Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Forced Primary Academies - Haringey primary schools face threat of forced conversion to academies
Readers of Harringay Online may have seen the banner outside Downhills Primary School, Philip Lane (near West Green Common).
The issue is now more public with radio interviews and increasing press interest. It's contentious and – as HoL rules prevent party politicking – I’ll try to give a factual and non-partisan view.
For people who don’t know, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, strongly believes in schools becoming academies independent of their local authority. He is insisting that hundreds of English primary schools become academies. For Haringey, this means the Government plans to force, at minimum, four primary schools to be academies: Downhills; Nightingale; Noel Park and Coleraine Park.
(Originally the Department for Education (DfE) list was looking at some 19/20 twenty schools; a list later halved.)
Governing Bodies, which include elected parents, as well as Council nominated, and independent community governors, have been told to agree to academy status within the next couple of weeks. If they don’t, they will be replaced by an ‘Interim Executive Board’ appointed by Mr Gove. This will convert each school to an academy, along with its land and buildings leased for 125 years.
The argument is that these are “under-performing schools”. The benchmark used is the SATS results. This judgement has been challenged. Not least because the DfE retrospectively changed the criteria for assessing under-performance over the previous 5 years.
Though even using Mr Gove’s own criteria it’s clear that not one Haringey primary school is amongst the poorest performing 200 in England. As a school governor myself I am no defender of poor performance and low expectations. But nor do I ignore very real factors such as population mobility and pupil turnover; and the lower funding compared to Inner London boroughs.
Nor do I think anyone can seriously dispute that there’s a contradiction between the aim of “localism” and giving more power to parents, and to the professionals - heads and teachers- with a blanket refusal to listen to the stated views of each school.
So far, parents and governors at Downhills School have been highly critical of the forced academy plan. But clearly, full and proper consultation with all parents is essential at this and the other three schools.
Governors at Downhills are taking the first steps to seek a judicial review of the way Mr Gove has made his decision.
David Lammy MP has been very supportive to Downhills and has now secured a debate in Parliament for January 12. He is presenting a petition to Parliament and needs as many signatures as possible. These must be signed on paper. So if you feel strongly on this issue and are concerned about the implications for Haringey’s primaries please download it from his website here.
Governors, parents, and other local residents are taking part in a public campaign. There will be street stalls on Saturday 7 January. So please come along, to discuss the issues, get information and sign the petition if you agree.
There’s also a public meeting for Monday 9 January. Again, please come to hear first hand what’s happening. It’s at Downhills School, Philip Lane 7pm, Monday January 9.
To get more information online please click these links to the Haringey Campaign Against Academies, which has the flyer on it, the Anti-Academies Alliance and a Guardian article about Downhills.
Zena Brabazon
Councillor St. Ann's Ward, and School Governor (Seven Sisters Primary and Rowland HIll Nursery School and Children's Centre)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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I'm sure Michael Gove is just one of those white people who like to divide and rule. If Lib Dems could just get behind the AAA, ConDems might divide and stop ruling. To avoid any party politicking, I hope I've managed to insult all three. Sorry I couldn't get it into 140 characters, but I hope it won't be taken out of context or even out of borough.
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Speaking as a parent at Downhills School, I must point out that it is not on special measures. It was given a notice to improve after inspection in January 2011 and at its monitoring visit in Sept 2011 Ofsted said that it has made significant improvements since then and shows capacity to improve even further. As you point out, parents and governors at Downhills oppose the move to forced academy status because we feel that not only should we be re-ofsteded but full and proper consultation is required with parents before any decision to convert to academy status should even be considered. Personally, I do not support it and nor do large numbers of parents. We love our school and we have every confidence that it IS an improving school but we believe this can be achieved through continuing to work with the local authority.
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Permalink Reply by Neville Collins on
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It's very disappointing that Downhills school has become a political football for those who want to settle scores. However, as the government rightly pointed out, there are too many schools in Haringey which are failing their pupils, and in order for the situation to change, the council should allow them to convert to academy status so they can concentrate on helping to improve the rest. The reality is that parents are abandoning local schools because they are not seen as good enough for their children. Given that the council's record in much of public service delivery has been repeatedly poor, surely it is time for ministers to consider abolishing the entire LEA altogether, and replace it with a strategic body with a management board made up of headteachers, governors and independents. It's very sad that both MP David Lammy and Lorna Reith, the councillor responsible for our schools, continues to defend the indefensible.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Hinchcliffe on
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I totally agree (gosh, I'm agreeing you, Neville). What a strange article by Cllr Brabazon. Firstly, academies were born under the previous government (i.e. Labour, her party). That policy is expanding under the Coalition and is supported by Lord Andrew Adonis, the former schools minister (and others from that era).
Does Cllr Brabazon think academies have their advantages, e.g. more money and power to teachers and governors? If so, why didn't she share them with us?
Downhills has had years to improve. When challenged, the school always promises 'jam tomorrow'. That's simply not good enough for those children currently studying there.
The school's head is on record as saying her school, if it becomes an academy, won't have a governing body. That's only if she rejects the ultimatum - then one will be forced on her. Is that what she wants? Maybe, given the school's inability to improve, that wouldn’t be a bad thing?
Justin Hinchcliffe (writing in a personal capacity)
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The school's head is, of course, male (Mr Church) - so the gender references in my post should be reversed
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@ Justin:
That's a first!!!
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I think you completely misunderstand the situation. It is not the council that is the driving force behind the Save Downhills School campaign but the parents and governors themselves. The council was initially prevaricating in its discussions with the DfE and agreed to get on board to fully support the school only after lobbying by parents.
At the packed public meeting (around 600 people) that took place on Monday 9th January in the school, David Lammy made it clear that it is crucial to drive up standards and he is not against academies per se (after all, his party did introduce them!) but that he's opposed to forcing it against the will of the community. As he said, there are outstanding local authority schools and there are plenty of failing academies, it is not the only answer to improving schools and driving up standards.
Parents stand behind the school because we believe it is on an upward trajectory now, because we have confidence in the Head Teacher and staff and because it really is a happy, inclusive school where parents and staff pull together to get what's best for their kids (I know, I'm on the extremely active and successful PTA).
And whatever you think of David Lammy, at least he's had the guts to support his constituents, unlike MP Lynne Featherstone, who appears to have abandoned her constituents in Wood Green, where two other schools (Noel Park and Nightingale) also face forced conversion to academies. She couldn't even be bothered to stay for Lammy's debate in Parlliament last night. Thank you David and shame on you, Lynne!
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/07/michael-gove-primary... - well done Zena!
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What is happening at Downhills and the 3 other primaries is shocking, and likely to be the beginning of the end for community education in Haringey. Downhills is not a failing school, nor is it the anywhere near the worst performing school in the country. The school has been recognised by Ofsted as improving in its monitoring report in Sept http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/... and it is due a full Ofsted shortly which should confirm this. However, Gove is not prepared to wait and has declared war on Haringey schools. This is not a normal academy conversion - this is a forced conversion with no debate or discussion with any school stakeholders. Indeed, Governors, parents and teachers are unaminous in their opposition.
School improvement does not have to come through conversion to a different model as Gove claims (indeed there is plenty of evidence to show that many academies are far from successful). Schools in Haringey are testimony that school improvement comes from strong leadership, great teachers and working in partnership with the community that they serve.
Academies do not have this agenda, they are not interested in supporting the community. Their one and only focus is driving up results by any means necessary, dangerous when not attached to the accountability that community schools work under. If it could happen at Downhills, it could and will happen at any and probably every community school in this Borough. And that would be a disaster for every young person in the Borough.
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Don't be silly, Peter. Downhills is a failing school. In its best result for years, 39% of pupils failed to reach Level 4 in English and Maths - that's the real shocking thing. Your post appears to oppose academies on ideological grounds - and that's the real disaster for every young person in our borough. What makes a strong school? Leadership from the Head, a GB that's committed to the school and an ethos based on achievement, discipline and mutual respect. We already have several academies in Haringey in the form of secondary schools - are you seriously saying that they do not support their local communities?
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From my point of view statistics simply based on results in English and Maths in year 6 are not a true indication of how well a primary school is achieving. It is too narrow a view in my local schools, I think the more important measure is the 'value added', ie taking into account the starting point of the pupils and how well they do during their time at school.
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