More than 100 parents and children battled the wind and rain last night to make a stand against their school being turned into an academy.

They gathered outside Snaresbrook Primary School with signs and umbrellas while a meeting was taking place inside about the school’s future.

The issue will be debated at the full council meeting tomorrow to decide whether the process of turning the school into an academy will start.

Nikki Christie, who has a child in Reception, said: “It’s moving far too fast.

“I am very confident in the Ieadership, however feel we have not had a chance to express our views regarding the proposed change of status for the school.”

The school, in Meadow Walk, Snaresbrook, was placed under special measures in June but parents say the school has rapidly improved since Carel Buxton was put in charge

A consultant working on behalf of the Department of Education visited on Tuesday to discuss it becoming an academy.

Parent Nashiz Sharif, 41, of Hermon Hill, South Woodford said: “I cannot see how academisation will improve the school. There are also time pressures in converting to an academy. They don’t have the time or recourses to focus on that and teaching.”

Cllr Chris Cummins, a school governor, said there should be a public meeting before any decision is made.

He said: “There’s already a head in place who had made strides in tuning the school around. I think they should be allowed to carry on and I have every confidence that she will.”

A spokesman for the Department of Education said they could not “stand by when a school is judged inadequate” and academies ensured rapid improvement.

The spokesman added: “However, no decisions have been taken in relation to Snaresbrook. Should the governing body decide to pursue becoming a sponsored academy, there will be a formal consultation and all responses will be taken into account.”