Wandsworth Save Our Schools Alliance

28/04/2010

TEACHERS, TRADE UNIONISTS AND PARENTS VOWED TO FIGHT THE TORIES ACADEMY BILL IN WANDSWORTH LAST NIGHT.

THE PACKED MEETING HEARD HOW SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION, MICHAEL GOVE’S PLANS FOR ACADEMY SCHOOLS WERE UNDEMOCRATIC AND FLEW IN THE FACE OF THEIR VISION FOR A ‘BIG SOCIETY’.

Parents and teachers voiced their concerns over the lack of consultation involved in the process of schools applying for academy status. Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said: “The process for a school applying for academy status is that the school goes to the Department for Education website to register their interest and then the governing body makes a decision. That is it. There is no consultation.”

He said “Academy schools are not about encouraging parental influence, they are about creating competition between schools. Academy schools will be clambering for improved exam results. The Tory argument is that Academy schools have better results, but what they don’t tell you is that the admission system is rigged and the qualifications taken are engineered to improve results. In Wandsworth this will mean a two tier education system.

“The Tories also fail to tell us that there is no ‘new’ money for these schools, ultimately this isn’t about opening new schools this is about closing existing ones in a bid to open up the market.”

Jacquie Dyer, governor of Heathbrook Primary School in Lambeth and joint chair of the Elliott School Supporters Group in Wandsworth said “I sent my kids to Elliott school because I wanted them to go to a true community school. A community school is not selective or elitist and dominated by the people who are funding it. In any local area you need a balance of schools and not a borough that is dominated by a particular type of school.

“Elliott wants everyone to achieve and sets high standards around behaviour, the 6th form is absolutely outstanding and if Elliott were to face closure that would be a huge loss to Wandsworth. In all Elliott’s OFSTED reports it comes out on top at ‘Value Added’ where the standard of a school is defined by comparing a cohort when it joins the school and when it leaves.

"Elliott has consistently shown that it enriches pupils' experience of education. I don’t understand where they will find all the money either. If every school registered as outstanding signs up for academy status I just can’t see how they will afford to make them all academies.”

Nadine Houghton, Organiser for Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Union Council, who called the meeting said “We are strongly opposed to Academy schools in Wandsworth, particularly to the Tory proposals which would remove any democratic process for establishing an Academy school. We say what gives governors the right to give away our schools?

“Michael Gove has already said that he has no ‘ideological objection’ to firms profiteering from the education system. Quite simply, we say that education should not be provided by private companies looking to make a quick buck but by a local authority who should have the interests of the pupils, parents and teachers at its heart.

“Plans are currently afoot to turn the old Bolingbroke Hospital site into a parent-led 'free school’. We are not opposed to schools opening where there is a demonstrable need for them but another comment from Gove that ‘free schools' will not need to prove that there is a shortage of places’ shows that the new plans leave existing schools under threat.

“We know that 'free' and Academy schools which promote competition will lead not only to a two tier education system but also to the closure of existing schools. Parents are loyal to their children's schools and we know that they will not want to see local schools close as a result of an Academy or a 'free school' opening up in the same area.

“That is why we have set up the ‘Wandsworth Save Our Schools Alliance’ to oppose all plans for Academy schools and demonstrate the need for good quality state-funded education that provides a decent level of education for every child in the borough.”

The Wandsworth Save Our Schools Alliance will be campaigning in the borough of Wandsworth to ensure that parents and teachers understand the detrimental effect that Academy and 'free schools' could have on their schools and their children's education but will also build a campaign that calls for high quality education for all.

Wandsworth Save Our Schools Alliance will be featuring on the BBC Politics Show on Sunday morning to raise the profile of the campaign.