Parent shares incredible demands school has for pupils to attend their prom including going to 43 after school lessons and three weekend ones
The concerned dad said the extraordinary demands would overburden already stressed students
A FURIOUS dad has slammed a school for telling pupils they must attend FORTY-THREE after-school lessons to get an invite to prom.
John Townend, 55, was staggered after Outwood Academy Shafton in Yorkshire listed a string of demands his son Gregory and classmates had to fulfil for a place at their leavers' dance.
The nine stipulations - accompanied by the hashtag #attendtoachive - include having to go to 43 after-school lessons - 12 each for maths, English and science plus seven "other" after-school sessions.
Pupils must also attend four science days, complete three maths holiday packs, have seven "pledges" signed off and have a 95 per cent attendance record, the leaflet states.
Dad-of-three John, who lives with his wife Andrea and son Gregory in Barnsley, said the list was "ridiculous".
He fumed: "It's totally out of order.
“My son was disgusted when he brought the leaflet home. These demands rule him out completely.”
The retired truck driver fears the extra commitments over the GCSE exam period will prevent the majority of students from making it to their much-anticipated prom at the end of June.
John said his two daughters Hayley, 20, and Gemma, 23, had attended proms at the same school without restrictions - and were now successful students at Leeds and Sheffield University respectively.
The irate dad said: "I’ve been in touch with several parents from school who think it's ridiculous, ludicrous and diabolical.
“Prom is supposed to be a fun night at your school where you have fun with all your friends and turn up in some mad vehicle.
“I just think it’s wrong that they should put this amount of stress on the students who are already going through enough exam stress as it is."
The school for 11 to 16-year-olds became an academy two years ago and has a strong emphasis on academic achievement, winning a Good rating from Ofsted last month.
But Mr Townend says his talented son, a budding engineer who loves making computers, already has a place at college and hopes to go to university without the extra lessons.
Headteacher Cara Ackroyd issued a statement defending the "guidelines" and said they were not based on students' academic abilities.
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She said: "Prom is a special evening where we celebrate and reward the huge amount of extra effort that Year 11 have to put in to be successful.
"There have always been guidelines around what is expected of students in the run up to the all-important examinations."
Ms Ackroyd said the stipulations would "ensure that every individual student's life chances are maximised before they leave us for the next stage of their education, employment or training".
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