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.

DfE responds to emails about headteacher

Many of you have told us that you emailed Sean Cox at the Department for Education (DfE) raising concerns about Camden Juniors being given an ‘interim’ headteacher, in response to our previous post.

You can read the reply that the DfE sent to one such email here – it appears to be a standard reply.

DfE should explain ‘interim head’

We urge all concerned parents and residents to send an email to the DfE demanding an explanation of why Camden Juniors is being given an interim headteacher.

You can copy and paste the text below into an email and send it to Sean Cox, Project Lead at the Department for Education, at:

sean.cox@education.gsi.gov.uk

(Please send us copies of any replies you receive to keepcamdenlocal@gmail.com.)

Camden Junior School Headteacher

At both parents meetings during the consultation on turning Camden Junior School into a sponsored academy, representatives of the Harris Federation made a big issue of the importance of Camden having a permanent headteacher from September, and that they (Harris) would be the better sponsor because they had already got a headteacher ready to start in September.

At the parents meeting on June 10, Sir Robin Bosher, Harris Director of Primary Education, said that Camden needs to have a headteacher ‘who will stay for 5 or 6 years’ and that Camden ‘cannot go on without a permanent head’.

DfE officers, and Lord Nash in his letter explaining his decision, repeated the advantages of Harris having an experienced headteacher ready for September.

But now we have been told that Camden Junior school will only have an ‘interim principal’ who will lead the school until Harris can make a permanent appointment!

Can you please explain why the DfE has allowed Harris to take over the school with only an interim headteacher, when so much weight was placed on the need for a permanent head?

Yours sincerely,

Write to Harris

Many parents have raised their concerns about Sir Robin Bosher’s letter referring to Camden getting an ‘interim headteacher’.

We urge all interested parents and residents to write to Sir Robin raising their concerns and asking why it appears that Camden will only get an interim headteacher after he had said how important it was for the school to have a permanent headteacher from September.

See our previous post for more.

Write to Sir Robin Bosher, Director of Primary Education, Harris Federation, 4th Floor, Norfolk House, Wellesley Road, Croydon CR0 1LH.

And send a copy to Lord Nash, Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT.

Please let us know if you write – and if you get a reply! – by adding a comment to this post.

Where has the permanent headteacher gone??

At both parents meetings, Harris made a big issue of the importance of Camden having a permanent headteacher from September, and that they (Harris) would be the better sponsor because they had already got a  headteacher ready to start in September.

At the parents meeting on June 10, Sir Robin Bosher, Harris Director of Primary Education, said that Camden needs to have a headteacher ‘who will stay for 5 or 6 years’ and that Camden ‘cannot go on without a permanent head’.

This was supposed to be one of the key ‘advantages’ of Harris over Greenshaw.

But, in a letter to all Camden Juniors parents this week, Sir Robin Bosher of the Harris Federation says that Camden will only have an ‘interim principal’ who will ‘lead the school until we can make a permanent appointment’!

Harris have taken away one of the DfE’s key justifications for their decision in favour of Harris.

Consultation correction

The Callidas report has incorrectly stated that ‘the Greenshaw Education Trust submitted a petition to the Minister’.

The petition of 1300 signatures was collected and submitted to the Department for Education by Go for Greenshaw – Keep Camden Local campaigners.  It was not organised by Greenshaw.

The petition was delivered directly to Lord Nash’s office and did not go through Callidas.

More than the Consultation

Whilst the consultation responses were overwhelmingly in favour of Greenshaw, they do not tell the whole story.

As well as the consultation forms that were sent to Callidas, there has also been

• a petition of 1300 signatures and

• 250 letters addressed to Lord Nash

calling on the Government to appoint Greenshaw as sponsor for Camden Juniors, which have been handed in directly to the Department for Education.

In addition letters have been sent directly to Lord Nash by a number of  local stakeholders, including our two local MPs, Sutton Council, many local primary headteachers and all Sutton’s secondary headteachers, that state their support for Greenshaw’s sponsorship proposals.

All of this together demonstrates the strength of support for Greenshaw, which surely cannot be ignored.

Masssive support for Greenshaw

The consultation report on the proposed academy conversion of Camden Junior School shows massive support for Greenshaw to be sponsor of Camden Junior School.

The analysis on the report says that 545 consultation forms were returned: 326 from parents at Victor Seymour or Camden, 117 from local residents, 35 from friends and relatives of pupils at Camden, 7 from Councillors, 6 from Wandle Valley School, 5 from Camden Governors and one from a Camden member of staff; 26 gave names but no other details and 22 were anonymous.

This is a very impressive return rate and shows the strength of feeling on this matter.

The key results of the analysis given in the report are as follows:

1: Should Camden Juniors become an academy?

Most respondents – 92% – accepted that Camden Juniors should become an academy. 503 said it should, with 32 saying it shouldn’t and 10 not saying.

2: Should Harris Federation sponsor Camden Juniors?

Of the 545 returns, only 7 agreed that Harris Federation should be the sponsor, and 532 said they should not (6 did not say). That is only 1.3% stating support for Harris!

3: Should another Sponsor organisation be sponsor?

534 (98% of respondents) said yes and 5 said no (6 did not say).

The report does not actually give the number of returns that stated a preference for Greenshaw. But it does give percentages for each category of respondent, and from that it can be calculated that a total of 490 respondents stated a preference for Greenshaw.

So, on the vital question of who should be sponsor, out of 545 consultation returns 7 said Harris and 490 said Greenshaw, with 48 not saying.

Of those stating a preference, 98.5% wanted Greenshaw as sponsor!

In addition, the DfE received a petition of 1300 signatures and a further 250 letters calling on them to appoint Greenshaw as sponsor. (These letters were not sent through Callidas so have not been mentioned in their report.)

The results of the consultation and the views of parents, local residents and other stakeholders is clear – Greenshaw should be made sponsor of Camden Juniors, not Harris.

(The Report was produced by Callidas Consulting and has been submitted to the Department for Education for their consideration before a decision on the future of Camden Juniors is made.)

Consultation report published

The report on the consultation into Camden Junior School becoming an academy has been published.

The report by Callidas has been submitted to the DfE and will be considered by Ministers before they take their decision  on the future of Camden Juniors – we expect that to be in the next week or so.

Copies have been sent to Sutton Council and the school, and are to be made available to parents and other interested parties.

You can download a copy of the report here.

Petition handed in to DfE

The Keep Camden Local – Go for Greenshaw petition with nearly 1300 signatures and 250 letters addressed to Lord Nash calling for Greenshaw to be appointed sponsor of Camden Junior School were handed in to the Department for Education (DfE) today, 18 July.

A group of parents went to DfE headquarters in Westminster accompanied by Mike Cooper, Chair of Governors of Greenshaw High School, and local MPs Tom Brake and Paul Burstow. They handed the petition and letters to a member of staff from Education Minister Lord Nash’s office.

Three of the parents are seen here with the petition outside the door of DfE HQ.

And with Paul Burstow (left) and Tom Brake (right), Mike Cooper behind.