UPDATE: ESFA visit Woodfield School on compliance matters

I understand that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) LINK have visited Woodfield School, Kingsbury, an academy, to investigate compliance issues.  This follows a request by the National Education Union (NEU) in May  asking Secretary of State Damian Hinds and Brent Council for an investigation by a relevant financial watchdog.

The investigation is thought to have centred on allegations regarding a consultant being paid almost £240,000 over 2 years* for around 8 days work a month. Shortly before taking up the post it is claimed he had been a trustee overseeing financial decisions by the academy. LINK

There was a long dispute between staff at the Village School and its governing body over plans to form a Mult Academy Trust with Woodfield School.

The publishing of a report by the ESFA on their investigation is awaited with great interest. I am told that neither the NEU nor staff have as yet seen evidence that the MAT has actually been approved.

*Corrected from initial version which stated one year. Apologies for wrong information.

UPDATE Friday September 7th
Usually well-informed sources say that the EFSA arrived at Woodfield today giving the school 5 days to response before the Agency decides whether to serve a financial notice to improve.

NEU at The Village School win 'the most democratic and union friendly MAT in the country'

Kay Charles, executive headteacher of The Village School and Woodfield Multi-Academy Trust, has given the National Education Union written assurances on the three outstanding issues involved in the recent strikes which were aimed at safeguarding staff conditions of service following the The Village  School governing board's decision to academise to form the Trust.

1, A clause will go into the school pay policy stating that all national pay awards will be honoured.

2, The TUC model union agreement will be adopted which gives all the union rights, and more, enjoyed by staff when The Village was a Brent local authority school.

3. Human Resources policies will be protected by a 5-way lock (not 6 as requested) but with added written agreement that  model Brent and union policies will be used as a benchmark if any policies are changed in the future, as well as written assurances that policies will go to unions and then staff, before going before  governors and trustees.

On the basis of these concessions a meeting of union members voted by a majority to suspend all strike action pending the governing board's meeting in July when it is hoped these documents will be presented and agreed.

It will be made clear by the NEU that members are not stopping all action; they are only suspending it for now and it would re-start if the decisions are reversed.

Jenny Cooper, NEU,  The Village School, in a message to members said:

 For now, things are looking good. What we have now is the most democratic and union friendly Multi-Academy Trust anywhere in the country and that, for us, is a massive victory and has only been achieved through the sheer determination, sacrifice and fight of all of you united.

None of the protections we now have were intended. We have got them purely because of the campaigning, bargaining, twelves days of strikes and three threatened strikes, plus a 100% yes vote in our last ballot and a 100% yes vote in Woodfield's indicative ballot.

We done to you all. We feel really proud to be reps of a union group that is famous across  the country and influencing so many other campaigns.

Hold on to that thought, hold on to your dreams and fighting spirit (it may be needed again), stick together and support each other.

PROUD TO BE A UNION!!!

The Village School governors vote to form multi academy trust with Woodfield School

Cllr Jumbo Chan speaking before the governing body's decision

The governing body of The Village School has released a statement confirming that they voted last night to form a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) with Woodfield School. The MAT will only go ahead if Woodfield governors vote for it on Monday evening.

The statement said:

The governing body concluded that the trust was in the best interests of the school and its pupils.

This is because of the opportunities it allows to embed and deepen collaboration within the security of a long term partnership.

This collaboration can help to increase educational opportunities, reduce costs, and improve our ability to influence other partners because we can speak with a single voice.

Staff terms and conditions would be protected as previously stated.

Dog units deployed at The Village School as governors meet to make academisation decision

The Village School in Kingsbury appear to have hired dog units which are on site now, allegedly to keep staff off the premises when tonight's governing body meeting makes a decision on whether to convert the school into an academy to form a Multi-Academy Trust with Woodfield School.

Brent North MP, Barry Gardiner, had previously urged the governing body to hold their decision making meeting in public.

Barry Gardiner closely questions Cllr Kabir on Village School academisation proposal

Barry Gardiner, the Labour MP for Brent North, The Village School's parliamentary constituency, has written to Cllr Sandra Kabir (Labour), Chair of Governors, with some pertinent questions about the school's proposal to form Multi Academy Trust with Woodfield School.

At the outset I want to put on record my admiration for the work the Governors and staff have done at both the Village School and Woodfield School each of which have been judged by Ofsted as outstanding. However, I write to express my concerns over the current proposal to form a Multi Academy Trust (MAT). I understand that you are inviting comments from parents and staff at schools, other local schools and elected representatives.

I am aware it is for the governing body of the school to determine who should be consulted but I hope you will consider involving local stakeholders with strong links to the school, in addition to the parents, teachers, other staff and their representatives. Can you provide me with a schedule of those you have contacted or who you intend to contact?

I would also ask if the Village School has already applied to the Department for Education (DfE) to become part of a MAT prior to the launch of the Consultation. If so, when did this happen? Can you provide me with a copy of the application and any other correspondence relating to the formation of the MAT, both with the DfE and any other relevant agencies.

The consultation document available on the Village School website sets out all the arguments in favour of forming a MAT, without setting out any of the problems or pitfalls which might arise in the process of creating a Multi Academy Trust or its subsequent operation. I would ask for a specific undertaking from you that during the consultation all responses will be given due consideration, that records of all consultations/responses and minutes of any further meetings are available, in accordance with the Academies Act 2010 and that any necessary further research is undertaken before a final decision is made. I note the five week consultation period ends on the 9th February and the consultation document says a final decision is expected by the end of March 2018.

Does this allow sufficient time for the following actions?

• Contact with all the parents and carers to explain the proposals, collate their observations and respond to them and publish the observations on line.
• Arrange a meeting with parents/carers or other opportunities to explain the proposals.
• Respond to requests (in writing) to view the proposals and answer questions.
• Discuss with staff about what becoming an academy means.
• Organise face to face meetings.

Can you provide me with a time line in relation to each of those points set out in the paragraph above.

The conversion of local authority-maintained schools to academies is a momentous decision involving legal, financial and structural changes and I have a number of concerns that I trust you will consider carefully.

The Village School benefited from a £29m capital investment from Brent Council to ensure the education of children with complex learning difficulties and disabilities would be transformed. Is it right that this public money and the capital assets should be outside of effective democratic control? In recent years the Village School and Woodfield School have worked together extensively on joint projects and in partnership with others such as the College of North West London (CNWL) for post-16 opportunities. It is unclear to me why why this positive arrangement should not continue.  This is not the case of a failing school being helped out by joining with a more successful neighbour. These are two existing successful schools. As such the case for a MAT must pass a very high threshold to show that the change is necessary.

I note that the school governors say they feel the extra freedom regarding curriculum and budget will help develop the vision for the school and ultimately improve the lives and learning of children. However, the consultation document states the leadership are still exploring the opportunities and checking staffing, finance, contracts lands an buildings. I find it difficult to see how, until the full details of the above are known, it can be sensible to rush into any change of legal status for either school.

Both schools already successfully develop children in all aspects of their lives, and I would question whether changing the status can deliver the value to compensate the extra work and extra risk involved in conversion to a MAT.

London schools within the local government framework have a proud and distinguished record of working together to reduce inequalities and raise academic achievements. This is founded on a high level of capital and revenue investment by councils across the city and, of course, payments out of the MAT budget allocation will need to be made to pay for services no longer provided by the local authority.

The Village School is an outstanding example of a school which has worked successfully with a council framework and benefited extensively from the capital and revenue investment I have referred to.

There is no guarantee that these services will not cost more 'even if taken from the local authority.' Critically the democratic oversight which the Local Education Authority (LEA) currently provides to ensure that the school provides value for money will be lost.

If the Academy were to struggle financially or academically there would be no back up from the local authority.

As a local authority school, staff terms and conditions are negotiated nationally and have protection. The Village School have said they will put in place protections to secure the staff terms and conditions are safeguarded. But what are these protection(s) and how does the school propose to make them legally binding for the future? This should have been clearly set out prior to any consultation, not alluded to during it. I am advised that many staff at Woodfield are agency staff and all staff are required to clock in and out each day.

Have the governors also considered the effect this might have on staff moral and whether it would lead to a high turnover of staff, including those with many years of experience who contribute so much to the school's current success.

I look forward to your full response to these serious concerns as a matter of urgency.

'Why take a successful school away from local accountability, connections and scrutiny?' Public Meeting 8th February 6pm Brent Civic Centre

From Barry Gardiner MP

Brent North MP Barry Gardiner has called an urgent meeting at the Civic Centre on Thursday 8^th February to discuss plans to join the Village School with Woodfield School to form a Multi-Academy Trust.

6:00pm at Brent Civic Centre Conference Room on Thursday 8^th February 2018.

Senior Staff and governors from the school have been invited to answer questions and explain the proposed move to parents, staff and members of the community. There is a stay and play children’s activity facility in a separate room to allow parents to attend the meeting.

Barry said:  “I was pleased to welcome a group of parents and teachers who came to lobby me at the House of Commons recently. They raised a number of serious concerns about the proposal. It is right that governors should have the opportunity to hear from all the interested, caring and committed individuals who work in the schools or whose children are educated there and of course for the governors to explain why they think this Multi Academy Trust is necessary.

Ofsted, has rated the Village School outstanding in every area of its work, including how it cares for these wonderful, special children.  The governors must explain clearly to the community what the advantage to the children is to take a highly successful caring school away from local accountability, local connections and local scrutiny?   I have already written to the interim executive head of The Village School and Woodfield School asking just those questions.”

Barry Gardiner MP's Public Meeting on academisation Thursday 5pm Civic Centre

Pressure mounts over academisation of The Village School

Brent North Labour Party has now joined Brent Central CLP LINK in opposing the academisation of The Village School in Kingsbury through the formation of a Multi-Academy Trust with Woodfield School LINK.

Brent North CLP welcomed what they called Brent Council's 'decision' to return out-sourced services in-house and said that this should also apply to academies, noting the return of Sandown Bay Academy in the Isle of Wight to local authority control. They called for Labour's National Education Service to include a policy to return all privatised academies to local authority control.

They appealed to all governors of the school, whose chair is Brent North Labour member and the Labour Group Whip,  Cllr Sandra Kabir, to pause the process and postpone the vote on academisation due on February 26th so that the school, local authority and unions could have talks to consider alternatives to academisation. In addition they asked that union representatives, who are also staff governors, be allowed to report back on what is going on at governor meetings.

Finally the motion called for the final vote on academisation to take place publicly with observers able to attend and speak.

The motion passed without opposition and, according to sources, the support of Barry Gardiner MP (Labour, Brent) who was present at the meeting.

Academy conversion of The Village School would complete privatisation of special education in Brent

If The Village School were to academise it would be the third Brent special school to take this route. Woodfield converted in April 2014 and Manor formed the Brent Specialist Academy Trust, along with The Avenue special free school, in April 2017.  This would remove all the borough's  specialist special education schools from Brent Council oversight and open the way to them combingin to form a Multi-Academy Trust. The vehicle already exists in the Brent Specialist Academy Trust.

All three schools co-operated in setting up the free school and claimed that the move was supported by Brent Council.

Brent Labour as represented by councillors has never taken a firm stand against academisation or free schools. It claimed the local authority did not have the resources to support Copland High School when it failed Ofsted and supported Ark taking it over as Ark Elvin. Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, is the local authority representative on the Ark Elvin governing body. The authority has supported Ark in opening a new primary 3 form entry free school on the York House site in Wembley.

The stance taken by Brent Central CLP, Brent Central CLP trade union liaison officers and Cllr Jumbo Chan is therefore a significant departure from this policy of acquiescence.

They are not only up against Muhammed Butt but also Cllr Sandra Kabir (Queensbury) who chairs The Village School governing body - the same governing body that wants to convert the school to academy status!  The lobbying of the Labour Group to oppose the position of its own chief whip is rich in irony.  Cllr Mili Patel, lead member for chidlren and families, is relatively inexperienced and does not appear to have made any statement on the issue.

The lobby of the Labour Group which will include NEU officials and staff from The Village School will take place at 6pm this evening in the antrium of Brent Civic Centre.

For the arguments against academies see the Anti Academies Alliance website HERE    The TUC, NASUWT, NUT, ATL, UCU, UNISON, UNITE, GMB, PCS, MU and FBU are affiliated to the Anti Academies Alliance.

Now Woodfield School consults on academy conversion

Woodfield School, a secondary special needs school in Kingsbury, Brent has announced that it is consulting on the possibility of converting to secondary status.

It would be the first special needs school to convert and the last of the local authority secondary schools to move to academy status.

The document below has sent out to interested parties and sets out the Governing Body's position:

The Governing Body of Woodfield School is exploring whether to convert to academy status. As part of this exploration, the Governors are seeking responses about whether to convert, especially the reasons for the views that are held. The responses will help inform Governors’ final decision.