Seven Harrow schools opt for academy status

In a move that will raise fears of similar action in Brent,  seven secondary schools in neighbouring Harrow have decided to become academies from August 1st 2011.

The schools are Bentley Wood, Canons High, Harrow High, Hatch End, Nower Hill, Park High and Rooks Heath College. Whitmore High is the only non-faith community high school left as a result og the opt-out.

The academy conversion follow a consultation process which saw the local authority plead for the retention of the local authority family of schools and students from Nower Hill walking out in a protest against lack of consultation.

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.

HOLLAND PARK LOBBY TONIGHT

My internet has been down so sorry for the lateness of this notice:

URGENT: JOIN THE LOBBY OF HOLLAND PARK SCHOOL'S GOVERNORS. MEET AT THE SCHOOL TONIGHT (Thusrday) AT 6.00 PM
 

After a "consultation" with parents which consisted of a meeting with parents on Monday evening oh yes, they also had the opportunity to comment online by, Wednesday - they had received the invitation the previous Thursday - and after promising students that they would be consulted, THE GOVERNORS OF HOLLAND PARK SCHOOL ARE GOING AHEAD WITH THE MEETING AT WHICH THEY WILL DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO CONVERT TO ACADEMY STATUS.

The meeting is at the school tonight at 6.30 pm. If you agree that such an important decision should not be taken without proper consultation with all groups - teaching and non-teaching staff and their unions, parents, students, local primary schools and the community - that this consultation should include information and arguments for and against Academy status and that after a FULL consultation there should be ballots of staff, parents and students, please join us to lobby the governors. 

ASK THEM TO POSTPONE THEIR DECISION PENDING THE COMPLETION OF FULL, INFORMED CONSULTATION.

Holland Park academy conversion to be rushed through

I heard today at the SERTUC Conference on Academies and Free Schools that parents at Holland Park School in Kensington and Chelsea got a letter on Thursday about a meeting on academy conversion that will take place  on Monday. Governors will make a decicion on Thursday. What a breathtaking contempt for parents, pupils and the community!

Holland Park, where Tony Benn sent his children, is the only community secondary school in Kensington and Chelsea - so where does that leave parental choice?

The parents' meeting is at 6.30pm and leafleting will begin from 6pm or thereabouts.  If you have time please come and join us.

Fighting Academy Conversions and Free Schools

Brent is facing the possibility of more academy conversions and a possible free school (see previous BLOG)  and so a forthcoming conference has come at a vital time. Although the Labour council has apparently been a little more proactive in the case of the Woodfield Sports College it is important that parents, education unions, school students and governors get involved.

On Saturday June 11th there is a conference on the issue organised by SERTUC (the TUC in London, the South East and Easter Region) and the Anti Academies Alliance.

There will be practical workshops for governors, parents, school students and staff and speakers include Lisa Nandy MP, Nigel Gann on school governance, Professor Stephen Ball from the Institute of Education, Christine Blower NUT, Mary Bousted  ATL, Patrick Roach NASUWT, Jon Richards UNISON, Megan Dobney SERTUC, and Alasdair Smith from the Anti-Academies Alliance.

The conference is at Congress House. Great Russell Street, WC1B 3LS from 10.30am-4pm.

To register e-mail sertucevents@tuc.org.uk

Further information HERE

Harrow Education Unions Challenge Academy Conversion

As education unions in Brent consider taking action over Claremont High School's conversion to academy status, their counter-parts in Harrow have issued a statement about proposals for seven of the borough's high schools to become academies. In contrast to Brent Council, Harrow Council has clearly stated its opposition to their schools becoming academies.

This is the statement by the NUT, ATL, NASUWT, GMB and Unison:

Our hard working members in teaching and support roles across Harrow face an unprecedented period of change as seven of Harrow’s secondary schools decide whether or not to break away from the local authority and become answerable to government as independent academy schools. Academy conversion brings with it serious repercussions for our membership who face potential job loss and alterations to their terms and conditions. Yet all we are hearing from school management teams in this consultation is half hearted ‘intentions’ to retain existing national and local terms and conditions with no commitment to formal agreements. 

We will take full part in these important consultations and will use all available means to act in our members'  best interests but we are vigorously opposed to academy conversion and we support Harrow Council’s preference that all schools should remain within the local school family. Our members do not want to become academy employees, do not support the academy programme and are passionately opposed to it.

If the seven school governing bodies do decide to convert to academies, they will be independent from the local authority breaking a rich tradition of community based, locally accountable and publicly-managed schools. For many years our comprehensive schools have been nationally recognised for achievements in educational excellence which have benefited many generations of Harrovians. We do not have a tradition of failing schools which the original style of academies were mainly focused on.

The expansion of academies are no more than a Coalition Government experiment which is intent on breaking up state comprehensive education by introducing competition and demanding that schools compete for money, students and staff as businesses against one another. It is proven that market capitalism has no place in education and these changes are driven by an ideological disdain for all thing’s public. The Coalition Government should not be allowed to play party politics with our children’s future.

It is also claimed by Government that academies will improve standards but independent research and evaluation provides no evidence that academies are better than other schools in raising educational performance. We struggle to see how academy conversion will help schools in Harrow who are already judged to be outstanding and given the unknown and risky implications of conversion, this could have serious implications for our young people’s life chances.

It is also unclear how any of the freedoms which the Government claims academies will bring can improve schools. Harrow schools already work with the biggest devolved school budget than any other local authority in the country and with a significant degree of discretion and freedom to act in collaboration with other schools and Harrow Council.

To suggest, as Bob Blackman MP has done (Conservative Harrow East), that schools should be ‘freed from the dead hand of Harrow Council’ is fundamentally wrong, unhelpful and is fuelled by political prejudice. He does not recognise that academies will be under a far greater degree of central control and scrutiny, in terms of budgets, school performance and governing body appointees than at present and will be directly answerable to the Secretary of State and his regulator, the Young People’s Learning Agency. Free from bureaucratic interference this is not.

"Harrow schools play a major part of community life which means the academy consultation is of paramount importance to the residents of Harrow. The decision by school governing bodies will not only affect the seven schools in consultation but we believe will have a negative impact upon all schools in the borough and will have far reaching implications on the level of educational provision across the area.

Conversion will impact the life chances of future generations of Harrow’s young people and will involve a huge transfer of public assets (e.g. school buildings & land) to the private sector. Any decision should not be taken lightly or without hearing all views from the local community.
"A ‘big question’ like this requires ‘big society’ input, consultation and civic engagement from the wider community. We encourage pupils, parents, staff, our members, Harrow Councillors and interested residents to take part in the school consultation meetings which are taking place on Monday 21st March 2011 at the seven affected schools (more information is available from school websites).

 To hear more of a presentation of the real facts concerning academies we urge people to attend an Anti Academies Alliance parents/public meeting on Friday 25 March at 7pm (Council Chambers, Harrow Civic Centre, Station Road, HA1 2UU).

Claremont Announces Academy Conversion

The unions opposed to Claremont High School are currently deciding on future action on what they regard as a flawed consultation process which denied parents the right to a debate about the issue and a secret, independently run ballot.  Meanwhile the school has posted the following notice on its website about the Governing Body's decision to convert to an academy.

The Governors of Claremont High School have written to staff and parents at the school informing them of the decision expressing their thanks for the range of responses that they have received both for and against the conversion.

The Governors have clearly stated the principles that they applied in reaching their decision. These were:

• The decision must be made with the pupils at the centre of the process so that their happiness at school and continued success should be assured.
• Governors will take full advantage of the opportunities that conversion will bring and also know and act on the new responsibilities.
• Governors will support current staffing levels and ensure that resources are in place to recruit the best teachers and support staff.
• Governors will work closely with the school's leadership team to ensure continued strong financial management so that its students continue to have access to excellent resources and excellent opportunities to enrich their learning.
• Claremont high School will not change its name or its ethos; it will not change its admissions criteria without due process and it will remain within the Brent family of schools.
• Claremont High School will continue to offer the breadth of subjects that it currently offers to ensure that all of its pupils, regardless of their backgrounds or abilities, will reach their full potential.

We believe that whilst this is a significant decision for our school it is one that will bring many opportunities, benefits and advantages to our pupils. We will remain focused on creating a harmonious learning culture; developing our approaches to care, guidance and support; challenging our pupils to achieve and grow and our teachers to be at the top of their game in teaching and learning. In short, all those things that have made us Outstanding.

The  statement does not directly address the concerns of parents and unions and ignores any mention of the impact conversion will make on Brent's overall education budget. Basically Claremont will get  additional money taken from the budget for all schools. There is no mention of the loss of democratic accountability to the wider community. At the briefing meeting for headteachers and governors held last year after the local elections, Councillor Mary Arnold, lead member for Children and Families, made her opposition to academies clear but Krutica Pau, Director of Children and Families said her department would adopt a neutral position.

The headteacher of Claremont has already stated that the school is already in a 'market' situation and the question now arises about what action other Brent secondary schools will take. There were reports last year that the secondary headteachers had informally decided that the schools would all convert at once, to avoid damage to those who didn't convert or converted later. Recently it has been said that the rest were waiting to see  what happened to Claremont before acting.  A mass conversion (sorry about the religious overtones) would mean Brent council would only be responsible for nursery and primary schools which would operate on  significantly reduced  funding with the education budget top-sliced by the new academies.

Accountability behind locked doors

There's a notice on the Claremont High School website saying that consultation on conversion to an academy ended on March 9th and that comments would be considered at last night's governing body meeting. This morning there is no news about any decision made by governors.

However, I am told that things were far from normal when parents and staff arrived to lobby the governors last night. In an echo of the Council's budget setting meeting on February 28th there was increased security at the school, doors were padlocked and lobbyists were not allowed in.  At the last governors' meeting on February 9th, Mr Malloy, headteacher, told governors that if the school became an academy it would be accountable to the community at at a much 'higher level' than at present. Hmm.

Meanwhile the school should have received letters from the trades unions about legal action and some parents are also looking at the possibility of legal remedies to inadequate consultation.

Parents Demand a Voice in Claremont's Future

Despite short notice and a clash with a school production, concerned parents  of Claremont High School students attended a meeting tonight at Kenton Methodist Church Hall about the possible conversion of the school to an Academy.

Parents reported that they had heard little about the proposals and were surprised to hear that a decision may be made tomorrow. One parent reported that he had e-mailed the school with six questions on the issue but had received no response. He had rejected sending his child to Wembley ARK Academy because he had reservations about the academies programme only to hear that the school where he had eventually sent her may itself become an academy.  Another parent commented that 'surgeries'  with senior staff and governors on the issue had been held when other meetings were taking place. There were also complaints about the difficulty of accessing the academy documents on the school's website. One document had a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) with no answers. A letter that had been sent to parents on February 1st had not reached all the parents present and was not seen as even handed in its presentation of the case.

An exchange of opinion and information took place during the meeting and Hank Roberts of the NUT and ATL, two of the unions that had called the meeting, said this was precisely what the education unions wanted.  All they were asking was that parents should have the same opportunity as staff:  to hear both sides of the debate, time to make up their own minds, and then have the chance to express their views in a ballot. A teacher remarked that if the school leadership was so proud of what they were doing in seeking academy conversion why had they not proclaimed it, rather than be secretive. A parent asked why the school hadn't used recent parent meetings to inform them about the issue.

There was general agreement that parents should contact the school by e-mail to say they had not been properly consulted and asking for a delay in the decision so that parents could research the issue, attend a debate representing the case For and Against the proposal, and then cast a ballot. Some parents would attempt to speak to governors before the meeting.

Hank Roberts said that if there was a fair debate and a ballot that went against the unions' point of view they would accept that was the view of parents. The governing body would have to weigh up the views of staff and parents in considering whether to convert. He emphasised that it was all about democracy and that there was the possibility of legal action to ensure the fairness of the process.