A SCHOOL will install CCTV this week to watch over pupils and deter 'malicious' conduct.

Aureus School in Didcot is taking a proactive approach to end incidents of 'reckless' behaviour, both inside the school and in the wider community.

In a news bulletin on Friday, it revealed that Thames Travel had threatened to refuse some Aureus pupils if they keep misbehaving on board.

The bulletin the week before also said there had been 'a few malicious activations of the fire alarm recently.'

Writing to parents about the fire alarm, the school's executive headteacher Jarleth O'Brien said: "I take this behaviour extremely seriously and take firm action when we find the culprit.

"Unfortunately, there have been a couple of occasions when we have been unable to identify who was responsible.

"You will be pleased to learn that we will be installing CCTV in the inside of the building over half term, so this reckless behaviour will cease to disrupt the learning of everyone else."

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It did not clarify where exactly the camera or cameras would be placed.

Last year the secondary school told parents it would be drawing up a community expectations agreement, after complaints about pupils' behaviour in the nearby ASDA supermarket.

Parents were asked to remind their child to be 'Aureus ambassadors in the community' and that they should not enter ASDA in large groups.

The bus provider Thames Travel has now complained about pupils' behaviour on the X32 service.

The route runs through Great Western Park in Didcot, where Aureus School is based, and stops nearby on Didcot Road.

Part of the bulletin posted on the school's website on Friday said: "[Bus] drivers are having to respond to the bell being rung when it isn’t needed, and there have been complaints about student language.

"We are working with the company, who are considering refusing travel if the situation does not improve.

"If your child uses the public service please remind them of societal expectations on public transport."

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A spokesman for Thames Travel said: “When there is bad behaviour by pupils, we notify the school concerned, as our buses are for everyone and we have a duty of care to all passengers and our colleagues.

"A ban is always an absolute last resort, and in this case we hope parents take note and appropriate action with their children.”

The academy opened in September 2017, with the motto 'nurturing hearts and minds', and will eventually teach up to 1,200 pupils aged 11-16.

The oldest pupils are currently in Year 9, aged between 13 and 14.

Earlier this year Aureus was awarded gold status in the Carnegie Centre of Excellence Mental Health Award for Schools, and was praised for its forward-thinking approach to mental health and wellbeing.

Several parents posted on the public Spotted: Didcot Facebook page this month, sharing their children's experiences at the school.

One mother said: "My daughter absolutely loves it.

"She is an SEN [special educational needs] student and has been confident and growing brilliantly, she says she feels supported and that the teaching assistants of the class are always around."

Another wrote: "My son who is in Year 8 now is absolutely thriving at Aureus. He is a completely different child.

"He has gone from not writing, spending a lot of time out of class and generally having trouble coping with school to the complete opposite."

Another poster described the school's approach to education as 'unorthodox, but in a good way'.

In the bulletin on Friday, executive head Mr O'Brien said: "There are things we do well, but we are honest about our shortcomings and I know the second half of the Autumn term will bring an intense focus on improving those shortcomings rapidly."