Wirral school hits back after BBC documentary shows children mocked, bullied and put in headlocks by staff

Horrifying abuse at an independent Wirral school for children with special educational needs has been uncovered by BBC Panorama.

The shocking 30-minute documentary - Undercover School: Cruelty in the Classroom - aired on June 17, sees staff members at Life Wirral describe pupils as ‘thick’ and ‘retards’, despite the school being graded as ‘Good’ by Ofsted at the time. The BBC said it carried out an undercover investigation after whistle blowers told Panorama, ‘abuse was still happening’ despite Wirral Council being warned of problems.

Places at the school in Wallasey cost Wirral Council between £50,000 and £150,000 per pupil, but undercover filming by the BBC shows the children - aged 11 to 18 - being ‘mocked, bullied and physically abused’ with staff even wrestling with pupils and putting them in headlocks.

Undercover reporter, Sasha Hindle, spent almost seven weeks at the school - under the guise of work experience - and witnessed vulnerable children being treated cruelly by the adults charged with taking care of them. Hindle said she didn’t ‘see much teaching going’, adding: “Instead the children are regularly mocked.”

A number of staff members are heard using derogatory terms when talking about the children, such as “flid”, “ponce”, “batty boy” and “retard” as well as laughing about manhandling them.

Undercover footage shows mental wellbeing coach, Dan brag to Sasha about his job, stating: I think teaching’s the ******* easiest thing on the planet, me. It’s so easy to teach kids shit. Especially these kids, cause they’re so ******* thick. Like, it’s not like anything intense is it? They’re ******* stupid. All you gotta do its make it semi-fun and they’ll just listen.”

He is also seen speaking poorly to the children, telling one pupil, ‘You’re really pissing me off’ and calling him a ‘flid’. He later tells Sasha that ‘flid’ is another word for ‘retard’. The following day he says: “We’re in a school full of retards. We’re not in the SAS love. Like chill out.”

The documentary also sees head of operations Paul Hamill tell Sasha that he fantasised about killing a pupil, who he described as ‘a little serial killer’. He is later shown mocking a child to his face, saying: “You’re the best footballer in a disabled school. Well done you.”

The most shocking footage shows a number of staff members physically abusing the children - placing them in headlocks, dragging them up the stairs, picking them up aggressively, wrestling with them and drawing offensive pictures on their faces. According to the Department for Education, all pupils have now been removed from the school. Life Wirral says five staff members have been suspended.

A Life Wirral spokesperson said: “The BBC has acted in a highly irresponsible manner putting the interests of a television programme ahead of the interests of vulnerable children. An undercover investigator failed in her basic safeguarding duties to report significant concerns and had she have done so on day one there would be no television programme and nearly twenty at-risk children would still have a safe environment in which they can learn and develop as young adults.

“In correspondence from the BBC they stated they had uncovered ‘significant safeguarding issues’, if they were significant (as a responsible school we absolutely agree they were), why did they not report them and put a stop to it there and then? They chose not to because they had other priorities and the children’s welfare was not their primary concern.

“As a team of highly respected education specialists we see no justification whatsoever allowing such incidents to continue; the safeguarding of the children should have come first rather than a television show. It cannot be stressed enough, had these incidents been reported immediately the members of staff would have been instantly suspended; something the reporter knew too well.

“Indeed, shocking evidence has also revealed that not only did the investigator ignore clear advice to report safeguarding issues she went one step further and falsified official reports in order to claim that situations were handled well on the school’s safeguarding system which would deceive the safeguarding lead and ultimately allow the television programme to proceed.

“Life School was a very successful Ofsted rated place of learning, shortlisted by the Times Educational Supplement as Inclusive School of the Year 2023 but regardless of how respected the school was it does not condone the behaviour revealed by the programme and five members of staff have been suspended and will face disciplinary action. This action cannot take place because the BBC has withheld evidence from the school despite asking for it to be handed over on several occasions.

“The school immediately launched an investigation, reported the broadcaster to the police and will be taking all necessary legal steps against the BBC.”