A parent has removed her child from a Whitley secondary school over concerns about their 'strict rules'.

Imarney Tia says she has been left with no choice but to pull her son out of John Madejski Academy after being fed up with him being 'excluded for silly reasons'. 

A spokesman for the Heartland Road school said they couldn't comment on individual cases but that they take concerns seriously.

They said: “We always encourage parents and carers to speak directly with us if they have any concerns so that appropriate action can be taken and we can ensure all our policies, including our safeguarding policy, are followed.

“We are clear that any form of bullying is completely unacceptable and all our staff take any reports regarding bullying extremely seriously.

“We will continue to encourage parents and carers to speak directly with us if they have any concerns. Listening to feedback is very important to us.”

Ms Tia said she fears the teachers have "no control" over the pupils and claims there are "many issues" with bullying. 

Referencing concerns about how her son was treated, she alleged he was searched and 'manhandled'. The school did not respond directly to this allegation. 

"I removed my child for safeguarding reasons," she said. "I was just so sick of him getting excluded for silly things." 

A spokesperson for JMA said: “We always encourage parents and carers to speak directly with us if they have any concerns so that appropriate action can be taken and we can ensure all our policies, including our safeguarding policy, are followed.

“We are clear that any form of bullying is completely unacceptable and all our staff take any reports regarding bullying extremely seriously.

“We will continue to encourage parents and carers to speak directly with us if they have any concerns. Listening to feedback is very important to us.”

The Whitley school has 900 pupils aged 11 to 16 and opened in 2006, replacing Thamesbridge College. It was downgraded from 'requires improvement' to 'inadequate' during its most recent inspection in November. 

A small number of parents have recently protested at the school in response to enforcements around school uniforms.