Lapford Parents Challenge Academy over Education Changes
In March this year, Chulmleigh Academy Trust following a consultation decided that Year 6 children from Lapford School and East Worlington School children were to be Educated at Chulmleigh Primary school from September 2013.
Opposition to the proposal:
The vast majority of parents from Lapford, the wider community and the local council are opposed to this decision. Many letters of opposition have been sent and also a petition has been obtained containing 370 signatures from a village that only has 250 houses.
A plea was made to the Academy to think again with regard to the proposal. The strength of feeling was so great that parents wrote a strong letter of opposition.
They have also sought the help of their local MP Mel Stride and the petition and letter of complaint has also been passed to the office of Education Secretary Michael Gove.
In summary, parents are opposed to the proposal because:
• The Academy has not provided any evidence to prove there will be any educational benefits to Year 6 children. They have also not considered the adverse effects the proposal will have on the children remaining at Lapford School (particularly Year 5).
• The impact of the proposal on future pupil numbers and that or other organisations/groups to include the Pre-school and toddler groups has not been considered.
• The proposal appeared to be a knee jerk reaction to educational standards of the current Year 5, despite the fact that improvements to the school have already been made since Lapford became part of the Academy chain and in time would work through to Year 6.
• The logistics of sending Year 6 children to a different site for their education have not been fully considered. Would parents really want to put their child in year 6 onto a minibus.
• The financial argument appears weak. Parents have been left ill-informed as financial information requested has not been forthcoming.
• Parents have been very uncomfortable about the way in which the consultation was undertaken.
• Parents and the wider community feel that they have not been listened to and an alternative proposal suggested by parents was never considered.
• The Academy appear to be focused on only one part of a child’s education being literacy and numeracy and ultimately SAT’s results. They have not considered that it is just as important for a child to be an active part of the community and to develop social as well as academic skills.
Despite very strong opposition the Academy appear to be steadfast in their decision. What the Academy have now done is remove the freedom of choice for parents to educate their child in the school of their choice.
There also appears to be a lack of parental voice. Parents have raised a large number of concerns and backed these concerns up with evidence.
The Academy have suggested that they have listened to these concerns but they have shown a real lack of respect for their views. When challenged in a number of areas they have come back with very little evidence to support their decision and their general response has been it is happening so either work with us or against us.
It would appear that as an Academy they have a lot more freedom to run the school as they wish.
In fact when parents complained to the Department for Education, they were told: "There is no statutory requirement for the academy trust to carry out consultation on any restructuring".
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