Woodfield says NO to academy conversion

The governors of Woodfield Sports College having agreed to pursue academy status in May, decided to drop the proposal at a governors meeting on June 13th. 

This followed a secret ballot in which nearly three quarters of the teaching staff voted to oppose the academy proposal. Union members also voted overwhelmingly to take strike action if necessary to keep Woodfield within the local authority family of schools.

I understand that Brent Council also intervened positively in the debate. If this marks a more proactive stance in safeguarding the local family of democratically accountable schools, it is very welcome.

More academies and possibly a free school in Brent?

Following Claremont High School's decision to convert to academy status Kingsbury High School has decided to consult on a similar move. I also understand that a secondary special school, Woodfield Sports College in Kingsbury,  is also considering conversion following Michael Gove's decision to allow special schools to become academies. All these schools are in the north of Brent and would join the Ark Academy (also in the north) and Crest Boys, Crest Girls and City Academy in the list of academies in Brent. At present Brent Council, unlike their counterparts in Harrow, appear (at least publicly) to be making no effort to dissuade them.  There will be further pressure on other secondary schools to follow with subsequent impact on  primary schools. Academies get extra money which is taken from the overall Brent school budget meaning less money for the remaining community schools.

In addition Rivendale Education Limited, recently granted permission to open a free school in Shepherds Bush has expressed an interest in opening a school in Brent citing proximity to Brent, Brent's relative deprivation and the shortage of school places.  Rivendale says it wants to run on the lines of John Lewis but its website is worrying sparse for an organisation that wants to run schools. The link to FAQs reveals none at all and the page on admissions says these are still being fine tuned. The organisation is run from a private address in Shepherds Bush a few doors from where I used to live in the 60s. The more you delve the less substance there appears to be - judge for yourself: LINK

Meanwhile Brent Council is at last seeking views on how to address the shortage of school places in order to put together a 3 year strategy.  Unfortunately they have written to governing bodies asking for a response by Friday June 10th. This gives just 10 days, taking into account next week's half-term holiday and few if any governing body will have a meeting planned in time to formulate a considered response. I hope they will set a new deadline nearer the end of the Summer Term - this is too important an issue to be rushed.