Academies - look at the bigger picture

29 July 2010

I

READ your story "Academy plan gains support" (Recorder, last week). Apart from anecdotal evidence, is there any hard evidence that parents' views are changing? I suspect not.

I think it was reported somewhere that a secret ballot in a meeting of the staff showed that 32 teachers were against the academy, two were for and two abstained.

I wasn't at the meeting of Valentines High parents but I have heard that the parents were told the staff agreed with the direction in which the head was taking the school, or words to that effect.

Either the head has changed her mind or, as the phrase goes, she was being economical with the truth.

What I cannot understand is why a successful school would want to become an academy? There are so many dangers, especially in the present climate of cuts.

One reason given by the school is that they can have smaller class sizes. This raises two questions:

First, will there be a qualified teacher in every classroom?

Second, will this increase class sizes in the rest of the schools?

Would it not be wiser for Valentines to wait to see what happens to other schools rather than rushing in and taking a gamble with the children's future?

The decision by Valentines will not only affect the community around Valentines (who have had no part in the making the decision-making process), it will affect all of Redbridge.

What we need is a debate about the pro and cons for the whole borough. In the same story it says that the unions are going to hold a public meeting.

Shouldn't the school be doing this? Also will the head and the governors be attending the meeting?

If we send questions to the Recorder, will the head teacher and the governors answer the questions then?

BHASKER BHADRESHA

Braintree Avenue

Ilford