A PETITION has been launched to reinstate a 75-year-old school crest which campaigners claim has been replaced by a ‘Disney version’.

Former teachers of Lady Lumley’s School in Pickering, Mac and Linda Brackstone have set up the online petition saying the school’s history and identity had been erased in an act of cultural vandalism

In Spring, 2021 the Coast and Vale Learning Trust, based at Scalby School, Scarborough, took control of Lady Lumley’s School, which was originally founded in 1657 using funds provided by Lady Lumley to educate local children.

The Brackstones said that the CEO of the Trust, Brian Crosby, subsequently stated that at that point, Lady Lumley’s School “ceased to exist and a new institution was formed”. They added: “He also stated that the Trust was entitled to change the name of the school and the school crest, but “the Trust Board made a commitment to respect the history of the school and will continue to do so”.

However, in a very short time, the CEO had imposed a new school crest.

“The historic, authentic crest had been used since 1946. Seventy five years of the school’s history and identity was erased in an act of cultural vandalism by a CEO acting on behalf of an agency totally unconnected to the local community.”

Mac, a retired history teacher, and Linda, who worked at the school over 30 years, said the centrepiece of the original crest was the Lumley Coat of Arms, entrusted to the school by the Earl of Scarborough to memorialise its founder.

“ Without permission, the CEO replaced it with the Trust’s adulterated version which promotes an educational message, instead of celebrating the school’s founder, Lady Lumley, herself.”

The Brackstones added: “Lady Lumleys’ coat-of-arms is essential to the identity and the history of the school founded by Lady Lumley in 1657. Generations of our community have proudly worn this badge. Changing it without consulting either staff or students, both past and present OR the Lady Lumley’s family, is disrespectful to the memory of our patron and our local heritage.

“The Disney badge undermines Lady Lumley’s importance, putting its educational message before the celebration of the benefactor’s memory.

“When we contacted the prestigious ‘College of Arms’ in London, they stated that the Trust’s version of the badge was ‘no longer the Coat-of-Arms of Lady Lumley’. This fits with the Trust’s comment, when challenged about the changes, that Lady Lumleys as a school had ceased to exist. The majority of local people when canvassed had no idea that these alterations to the badge had been made and expressed their displeasure at the Trust’s blatant disregard for local heritage.

“In our opinion, the Trust has acted unethically and the correct thing for them to do is to consult with the local community on this issue. The original Lumley Coat-of-Arms and crown should be reinstated on the badge with the outdated Latin motto replaced with ‘Founded by Lady Lumley in 1657’. Then we could, once again, be proud of our badge and our local school.”

Mr Crosby CEO of the Coast and Learning Trust, said: “Coast and Vale Learning Trust was asked in 2020 to take Lady Lumley’s into their family of schools due to the school being deemed as Inadequate at their recent Ofsted inspection. The Trust has made every effort to respect the history of the school, including the foundation. Only one person contacted us during the first eighteen months of our involvement with the school, they refused to meet with us to discuss the logo, having been given numerous opportunities.

“The person involved said that we would be contacted by the College of Arms in London and Lord Scarborough, but as yet, we have not received such correspondence. Strangely, they changed the historic logo that goes with the Coast of Arms.

“Lady Lumley’s staff are working tirelessly to produce a school that provides a great education for all the young people in the area, the results this year show that this is being rapidly achieved. The local community are more than welcome to visit the school and see the excellent work that Clair Foden, Headteacher and her staff are doing.”

The petition can be found at https://www.petitions.net/to_reinstate_the_lady_lumleys_coat_of_arms_onto_the_badge_of_lady_lumleys_school