Parents and staff protest against New Cross school joining academy federation
Teachers and parents are set to stage a protest at plans to effectively make a primary school into an academy without going through the normal process.
Trade unions and fuming families are holding a meeting at Moonshot Community Centre, Angus Street, New Cross, tomorrow – Wednesday March 7 – from 3.45pm, to give pupils’ parents more details of what it will mean for their children.
GMB Southern is campaigning once again to stop academisation in Lewisham borough – and this time the threat comes from a move by the management of Childeric Primary in Deptford.
The anti academies campaign at Childeric which was set up by the GMB and NEU trade unions (which represent support staff and teaching staff respectively) to update parents and carers about the impact of academisation on the school and the wider community.
Barbara Plant, GMB Lewisham education convenor said: “We are hosting this meeting to ensure that parents and carers are in receipt of all the facts when it comes to academy schools. We are concerned that the head has already made an application for an academy order and are worried that the school’s consultation with parents will not give an accurate picture of the realities of academisation.
“For example, schools that are academies take less children with special educational needs and from poorer backgrounds – this would be particularly devastating for the community which Childeric currently serves.
“Once a school becomes an academy it cannot go back to local authority control and can be taken over by other academies. This creates uncertainty and makes academy schools less democratically accountable to their communities.”
Duncan Morrison, Branch official for Lewisham NEU said: “Lewisham schools are amongst the best performing schools in the country, Childeric is a particularly good school – there is no good reason to go down this route.
“It will lead to insecurity amongst staff and divert time and resources away from the day to day business of running the school and into the cumbersome process of converting to an academy.
“We want our school’s leaders focusing on delivering a quality education to our kids not tied up in unnecessary bureaucracy.
“Not only does academisation decrease democratic accountability but academies have a track record of paying more to senior leaders and consultants and less to teachers and support staff, we need to know that our kids are being taught by staff that feel valued and looked after.”
Everyone at the South London Press thanks you for your continued support.
Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has encouraged everyone in the country who can afford to do so to buy a newspaper, and told the Downing Street press briefing:
“A FREE COUNTRY NEEDS A FREE PRESS, AND THE NEWSPAPERS OF OUR COUNTRY ARE UNDER SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL PRESSURE”
If you can afford to do so, we would be so grateful if you can make a donation which will allow us to continue to bring stories to you, both in print and online. Or please make cheques payable to “MSI Media Limited” and send by post to South London Press, Unit 112, 160 Bromley Road, Catford, London SE6 2NZ
It really is important for parents to campaign against schools becoming academies. Parents of local authority schools have an absolute right to be represented on the Governing body. If they are unhappy about something they can get it raise both at the Governing body and at the Town Hall. Academy Trusts are not so accountable and experience shows that they are more likely just to get rid of a pupil, rather than deal with a parent’s concerns. The GMB is right to point out the instability once a school becomes an academy – academies are constantly being handed from on trust to another. Academy Trusts have been accused of financial mismanagement, running up debts and then dumping the schools. There are 40 academy trusts which have been issued with Financial Notices to Improve by the Government. There are also those which have been criticised for poor performance.