Independent education investigative journalist Warwick Mansell has written about events at Byron Court on his blog and was recently interviewed by podcasters Two Heads about prospects for changes in Ofsted inspections and academisation under the new Labour Government.
Byron Court Primary School is no more and one of the podcasters described the eradication of its identity over the school holiday as 'Orwellian'. She was particularly concerned about its effect on the children.
It is early days, but I am already hearing reports that under the Harris regime discipline is much stricter and there are concerns about individual support for special needs pupils being withdrawn.
The community school currently known as Byron Court Primary School will open after the summer holiday as Harris Primary Academy South Kenton. The eradication of the Byron Court identity will be completed with the appointment of a Principal, Mr Hyneman, from within the Harris Federation; a new school uniform to be worn on September 4th, the first day of term, (see letter to parents below) and a two week half-term holiday in October for all but Year 6.
Campaigners against forced academisation had their hopes raised following what they saw as a positive end of term meeting with the new Labour Secretary of State, Bridget Phillipson.
In a letter to the Chair of Goverrnors, Claire Burton, the DfE Regional Director, states that the Secretary of State, has confirmed the takeover by Harris from September 1st. She rejects the campaigners' call for a pause in the process to enable the school to show its progress through a re-inspection.
Many local stakeholders have voiced their desire for certainty, for the pupils, the
parents, the staff and the wider community. This is particularly acute given how close
we are now to the start of a new academic year. Pausing the process now will bring
further uncertainty without a clear alternative. In all likelihood, it would lead to a
longer period of upheaval, which is not in the best interests of the children at the
school.
Ironically, Harris recognises progress already made in its letter to parents when they say they will support the school as it 'continues to raise standards.'
Regarding the Ofsted judgement of 'Inadequate', Burton says that the school had already been in need of support prior to the inspection although that judgement may have come as a surprise to parents:
My colleagues at Ofsted have confirmed that the
Ofsted complaints process has been fully exhausted. I am aware of a further
complaint to the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted (ICASO)
which is independent of Ofsted. Nothing of substance has been upheld.
You will note that there is no mention of a re-inspection. This means that the next Ofsted inspection of the school will be of its Harris entity and the improvements made by the LA and current school leadership will not be captured. However, the improvements will be built on what has already been achieved as demonstrated by the recent Year 6 SAT results.
The decision raises questions about the new Labour Government's policy both on academisation, including forced academisation, and on the much criticised Ofsted that many see as overly influenced by academy chiefs and Tory education policy.
Meanwhile Save Byron Court and the NEU must be congratulated for their energetic and persistent campaign.
Jenny Cooper, of Brent NEU said:
Yesterday, the Save Byron Court campaign learned that Harris will be taking over on 1st September. This is a terrible decision for staff, children and community and we know it is based on an Ofsted complaints process and forced academisation system that are not fit for purpose and do not involve stakeholders. The determination of our members, reps and the local community meant that we sustained 16 strike days, countless rallies and protests, a 2100 strong petition, FOI requests ( still going), four complaints to Ofsted ( still going) and a successful delaying of TUPE three times plus a meeting with Bridget Phillipson and a further pause in the decision.
The Grunwick strikes are painted on our walls in Brent, and on our union banner; they remain an iconic part of local and national history. You do not have to win everything you ask for to win the moral fight.
The moral fight is won. We wanted our academy order revoked but we have successfully shown that it should be and have shown ourselves and others how to fight.
Thank you to all of you who sent messages of solidarity, visited the picket lines, gave donations, wrote letters, joined the protests and helped share our story.
The members are not defeated; they have found their voices and will not be walked over.
It's obviously a heavy blow and there's no real way of escaping that feeling, but every single person who fought should hold their heads up very, very high. Don't get too down, we all live to fight another day. And we all will until the whole rotten system and those who run it, are brought down. You never went meekly like so many others. Phillipson needs to understand that while academisation exists, the (re)building of a comprehensive, inclusive, progressive and democratic school system is impossible. You're either for academisation or you're against it. The Byron Court campaigners will always be on the right side of history. Love the fighters in Brent.
Save Byron Court camapaign made the following statement on Friday August 2nd:
We are devastated by Bridget Phillipson's decision to proceed with the takeover of Byron Court by Harris Federation from September. Despite us exposing major issues with the Ofsted inspection, the many aspects of this opaque system that are rigged against parents and deny us choice and voice, and presenting the major rapid improvements made proving ours is not a failing school, we have been ignored by Bridget Phillipson in much the same way as her predecessor did. Specific concerns have not been addressed; we have been denied the opportunity of reinspection; we weren't even given the courtesy of a direct reply to us or our public petition signed by over 2,000 people.
There were many factors at play that led Byron Court to forced Academisation - turbulent leadership with an absent headteacher during the inspection; ineffective support and scrutiny from Governors and the LA; an understaffed SLT - yet despite this, with parent scrutiny, greater leadership capacity, and LA support, the improvements made at the school in one academic year were incredible.
The staff at Byron Court really believed in the school and in keeping it a community school, they too are victims of this unjust system, they too were failed by those entrusted with Byron Court - we needed them to fight for us, not to hand our school over to a corporate machine. Whilst we did get public support for a pause in this process from the school leadership and chair of governors, with only a week to go before the DfE deadline, it was all too little, too late.
I would be the first to argue that SAT results are not the be all and end all in terms of judging school effectiveness and pupil achievement. Children and learning are much more complicated than that but as they are much used by school watchdog Ofsted they have been waited with bated breath by Byron Court school staff and pupils.
One of the main planks in their argument against a forced takeover by Harris Federation has been that the school should be given the chance to show improvement as a result of management changes and the support of local authority advisers and others.
Improved SAT and other test results were seen as a key aspect of showing improvement and thus avoiding the further upheaval that academisation would bring.
SAT results are not validated until December 2024 but the unvalidated figures show a massive improvment in some areas from the previous year and overall the school is achieving at or above the national average. Eary Years are affected by the fact that Byron Court does not have its own nursery and therefore children come in from a range of provision or no provision at all.
The figures have arrived in time to be presented as evidence in the upcoming meeting with the new Secretary of State.
When I spoke to Year 6 pupils with their parents outside the school after the SATs in May they seemed very confident in the test outcome. The results and a tribute to the children and their teachers and classroom assistants.
Blue figures in brackets refer to the percentage achiveing 'Great Development GD' and are not the previous year's results. They are tabulated separately.
The delegation speaks to Full Council and Cllr Gwen Grahl, lead Cabinet member for schools, responds
Transcript of Save Byron Court campaigners' delegation to Brent Council July 8th 2024
We're from Save Byron Court, campaign fighting against the Government driven forced academisation and takeover of Byron Court Primary School by Harris Federation. Ours is a collective effort by parents, community members and school staff, including many who have taken 15 days of strike action so far and are prepared to keep going.
Our campaign has highlighted many injustices baked in to a system that is designed against state schools - chronic underfunding, a punitive inspection regime, a national rush to privatise education despite widespread opposition and no opportunity for school improvements to be made, and a worrying lack of transparancy and impartiality with the decision making regarding the future of Byron Court.
We've received invaluable support by Barry Gardiner MP, Cabinet member Gwen Grahl, and local politicians and candidates across the political spectrum, now it's imperative that the new Govt urgently intervenes in our case if they are indeed serious about both protecting and wanting all state schools to flourish. We need a renewed commitment to our community schools.
It is little coincidence that the recent turbulence and perceived issues in our school have occurred with within the Governing Body. In the current academic year, we've only had 1 parent governor to vocalise and represent our views and interests. Yet only a few years ago there were 5 parent governor posts, these were subsequently cut by the Board without the consent or even consultation with the parent community. Successful governing bodies must act as custodians connected to and not untethered from parents and the wider community. Of course it's important that volunteers are found outside of the school community to ensure a broad range of skills and experience, however for too long there's been an imbalance and to our detriment.
Will the Council agree to undertake a review of school governing bodies across the borough to ensure adequate/sufficient parent voice and share ways of encouraging both more and a diverse range of parents and carers to step forward?
We've also experienced poor level of communications.
This is exemplified by the fact the Ofsted report was published in February
A major concern brought up by the parent body at the time was the lack of meaningful communication from the school.
We were told at the time that more open communication would happen in the form of meetings and emails.
We met with council officers in April along with Cllr Grahl, where we were assured that the improvement initiatives at the school would take precedence and would be prioritised over the academisation process and its related admin.
On multiple occasions we have reached out to Gillian Barnard (CoG) and J. Parry (Interim Executibe Headteacher ) as well as directly to council officers.
We were advised 1st July the focus on communications out of the school were to be around the strike action.
Irrespective of political leanings, views on academiation and even the integrity of the OFSTED inspection and report itself. Byron Court is a school that was rated “inadequate” under the Local Authority. Byron Court is still under local authority remit . The parents and carers deserve to be informed by the LA and the school about any improvements and initiatives that have been introduced and implemented to improve their children's learning journey and schooling experience.
We have been told that Byron Court is an anomaly and that Brent has 96.7% of its primary schools rated as good or outstanding.
Many of the problems at Byron Court have been brought about through lack of engagement, communication and transparency between parents, LA/ school.
What lessons can be learnt from Byron Court’s journey post-inspection that can ensure that other schools won't be met with the same possible fate.
It would be useful for the Council to benchmark, develop & share best practice around communications
Cllr Grahl referred to DfE Guidance on Governing Bodies. This is the Guidance updated in March 2024 (after the publication of the Ofsted Report). My emphasis in bold. LINK
The
total membership of a governing body must be no fewer than 7 governors
and must include:
at least 2 parent
governors, elected where possible, otherwise appointed
the headteacher
(ex-officio), unless they resign the office of governor
only one elected staff
governor
only one local authority
governor, nominated by the local authority and appointed by the governing
body
The
governing body can also appoint co-opted governors as permitted by their instrument
of government and as it considers necessary. The number of co-opted governors
who are eligible to be elected or appointed as staff governors must not
(when added to the one staff governor and the headteacher) exceed one-third of
the total membership of the governing body (Constitution Regulations 2012 – Part 3 regulation 13)
Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commitee: Byron Court presentation & responses
Two Byron Court Parents attended Scrutiny Committee thia evening to ask questions about what Brent Council had done to help the school when it was realised it was in difficulties, The Rapid Improvement Group (RIG) was set up in September 2022 more than a year before the Ofsted Inspection of November 2023.
Parents' Questions
Tanisha Phoenic: RIG history - we
have put in an FOI request to help us understand how an Outstanding school with
a teaching status in the borough has been left to languish, in the meantime,
can the panel answer some of our questions:
Rig was put in place on Sept
2022, chaired by Shirley Parks. Why was RIG put in place? What issues were
identified in 2022? Are some of these the same issues that Ofsted identified in
their inspection?
What was achieved by the RIG
between its inception and the Ofsted inspection in Nov 2023? How many meetings
took place, what was the level of monitoring and support put in place?
Was it identified during the
year that the RIG was in place that improvements were not being made? What
interventions if any were made, were these issues escalated? If so, then where?
We understand that the
support to the school via the RIG and SESS has not been as intensive as
required i.e. meetings being frequently cancelled by Council officers. Has this
in part led to the poor inspection rating?
Did the Council experience
any barriers working effectively with the previous Headteacher and governing
body?
We want to understand if a
school mentioned in 3.3.2 that was rated “requires improvement” in
2022/2023has had a RIG in place and
been on “journey to good” - why has the RIG failed Byron Court?
Do the committee really
believe that they have done all in their power to help the school and avoid
what has now become a forced academy order?
Vina Vekria - Assurances from
now to academisation
Whilst we acknowledge that
you are legally bound to comply with the academisation order, Gwen Grahl
reaffirmed the council's commitment to supporting and improving the school and
assured us additional leadership capacity would be in place after Easter.
What if any guarantees can
you give us that the council will be living up to its commitment to
‘protect/promote community schools’ as per the Labour manifesto? Will you
commit to pushing for a reinspection?
We are campaigning for a
reinspection of the school, what guarantees can you give that the RIG will do
what is expected and required to achieve the rapid improvements needed?
What additional resources -
mentioned by Cllr Grahl at the Cabinet meeting on 9 Apr - are being put into
the school and when? Will this address the huge lack in capacity in the Senior Leadership Team?
Will the Scrutiny Committee
agree to return to this item at their next meeting in order to provide details
of actions put in place?
There was no specific reply to the RIG question or on resources as applied to Byron Court although it was claimed that RIGs were generally successful. Cllr Grahl spoke about her letter to the Secretary of State and offered to meet with parents. Cllr Ketan Sheth (Chair) said the Committee would keep a watching brief and parents could submit questions to the Committee. Answering a councillor's question Brent officers said that they were confident that no other Brent school would suffer a similar fate to Byron Court.
This is the FoI request made to Brent Council:
Dear Brent Council,
I am writing to you on behalf of over 130 parents involved in the ‘Byron Court Parents’ Campaign group’. The group represents parents who are opposed to the forced academisation of the school following Ofsted’s report.
We urgently request under the Freedom of Information Act the following:
Date of the initiation of Rapid Improvement Group (RIG), details of reasons(or redacted) the RIG was requested/instigated Date of RIG was put into place RIG Lead and its members Aims and Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) of the RIG Minutes from RIG meetings Details (or redacted) of improvements achieved
Representatives of the Harris Federation of Academy Schools could not have failed to hear the chants and shouts of campaigners when they visited Byron Court Primary School to speak to staff after school today.
The quiet suburban streets echoed to 'Hands Off Our School', 'Whose School? - Our School!', 'Kids not Quids'(a reference to the half-million salary of the Harris boss), and 'Byron Court - Can't be bought.'
The recent LINK letter to the DfE by Gwen Grahl Brent Council Lead Member for Schools, was welcomed by many parents I spoke to as a stepping up of the Council's support for the camapign against the Harris takeover. Several councillors sent apologies for not being able to attend, Cllr Jumbo Chan sent a solidarity statement and Cllr Daniel Kennelly (Preston ward) used the megaphone to pledge support for the campaign aim to keep Byron Park as an academy overseen by the local authority.
The campaign demands are basic:
1. Give the new leadership team, helped by the local authority, a chance to demonstrate that they have addressed the issues raised by Ofsted.
2. Suspend the academisation process while that happens and then arrange an Ofsted re-inspection that will hopefully record an improvement and make academisation no longer necessary.
Meanwhile the NEU is conducting a strike ballot on the basis that academisation would change and worsen their conditions of service. Presently many Federation school union branches are in dispute with Harris over wages and conditions.
Several speakers expressed pride in the way staff and parents were united in the battle to Save Byron Court - and the children deserve a mention too. They were passionate in their support for the school and not afraid to shout it out loud and clear.
The bright yellow shirts of the campaigners were symbolic of the upbeat mood of the protesters - they are clearly refusing to be downhearted and will fight on.
