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School parents speak out against academy plan

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Published Date: 08 January 2009
Parents and residents voiced their opposition at a public meeting last night over plans to transform a Northampton church school into an academy.
More than 100 people turned up to a consultation meeting on the future of Unity College to listen to a presentation on the proposals by the Peterborough Dioceses' Board of Education, the lead sponsor of the proposed academy.

But in a question and answer session, many of the parents criticised the handling of the consultation process and showed their support for the current headteacher, Margaret Gwynne, who was given a standing ovation when she came into the room at the end of the meeting.

In a spontaneous vote, John Henry, a member of Save Unity College action group who has a son in Year Nine at the school, asked everyone who was against the proposals to put their hands in the air and received almost uninamous support.

He said: "The next meeting will be even bigger than this one. We are now going to organise a petition. I called the vote early on purpose and almost the whole room put their hands up. Everyone here wants it to remain Unity College. There is no support for the academy scheme from the parents.

"This is the biggest meeting we have had in the whole consultation process and we organised it."

The Venerable Christine Allsopp, Archdeacon of Northampton and Chair of the Peterborough Diocese Board of Education, Rachel Singer, from Northamptonshire County Council, Chris Moody from Moulton College and Margaret Holman from Bishop Stopford School in Kettering all spoke in favour of the academy plan at the start of the meeting.

Mr Moody said: "We want to support Unity to help it achieve its potential."

However, the majority of the meeting, which lasted two-and-a- half hours, involved them fielding criticisms from parents who felt they had not been given any sort of say in the whole consultation process.

Many expressed anger at the way it had been announced that Vanessa Ray had already been chosen as the new headteacher if the school did become an academy.

Karen Jolly, who has a daughter, Katherine in Year 10, said: "Mrs Gwynne has not been given a proper chance to take the school forward. We just want to be heard and we believe the students deserve that respect as well."

At the end of the meeting, representatives from the Peterborough Diocese Board of Education including Stephen Partridge and Archdeacon Allsopp were booed as they left the room.

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  • Last Updated: 08 January 2009 12:58 PM
  • Source: Northampton Chron & Echo
  • Location: Northampton
 
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County-man,

08/01/2009 10:29:05
In my experience, "consultation" exists only to fufil a legal requirement. It isn't a listening process where you have any control over what happens, however I hope you can buck the trend! Schools are all about pupils and parents, not about politicians. Steve Riches.
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St Lytham,

The Beach 08/01/2009 10:32:26
No comment from NCC responsible (?) for education in Northamptonshire Joan Kirkbride. There's no doubt facilities are being improved in the County but at a big financial cost. There's more to education thatn teaching and whilst a small number of concerned parents believe the existing head the school has historically being a failure of some sorts. I would have thought 100 parents is a small percentage of the school? To boo people trying to do a professional job is hardly a mature or adult way to conduct the debate. An opportunity lost.
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fedup111,

08/01/2009 14:45:16
county man you are spot on.i think some parents are a little misguided in their support of the head though.she hasnt been there long,has implimented a so called spectrum scheme for controlling discipline which a large number of teachers dont bother to use properly,managed to oust at least one of the good teachers,and banned staff from wearing thongs! what has she actually done to improve the school academically?
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freddy2,

Abington 08/01/2009 15:15:07
I was at meeting. The meeting was conducted in a measured and polite way. When the current head teacher entered at the end of the meeting, some of the sponsors walked out which prompted the boos. The audience were respectful throughout and only responded by booing when the sponsors who left did not show the same respect for the head teacher, who merely thanked the parents for their support and informed them of an upcoming meeting with the governors.
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edodd,

08/01/2009 15:35:14
It's actually not just a small group of parents who are in support of the current head, it's far more than a few. Also, if the school has failed historically, how can the new head be blamed for this failure after being in post for only 2 terms?
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I Know 'cos I was there,

Northampton 08/01/2009 16:02:16
To clarify a few things.
The meeting was attended by local councillors, governors, staff and pupils as well as parents. All of which felt that they had been let down by the Local Authority and the Diocese.
The general consensus of opinion was that, while the support of Bishop Stopford School and Moulton College would be gratefully received, the need to become an Academy in order to gain this support was questionable.
The fact that there were as many as 100 people there was interesting as many of those there had only heard by word of mouth from others. How many attendees would there have been if the meeting had been better communicated by the main sponsors of the proposed Academy ?
As far as Mrs Gwynne’s performance is concerned, the short time she has been in post is hardly time enough to expect fundamental changes to have taken effect. Also, in my experience, if staff fail to carry out legitimate instructions it they that should be replaced rather than the person giving the instruction.
Finally, being a parent may not make one an expert in education but you do not need to be said expert to know that constantly changing rules are unsettling and not conducive to a good learning environment.
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lblsb,

northampton 08/01/2009 17:57:11
I was one of the parents who booed. The reason I booed was due to some of the sponsors leaving the meeting on the arrival of the current head, whether these sponsors realised it or not their behaviour was rude and disrespectful. We did not boo their talks, we listened with due respect, not ignorance.
As to those who say that parents are not experts in education perhaps they do not realise that we were listening to the same people who are currently in charge of our children's education, who have been in charge for many years and who so far have only said change needs to happen - they did not show how they were going to bring about that change, they did not show us a template of any policies being drawn up to show how they were going to improve things. They showed us pictures of building sites and disruption, wrung their hands at the terrible mess we are in but took no responsibility for that terrible mess.
The current head teacher, who has been in place for two terms is making progress, parents; who are the schools biggest critics, are impressed with her, she is not responsible for the mess the school is in, she is the one on the ground floor trying to sort it out, she has not had the support from the local authority that she should have had. Parents and students of this school say let one change take place at a time, let the process work, or if the Academy goes ahead and the new head doesn't make progress in just two terms will we be seeing her leave in the same wa?
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elf garnett,

eastfield 08/01/2009 19:08:52
Organize and fight.
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Debsc,

Northampton 08/01/2009 21:39:54
I was at the meeting and quite frankly was very pleased that I was! Did they think that we were not bothered about our childrens education or did they think that we wouldn't notice them slipping the proposal through the back door until it was too late?

I'm annoyed by the way the sponsors skated over the fact that by opening as an academy, the overspend in the school budget would be wiped out (well shared amongst taxpayers) and the Special Measures status would no longer exist. Polishing over the problems, wiping the slate clean is madness and insulting!

What really bothered me though was the so called Christian values that were bandied about like "we must cherish each other" and "Christianity is all about change!" Well sorry but what happened to basic core values like repect, trust, love thy neighbour..... Neither the Diocese or the people that we pay to look after our childrens education seem to have remembered that!

The Principle, Mrs Gwynne has been treated in the most appalling manner but still continues to work her socks off for the benefit of our children and the school as a whole. In the very short time that she has been there, things have improved immensely. Yes not all of the changes have been comfortable for some people but as a parent with a son currently taking his GCSE's tough!

Unity has taken a knocking almost constantly over the last 5 years but at last there is a light at the end of the tunnel.... there is hope....there are good kids and hardworking adults who want Unity to mean unity for our community.

Shame on those people of little faith!.....
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Samanthax,

Northampton 09/01/2009 20:42:12
Shocking news all interested parties should read this about Vanessa Ray!

http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/tn/news.cfm?id=862&searchword=vanessa%20ray
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