4 www.maltbynews.co.uk
May 2009
Community News
Save our school campaign holds its first meeting A Wickersley councillor has urged those residents who are against Maltby Community School becoming an Academy to write to the Secretary of State about the ‘woeful’ consultation process. A public debate about the Academy status, headed by a panel, was held in a packed and rowdy Wesley Centre and Peter Thirlwell told those in attendance to complain over how poorly the community was consulted. Cllr Thirlwell spoke of how badly consultations had been advertised, that leaflets about the Academy were sent out five days after the
objection date and that dates of the consultations didn’t feature on the Rotherham Borough Council website. Rotherham MBC’s decision to make the school an Academy was unsuccessfully “called in” by Cllr Thirlwell. He said, “The consultation was woeful and completely flawed, it should have been community based. It’s the council’s Achilles heel, it wasn’t carried out properly.” The proposed Academy will be sponsored by Rotherhambased media education company U-explore, Rotherham Council,
and will have Sheffield Hallam University as its education partner. A spokesman for Hallam University said “Sheffield Hallam University is working with sponsors Rotherham Children’s Services and the Rotherham Educational Firm U-Explore to support the establishment of a Learning Community in Maltby which will incorporate Maltby Academy. The University is in discussion with the school and the sponsors to extend and develop wider professional development for all staff who will be employed in the Learning community to support the learning
and development of children and young people. The University will also extend its existing partnership with the schools in Maltby for the training of new entrants to the workforce.” Another member of the panel parent Jill Adams used government research carried out by Pricewaterhousecoopers on academy schools which revealed that 12% of lessons are taught by unqualified teachers and that academies were introducing more vocational courses and replacing GCSE exams with B-techs. She said, “This is unbelievably stupid. Letting a private company control the curriculum beggars belief. It’s like a surreal comedy on BBC 2 with democracy going out of the window.” Worries over governor accountability and class sizes increasing were also raised. Headteacher Dave Sutton has backed the school’s Academy status and a Maltby governor at the debate backed the Head, saying “The Academy is not for profit. Only the kids will profit. There have been consultation problems. But it’s a good idea and Dave Sutton is totally sold on it.” An e-mail sent from a supporter of the Academy status was read out at the start of the debate and he wanted those who were against to produce figures of how many staff wanted to leave and base their opinions on fact and not hearsay. In the past three years the school has flown up the exam league tables and nearly doubled the amount of students getting 5 A-C GCSE results. The achievement was recognised in 2008 when the school received an award for the most improved GCSE results in the region this combined with a glowing report from OFSTED. Panel member and science teacher Malcolm Astell said,
“Six years ago when I first started if the Academy had been offered we would have taken their hand off. Since then we’ve improved and will be the only improving school in the country to be turned into an Academy.” Amidst rumours of teachers walking out over the Academy Mr Astell suggested an anonymous survey of staff to find out how many opposed the idea. Many residents and parents held aloft ‘No Academy’ signs and highlighted worries over the Academy to the panel. One concerned party included a group of pupils from the school who wanted to know why they didn’t have a say when they go to the school. Ted Millward who chaired the meeting said he now had 450 signatures in a petition against the Academy and many of those who signed it admitted they had not heard about the school becoming an Academy before he raised it. At the climax of the meeting Cllr Thirlwell reiterated his intentions he said, “You need to get a petition to re-consult. The decision should not stand. This is the only avenue now. Once it becomes an Academy the school will be lost forever.” But Graham Sinclair, who is directing the project for the council, said the Academy would bring the best quality learning to Maltby. “We understand that people have concerns regarding changes and we have been working hard to give information to parents, staff, governors and pupils at schools across Maltby about what these changes mean, as well as the general public in Maltby,” he said. “Now we will be working closely with all those directly involved and those who have been part of the consultation process to make sure the Academy gets off to the right start.” There are plans for further debates on the matter, the first taking place at the time of going to press, and there are petition forms in the Wesley Centre if you wish to sign against the Academy. by Chris Gayton