Staff confiscate pupil's phone but it records them calling schoolchildren 'kn**head' and 'b***end'

A letter signed by Alex Burnham - headteacher at Newhouse Academy, Heywood - has been circulated to parents following the incident in October

A recording of a staff conversation from a student's confiscated phone at a secondary school, appears to include derogatory terms such as 'kn**head', 'b***end' and 'silly b***h' being used to describe pupils. The headteacher, Alex Burnham, has issued a letter to parents addressing the incident which occurred in October.

He explained that the child's phone had captured a private conversation between "a small number of staff members" after it was confiscated, with an audio recording app thought to have been running when the device was taken. The Manchester Evening News received an audio clip, believed to be a copy of the original, which lasts three hours and 37 minutes. In the clip, one person seems to refer to a student as a 'silly b***h', while another asks if a pupil is a 'kn**head'.

Another voice can be heard describing a child as a 'b***end in class'. Mr Burnham's letter stated that the conversation included "negative comments about several students" and did not align with the values of the school - Newhouse Academy in Heywood, Greater Manchester.

He confirmed that the incident was investigated and 'appropriate disciplinary action' was taken, with apologies given to the students named in the clip.

According to the M.E.N, the letter read: "As a school we believe that we should not only celebrate with you when there is positive news, but we are also open and transparent if there is more difficult information to share."

"That is why we wanted to notify you about an incident that took place earlier this term where a student's phone was able to record a private conversation between a small number of staff members after their phone had been confiscated."

They continued: "The content of the discussion that was captured in no way aligns with our school's values as it included negative comments about several students, as well as references to popular culture that have no place in a school setting."

Additionally, they stressed: "I want to stress that this should not have happened, and we have taken the strongest possible action against those involved. We expect our community to be a place of integrity and respect. Where those values are not upheld then we will address that fairly and robustly."

A spokesperson further reported: "Early in October we became aware that a student had recorded a private conversation between staff after their phone had been confiscated.

"The content of the discussion that was captured in no way aligns with our school's values, and there is no shying away from the fact that this should not have happened. We expect our community to be a place of integrity and respect. Where those values are not upheld then we will address that fairly, but robustly.

"The incident was immediately investigated, and, after seeking HR advice, the appropriate disciplinary action was taken against the individuals concerned. We also recognised that there was work needed to rebuild trust with those staff members. Where it was right to do so, we undertook restorative work so that the staff could apologise for their actions."