‘5 Islington schools set to go it alone’

Published: 13th May, 2011
by ANDREW JOHNSON

FIVE primary schools in Islington are preparing to opt out of Town Hall control as the row over so-called academies intensified this week.

The headteacher of one primary school which is already consulting parents and governors about being funded directly from Whitehall lambasted the Labour-run Town Hall over its threat to withdraw free school meals should it go it alone.

Greg Crawford, headteacher of Poole’s Park Primary school in Lennox Road, Finsbury Park, said the threat was a contravention of the council’s pledge to provide free school meals for every child in the borough.

“It doesn’t seem right,” added Mr Crawford, who is the Islington representative for the National Association of Head Teachers. 

“The matter is with the Department for Education and I hope it’s resolved soon. I don’t think the DfE likes local authorities finding ways of stopping schools from becoming academies. 

“If you make a promise that you’re going to have universal free school meals then it’s a bit much to go back on that. We would not have the money to pay for it. Finsbury Park serves the poorest community in Islington. To not provide free school meals isn’t logical.”

Islington’s Labour education chief Councillor Richard Watts hit back, however, by arguing that the council doesn’t provide free school meals for any independent schools – including St Mary Magdalene in Liverpool Road, Angel, which became an old-style academy under Labour in 2007.

“Islington Council has not provided free school meals for academies in the past,” he said. “The school should have checked this before they started the consultation and I’m surprised that they didn’t. 

“The council does not want to victimise parents whose children are at schools where the governors have decided to be an academy and we will review our position. But this will take some time. 

“Becoming an academy is a risk. They do not get support from the local authority and this is one example. Schools have to consider what would happen if, god forbid, anything went wrong.”

Cllr Watts claimed the difference between Labour’s academies and the new Conservative/Lib Dem academies is that the new-style ones have absolutely no interaction with the local authority.

Unions oppose them because they believe they represent back-door privatisation of education and will usher in a “two-tier”, “market-driven” system.

Mr Crawford argued that he is not in favour of academies one way or the other, but by opting out of Town Hall control he would gain an extra £160,000 on top of the school’s £1.8m budget and it would simplify administration. Free school meals, which cost around £40,000 a year, are funded directly by the local authority.   Poole’s Park is considering taking on academy status with New North Primary School in Popham Road, St Peter’s, as part of a chain. This means schools work together and share resources. 

Mr Crawford claimed that another “four or five” primary schools were considering joining the chain should parents and governors give the scheme the thumbs up next month. 

Unions are unhappy at the unofficial network of primary school heads in Islington called Maamulaha, which is Somali for headteacher. 

They argue that the group is unaccountable and suspect it is co-ordinating plans to take schools out of local authority control. 

Mr Crawford rejected this and said the group was not a secret and allowed heads to exchange ideas.

Ken Muller, of Islington National Union of Teachers, said Lib Dems had voted at their national conference to oppose the new academies and called on the leadership to impose a “time for reflection” on the academies plan.