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Parents are told Northampton secondary school could face changes

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Published Date: 06 March 2009
Parents of children who have been offered a place at a Northampton secondary school have been informed that it could reopen as an academy in September.
A letter was sent out this week by Northamptonshire County Council to all parents and guardians of prospective pupils at Unity College to inform them that there is a proposal for the school to change its status.

However, for some parents, this wou
ld have been the first they have heard about the academy proposals since they visited the school at the end of last year.

Under the academy plans, current headteacher Margaret Gwynne would be replaced with Vanessa Ray, former deputy head of Northampton School for Boys.

Hilary Scott, whose eldest son has been offered a place at Unity College in September, said: "It is a like a breach of the Trades Descriptions Act when the thing you have bought is completely different when it arrives."

The uncertainty of the future of the school also seems to have put off some parents with new statistics on Tuesday showing that Unity College still had 61 places left to fill for this September, the highest figure of any of the schools in the town.

John Henry, a member of the Save Unity College group, said: "It was so obvious that this was going to happen because of all the uncertainty around the school and all the objections against the academy plans. Parents have voted with their feet.

"A lot of parents have chosen the school because it had a certain headteacher and it was doing quite well and things seem to be pointing in the right direction but they have basically been duped."

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: "Unity College is currently in special measures and any family whose child has been allocated a place would rightly expect that significant steps would be taken to improve the school's performance.

"There has not yet been a decision taken on whether the school will become an academy.

"The Government will rule on that in April.

"At this stage, we are in the middle of the statutory consultation into whether or not the council should close the school.

"Any pupil or parent who has been informed this week that Unity College will be their school from September is welcome to take part in the consultation and make their views known to us. That will ensure our cabinet can take their thoughts into account when the time comes to make a decision."

The county council cabinet will meet on April 14 to make the final decision on the future of the school.



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  • Last Updated: 05 March 2009 9:43 PM
  • Source: Northampton Chron & Echo
  • Location: Northampton
 
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T_Baines,

Northampton 06/03/2009 14:21:44
I feel sorry for any child that has been allocated a place at Unity College if it was not one of their three choices. You have only got to witness the non uniform that the pupils are allowed to wear. Tracksuit tops & bottoms, trainers, caps. I don’t know who the current head teacher is but that school lacks serious discipline. No wonder they have 61 places left to fill!
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C.M,

Northamptonshire 06/03/2009 16:26:22
In response to the above, I do not feel sorry for my child who attends Unity or for my other child starting in September.My child is doing very well there because she wishes to be educated, and I collect her every day and you must see a small minority of non uniform wearers, as I do not see that. Also, I would like to see a school that has every pupil wearing the uniform code! Perhaps an 'on the spot check' should be carried out at the school your children attend!
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researched and informed,

06/03/2009 20:59:12
With respect to Mr Douglas I feel that he may be ill informed. The current headteacher may have made changes but that does not mean for the better. Staff restructuring due to the budget deficit has resulted in redundancies for hands on staff, yet two new management positions have been created.

Behaviour in the school has deteriorated considerably and uniform policy is not enforced. Staff moral is at an all time low and an already under staffed school is losing more staff all the time.

As for Vanessa Rae having no track record of commitment I would class spending 10 years at Shenley Church End School a fine example of commitment. Oh and when she left the school was judged as outstanding by ofsted.




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T_Baines,

Northampton 07/03/2009 12:30:50
In response to C.M if you read what I put in my post I did say that I feel sorry for any child that has been allocated a place at Unity College IF it was not one of their three choices. Clearly I was not referring to any parent whose wish was for their child to attend Unity College. I'm happy to hear that your child is doing very well because she wishes to be educated but my opinion is I would not send my child to Unity College or any other school for that matter especially after it has been judged to be inadequate by the OFSTED inspectors. Unity College was placed into special measures - the lowest ranking possible by the Government's education watchdog following an inspection in February 2008, for failing to give its students an acceptable standard in education. I was not surprised when a friend of a friend who used to teach there told me how poor the school was.

http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/education/Progress-at-Unity-College-inadequate.4712418.jp

With regards to the uniform don’t take my word for it, read the article from 2004 below then ask any pupil who attends the school they will tell you how bad it is and the type of sportswear that is worn by the pupils. If it happened at my children’s School no matter if it was a small minority or not and the head teacher allowed it I would make a complain and have something done about it!

http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/School-sends-pupils-home-over.4457131.jp
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C.M,

Northamptonshire 07/03/2009 23:00:16
In response to T Baines
Perhaps you should have elaborated more in your first comment rather than just nit pick about the uniform state, (in your view), which may I add, is the least of the schools worries at this moment in time and 2004 was 5 years ago so not an up to date article. Also, as you have no child attending Unity, then it is clearly not any worry/concern of yours.
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