identify, said: “The protest was about sexual assault, uniforms, and toilet bans among other things.

 “We just wanted our voices to be heard as there are a lot of improvements which need to be made. But instead of the school listening, we got suspended. Three got expelled, which means they have lost their education over speaking up for their rights.” 

 Another student added: “Most of us who took part in the protest were not happy about it but it seemed the only option open to us as the school would not listen either to us or our parents and insisted we had got the idea from social media.”

 A parent with a son in year 11 at the school said: “I agreed that he should join the protest after he had been given detention for wearing his shirt wrongly. This had been boiling up for a long time and I know many parents who were unhappy with how the school was run.”

 Since the walk-out, headteacher Nikki Doughty has told parents: “We are carrying out further investigations to ensure all those involved receive appropriate sanctions. Many students and families have come forward to support us.

 “We have been speaking to students and parents about any concerns they may have and we have provided information which may help alleviate these concerns.”

 Ms Doughty added: “Listening to children is a priority for all adults at West Somerset College. We welcome feedback and encourage students to discuss concerns with us using appropriate channels.”

 This week, local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said he could not understand why the situation at the college had not been made public before it reached its present level. “I, and the councillors for the area, knew absolutely nothing about what was going on.”

 He said that in future he intended to have regular conversations with the Bridgwater and Taunton College Trust about what is happening at the college. “Since learning about the walk-out I have had conversations with the Trust’s CEO Peter Elliott, and can assure parents that if they have grievances in future they should come and talk to me.

 ”We need to work together. We have only one secondary school in West Somerset so we have to make sure that when there are issues we deal with them promptly. Peter Elliott and I will be keeping in touch over the future of the school and any problems that arise there.”

In a statement, a trust spokesperson said: The Bridgwater and Taunton College Trust is aware of a range of school protests taking place nationally and locally across schools in Somerset, fuelled by posts on Social Media encouraging disorder in schools. 

 “We have in place across all of our schools very robust systems and policies to secure effective behaviour and keep young people safe. Unfortunately, however, a small minority of students made some very poor choices on the day with regards to how they chose to behave. 

 “The college, the trust and all our staff will always listen to students, take their concerns seriously and take the time to understand their views. However, these need to be raised in the correct and respectful way”. 

 “The right to protest is recognised, but it should be a last resort when legitimate concerns have not been listened to, not copy-cat actions incited by others on social media."