NEU Statement in response to the UST withdrawal
21 December 2018.
UST BACK OUT OF JOHN ROAN TAKEOVER
Parents and staff at The John Roan School were informed yesterday that the UST (University Schools Trust) had withdrawn from their attempt to forcibly academise the school. In June the UST was named as the DfE’s preferred sponsor on an academy order issued after the school was contentiously rated “inadequate” by OFSTED.
Over the past six months parents and staff have been campaigning against the forced academisation with particular concerns over UST’s financial viability. These fears were confirmed yesterday when UST’s CEO, Grahame Price wrote in a letter to parents that the trust’s “resources alone will not be enough to address the challenges that the school faces.”
Anni Harrison, a parent and spokesperson for John Roan Resists, said in response to the news “What the community of parents and carers have achieved today in resisting academisation is hugely significant. We have seen off the UST through our own research and due diligence. What we need now is a united parental and community stance against any new sponsor."
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests conducted by parents have revealed that the USTs ‘flagship’ school Saint Pauls Way Trust (SPWT) has experienced high staff turnover of 21% year on year. Recently parents from the SPWT primary school contacted John Roan parents with their concerns about the safeguarding of their children and stonewalling by the UST when they made complaints. These complaints have been raised with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) in Tower Hamlets and are on-going.
In addition further research uncovered articles, dating back to Grahame Price’s Headship at Wilmington Enterprise College in December 2008, revealed that Grahame Price had left the school under a ‘cloud’ and a few months later the school was plunged into special measures, closed and then academised the following year.
Kirstie Paton, NEU co-rep at The John Roan School explained, “We are relieved that the UST has finally agreed to withdraw. We remain implacably opposed to this forced academisation. The whole academisation process has been extremely disruptive to our school where considerable amounts of public money have been frittered away on consultants who have had very little impact on those that count – our students.”
Greenwich NEU Secretary, Tim Woodcock, responded to a letter from Dominic Herrington, Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC), by adding “The RSC has stated that the DfE are now looking for a new sponsor. We will continue to lobby both Dominic Herrington and Damian Hinds (Secretary of State) to listen to parents and rethink this proposal. We are now part of a growing number of schools nationally that will continue to challenge the rationale that academies deliver a better education compared to LAs. We believe that The John Roan and other schools like us are better placed in the family of LA schools rather than forcing unaccountable MATs (Multi-Academy Trusts) on communities that don’t want them. This will only serve to disrupt the education of our students.”
UST BACK OUT OF JOHN ROAN TAKEOVER
Parents and staff at The John Roan School were informed yesterday that the UST (University Schools Trust) had withdrawn from their attempt to forcibly academise the school. In June the UST was named as the DfE’s preferred sponsor on an academy order issued after the school was contentiously rated “inadequate” by OFSTED.
Over the past six months parents and staff have been campaigning against the forced academisation with particular concerns over UST’s financial viability. These fears were confirmed yesterday when UST’s CEO, Grahame Price wrote in a letter to parents that the trust’s “resources alone will not be enough to address the challenges that the school faces.”
Anni Harrison, a parent and spokesperson for John Roan Resists, said in response to the news “What the community of parents and carers have achieved today in resisting academisation is hugely significant. We have seen off the UST through our own research and due diligence. What we need now is a united parental and community stance against any new sponsor."
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests conducted by parents have revealed that the USTs ‘flagship’ school Saint Pauls Way Trust (SPWT) has experienced high staff turnover of 21% year on year. Recently parents from the SPWT primary school contacted John Roan parents with their concerns about the safeguarding of their children and stonewalling by the UST when they made complaints. These complaints have been raised with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) in Tower Hamlets and are on-going.
In addition further research uncovered articles, dating back to Grahame Price’s Headship at Wilmington Enterprise College in December 2008, revealed that Grahame Price had left the school under a ‘cloud’ and a few months later the school was plunged into special measures, closed and then academised the following year.
Kirstie Paton, NEU co-rep at The John Roan School explained, “We are relieved that the UST has finally agreed to withdraw. We remain implacably opposed to this forced academisation. The whole academisation process has been extremely disruptive to our school where considerable amounts of public money have been frittered away on consultants who have had very little impact on those that count – our students.”
Greenwich NEU Secretary, Tim Woodcock, responded to a letter from Dominic Herrington, Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC), by adding “The RSC has stated that the DfE are now looking for a new sponsor. We will continue to lobby both Dominic Herrington and Damian Hinds (Secretary of State) to listen to parents and rethink this proposal. We are now part of a growing number of schools nationally that will continue to challenge the rationale that academies deliver a better education compared to LAs. We believe that The John Roan and other schools like us are better placed in the family of LA schools rather than forcing unaccountable MATs (Multi-Academy Trusts) on communities that don’t want them. This will only serve to disrupt the education of our students.”
