Schoolgirl expelled for complaining

A schoolgirl has been expelled from school after complaining about the standard of teaching.

Sarah Briggs, 15, was barred from Queen Elizabeth's School, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, after claiming the comprehensive had failed to make crucial changes recommended in a report by Ofsted, the education regulator. Together with three other pupils, she alleged she was falling behind in her GCSE work, citing one of the main reasons as teacher absenteeism. The other two pupils apologised, but Sarah, of Pleasley, near Mansfield, said: "I am standing by my comments." In a letter to Sarah's parents, Susan, 40, and David, 43, the headteacher of the school, Nicola Atkin, said Sarah had been "excluded" because of her comments, which bring the school into "disrepute", and for "serious disrespectful conduct towards staff in school". A spokesman at the school said neither the headteacher nor teaching staff were prepared to comment.