"I'm Not Joinin' No B Ark, Man..!"

Remember this place?

Well....

It was a daring bid for freedom that could have come straight out of The Great Escape or The Colditz Story.

But the intrepid five who attempted to tunnel under a spike-topped 12ft metal fence using nothing more than pilfered cutlery were not plucky PoWs fleeing the Nazis – but Nottingham schoolboys trying to break out of their city academy.

If any of the youngsters tasted liberty, however, it was short- lived as the culprits were soon rounded up, and the already imposing security measures tightened up even further to thwart future escape efforts.

 /facepalm

Tracey Phillipson, whose daughter is a Year 9 pupil, said: ‘The fencing with security signs all over it does make it look a bit more like a prison than a school and I guess to some pupils that’s a challenge.'

You could say it's merely trying to acclimatise them to their likely future 'careers'..?

The school, which is in the deprived Hyson Green area of the city, is in ‘special measures’ after an inspection by the watchdogs Ofsted last year ruled it was ‘inadequate’.

It has suffered from high truancy rates, and pupils aged under 16 are not allowed out of the grounds without permission during the day.

Ofsted also noted in its report: ‘Students’ conduct, particularly outside lessons, shows a lack of respect for belonging to the academy.’

How (un)surprising...