A South London primary school is facing a “hostile takeover” by an academy chain after one bad report, parents warned today.
A group of families at Roke Primary School in Croydon is campaigning against the Government’s decision to turn their school into an academy run by the Harris Federation.
The school was given an unsatisfactory Ofsted report in June after years of being classed “outstanding”. Parents described the report as a “blip” on the school’s otherwise good record and said the problems have now been ironed out.
But the Department for Education has ruled that the school must convert to an academy, taking it out of the control of the local authority.
The Education Secretary has the power to oblige poorly performing primary schools to become academies, but guidelines say this should only happen when a school has been underperforming for some time. Roke Primary has been working with its neighbouring secondary school, Riddlesdown, to address the problems in the report.
Parents argue that if the school has to become an academy, they would like Riddlesdown to act as sponsor but the Department for Education has refused. Becky Carrier, whose eight-year-old daughter is at the school, said the unsatisfactory Ofsted report was caused by a computer failure which meant staff were unable to provide inspectors with data in time.
She said: “It seems really sad that a school that has been at the heart of the community for more than 100 years will no longer exist. One little blip and all that history and community is lost. It feels like a hostile takeover the way it has been done.”
She added that parents are unable to talk to teachers or governors about the issue because they fear for their positions if they speak out.
Mark Bignell, also a parent, said: “The school’s change to a Harris Academy has been forced upon us with zero consultation, no process of appeal and no chance to show the school’s turnaround. This does not feel like democracy to me. It also feels that Roke was a convenient target for the Government to quickly turn into an academy.”
A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said the Harris Federation had extensive experience of turning around underperforming schools in London, nine of which are now deemed outstanding by Ofsted.
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A Harris Federation spokeswoman said the chain had 20 years of experience in Croydon and had raised standards at three struggling schools there.
