Headteacher Mary Gibson: Turn my school (Yerbury Primary) into an academy? Over my dead body!

Published: 11 June, 2010
by RÓISÍN GADELRAB

ONE of Islington’s longest-serving primary headteachers has said her school will become an academy “over my dead body”.

Yerbury Primary School head Mary Gibson, who was recently awarded an MBE, spoke out in the wake of the new government’s offer to fast-track any outstanding schools to academy status by September.

Education Secretary Michael Gove is expected to have written to all of Islington’s outstanding schools – Christ the King, Grafton, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Richard Cloudesley, Sacred Heart, St Andrew’s, St Joseph’s, St Luke’s, St Mark’s, St Peter and St Paul’s, the Bridge and Yerbury – offering them the chance to become academies.

But, a straw poll of the schools concerned reveals many have not even discussed the issue and those that were willing to speak to the Tribune are not keen on the idea.

Ms Gibson, who will have taught in Islington uninterrupted for 40 years in July, said: “This school will become an academy over my dead body. I’m certainly not considering it. 

“I value the co-operation between schools and the involvement with the local education authority and I would hate not to have that.’ 

Ann Dwulit, head­teacher of St Luke’s Primary School in Finsbury, said that although her school has been rated outstanding in 2006 and 2009, they haven’t received Mr Gove’s letter.

She said: “I think he missed us off his list. I’m fine the way things are, I’m happy with Cambridge Education [CE, the private company managing Islington’s schools]. We’re doing well and keep trying to improve all the time. 

“We work closely with CE so I don’t envisage that St Luke’s would become an academy.”

Islington NUT is discouraging qualifying schools from taking up the offer – fearing the move would turn education into supermarket-style competition.

Assistant secretary of the union Ken Muller said: “If they are considering [academy status] we would urge them to carry out a consultation of parents and staff. Michael Gove’s academy programme is a big step along the path of privatising education. It will create an elite minority of schools and will remove schools  from democratic ac­countability to the community. They are threatening to create a two-tier system, which will disadvantage children from less well-off families. 

“We’re against the extension of the free market in schools – they shouldn’t compete like Tesco or Asda, they should be co-operating. 

“Admissions should be fair and exclusions and special needs should be provided for.”

Catholic schools in Islington will follow the direction of the Diocese of Westminster, which has taken a wary approach to Mr Gove’s offer, suggesting “great caution” must be taken.

A spokesman for the diocese said: “There are a number of reasons why Catholic schools are unlikely to be able to become academies. 

“The funding opportunities may initially seem attractive to schools but remember there is, as yet, little precise detail on this and the payment of our 10 per cent to capital costs at present buys our sector a degree of valuable  independence along the lines of ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’.  

“We would be very unwise to trade this for an uncertain future and a higher level of risk.”

Islington’s education chief, Councillor Richard Watts, said he had not heard of one school in the borough that was planning to apply. “The best intelligence we have is that no Islington school has applied to become a free school,” he said. 

“I’m pretty confident that they are not going to rush to academy status. The feeling among schools is that they have to be convinced of the benefits before going ahead. I’m sceptical the academies will make much difference. The academies Michael Gove is talking about are different to Labour’s. Labour was putting in the money in more underprivileged areas.”