The government is investigating safety at schools run by the National Autistic Society after claims that a child was found eating a dead rat and a teacher brought in a sword.
Third Sector has seen a host of documents relating to these and other incidents, which have led to the Department for Education demanding assurances about safeguarding.
Other alleged incidents included staff being threatened with bottles and scissors.
The National Autistic Society has been providing specialist education to young people with autism for more than 50 years.
It runs four independent schools and a further three academy schools as the sponsor of the National Autistic Society Academies Trust.
The safeguarding concerns relate to incidents at the independent schools and the academy-run free schools.
Neither the charity nor the trust were prepared to comment on the alleged incidents or the investigation.
But the trust said it had been recruiting new senior staff with specialist safeguarding experience.
The Department for Education wrote to senior staff at the academies trust last month in response to concerns raised inside the trust, the charity and with regulators.
Those issues included reports that police were called to one academy after a teacher brought a sword onto school grounds.
The letter also referred to reports that a vulnerable child at one of the charity’s independent schools was discovered eating a dead rat, and that both independent and academy schools have seen high levels of violence toward staff.
Data on four of the seven schools linked to the National Autistic Society, seen by Third Sector, shows that there were more than 1,200 incidents of harm to staff in total recorded in the first six months of this year, including people being attacked with bottles and scissors.
The DfE has asked the trust to clarify whether required safeguarding policies are in place for its schools, how the policies are applied and how information is shared with its trustees.
In a separate development, the Charity Commission confirmed that it opened a compliance case into the National Autistic Society last year in relation to safeguarding concerns at a number of sites linked to the charity, including schools. It closed the case in February this year.
The commission considered issuing the National Austistic Society with an official warning over concerns relating to one independent school but ultimately decided against doing so, it is understood.
One person familiar with the issues said: “The schools are not an environment I would want to send vulnerable children to. These are vulnerable children being massively let down.
“A lot of public money has been spent on these schools, under the veneer of this national brand, but confidence in the brand is not borne out in the quality of the schools.”
In a statement, Lesley Andrews, director of assurance and compliance at the National Autistic Society, said: “The National Autistic Society takes safeguarding within our schools extremely seriously. Any incidents or concerns are investigated thoroughly and appropriate action taken.
“As part of our commitment to quality and safeguarding, we work positively with regulatory bodies to further improve practice and strategic governance across our settings.
“Our absolute priority is to run the best possible support and services for autistic people. We continue to work hard, alongside regulators, local authorities and other agencies, to do everything possible to make sure we meet the high standards we, the people we support and their families expect.
“We are proud that recent Ofsted reports have recognised the high standards and effectiveness present in National Autistic Society schools, and are committed to improving support and opportunities for autistic people.”
In a separate statement, the academies trust said: “Across our three schools, safeguarding is our absolute top priority and we have exacting standards on the processes and practices we expect.
“We work hard to make sure that each school provides a safe, welcoming and nurturing place in which our pupils can grow in confidence and thrive.
“Dr Nic Crossley has been brought in as our new chief executive, bringing extensive experience of safeguarding and inclusion. She has recently appointed a senior team, including a new director of education and safeguarding, who has a nationally recognised track record in safeguarding.
“Under Dr Crossley’s leadership, we continuously look for ways in which we can improve. We welcome challenge and are working closely and constructively with all regulatory bodies to make any improvements in practice that are needed.”
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “We can confirm we opened a case regarding the National Autistic Society in March 2021, following concerns around safeguarding.
“We met with trustees and subsequently provided advice. The case was closed in February 2022.”
The DfE declined to comment.