Snaresbrook not to be sponsored academy

The DfE has announced that it will not force Snaresbrook primary school in Redbridge to become a sponsored academy.

Snaresbrook was judged by Ofsted to be failing in June this year and the DfE indicated that their preference was for the school to be taken over as a sponsored academy.  Parents, governors, councillors, the local council and other local stakeholders immediately mounted  a campaign against this and said that significant improvements were being made.

On 29 October the DfE announced that they would not intervene and force the school to become an academy, saying:

Snaresbrook Primary School does not have a history of underperformance and has made significant progress after being judged to require special measures by Ofsted in June.

Harris cutting SEN support and adjusting grades?

Parents at the Harris primary academy in Kenley – formerly Roke Primary School – are up in arms over the school’s withdrawal of all one-to-one help that had always been provided for pupils with special education needs – or SEN.

Many parents suspect that this is a ploy by Harris to force parents with SEN children to remove them from the school, and thereby “improve” the school’s league table ratings.

Parents are also suspicious that the school is manipulating pupil attainment data by adjusting  their children’s reported grades –  making out attainment levels are now lower than had previously been assessed and thus exaggerating the ‘progress’ the child is predicted to make.

A parents’ spokesperson said:  “We predict that results will now show remarkable improvement during the first year of the Harris academy and be used as a false benchmark of their success in turning our school around.”

See Inside Croydon for more.

Forced academies ‘very expensive’

In a document leaked to the Guardian, civil servants describe the government’s policy of forced academisation as ‘very expensive’.  They suggest that the DfE should consider no longer forcing its sponsor on a school against local opposition.  See Seshetdotorg.

Harris fails English test

The problem the Harris Federation seems to have with spelling (see previous post ) is not restricted to ‘the school formerly known as Camden’,

Children at the Harris Primary Academy in Kenley were given a spelling test titled ‘Spelling, Punctuation and Grammer‘.

And there is more …. see story in the Guardian.

This is all the more embarrassing as Harris prides itself on its ability to improve standards in English and literacy in the schools it takes over.

The Harris Primary Academy in Kenley was formerly Roke Primary, which was taken over by the Harris Federation in face of strong parent opposition in September 2013.

Camden History Project

The Camden History Project has been established to preserve and celebrate the history and heritage of the Camden Road schools in Carshalton, Surrey.

The  history and heritage of Camden Junior School, and its place in the local community, was an important issue for many parents and local residents in the debate about the school becoming a sponsored academy.

Go to the Camden History Project website to find out more.

Their There!

Given that the ‘school formerly known as Camden Juniors’ should be focussed on improving its English teaching, it is a pity that Harris cannot ensure correct spelling in the school newsletter .

In newsletter dated 1 October 2013, under the heading ‘parent class representatives’,  we are told that ‘class parent representatives’ will ‘meet the Principle‘.

In the newsletter dated 8 October 2013, in a story entitled ‘crazy critters’ it says ‘We will be printing there names in the next newsletter.’.

Harris clearly need to start by giving themselves some lessons in English – as well as in geography, see previous post.

Sulivan opts to become an academy

Governors of Sulivan School are proposing that their school becomes an academy to protect its future and prevent it being closed by Hammersmith and Fulham Council so they can use the land for a new ‘free’ school.

The school would become an academy as part of the London Diocesan Board for Schools Academies Trust.

They say that becoming an academy will mean that they:

• retain the school’s ethos
• can still be Sulivan Primary School
• can remain on their unique site
• continue to be a school serving the whole community with 100% open admissions
• will have financial stability an the opportunity to apply for capital funding
• can expand provision and grow to become a two form entry school

There is a consultation document available.

 

Admissions confusion explained

We have obtained an explanation of the confusion over the admissions policy of the Harris Junior Academy Carshalton (the school formerly known as Camden Juniors). See also our previous post.

Apparently, Harris had no intention of changing the school’s admissions policy in such a way that would stop giving priority to children from Victor Seymour.  It was just that they made a mistake in writing up their policy!

Harris had originally suggested that they could move children into the school from Victor Seymour outside of the  ‘oversubscription’ admissions criteria; they had therefore not included a specific reference to Victor Seymour in their proposed admissions arrangements.

But this would have been unlawful – as was pointed out to them by Sutton Council. To be able to continue to give priority to pupils from Victor Seymour a specific reference to that must be made in the ‘oversubscription’ criteria.

These ‘incorrect’ admissions arrangements, without reference to Victor Seymour, were the ones Harris put on their website and described in the prospectus for the Harris Junior Academy Carshalton.

Harris have now corrected their oversubscription criteria and published corrected admissions arrangements on their website.

A copy can also be downloaded here.

The description of the admissions arrangements on page 8 of the Prospectus for the Harris Junior Academy Carshalton is wrong.

Harris email still not working

We have noticed that Harris have updated the website of the ‘school formerly known as Camden Juniors’ – http://www.harrisjuniorcarshalton.org.uk/.

They now show the school’s email address as info@harrisjuniorcarshalton.org.uk

But emails sent to this address are still being rejected!

See previous post on this issue: http://wp.me/p3vt04-7o

Headteacher – it changes again

The school formerly known as Camden Juniors is due to have a permanent headteacher in the new year.

We have been told that the person that Harris had originally selected as headteacher for the school has now been re-offered the post and has accepted and is due to join the school in January 2014.

Back in June, Harris told parents that they had appointed a permanent headteacher for Camden who was ready to start in September. They also told parents that they were in a position to appoint this person before a decision had been taken on who would be the sponsor for Camden, as they would have a role for them in their organisation in any case.

However, the person said they had appointed withdrew and instead the autumn term started with an interim head teacher.

Sir Robin Bosher has now told MP Tom Brake that the person that they had originally appointed declined the post because the board of governors ‘withdrew support for the appointment’.

This seems a bit odd, because it was Harris who were responsible for the appointment of the headteacher, not the governing body, and we are not aware that the Governing Body ever actually gave its ‘support’ to the appointment.

Sir Robin also told Tom that the board of governors ‘didn’t want to appoint a permanent headteacher’ – which also sounds strange because a permanent headteacher was something governors and parents were keen to ensure.

Previously Sean Cox of the DfE told parents that Harris had told them that the reason for  their preferred candidate withdrawing his application was that he had been told that Greenshaw school would not uphold the appointment if they became sponsor.