It is good to see local councillors taking onboard the concerns of the electors of their ward. We are aware of the peculiar position of the ousted coalition council toward conversion, disapproving but not prepared to act. Now it remains to be seen exactly what the new Council’s approach will be. It is to the credit of these individual councillors that they are getting involved.
Earlier this week I was approached by my new Labour colleague from Kings Norton Ward Valerie Seabright after she attended a meeting at Colmers Junior School. Val attended the meeting in her capacity as the Vice Chair of Governors at Colmers Infant School. The meeting was called as the Junior School has been contacted by the Department of Education recently informing the School of the Department’s intention to force them to Academy status. This is not the first instance of this happening.
The bullying tactics used by the DofE is nothing short of shameful. The DofE representatives have threatened the Board of Governors with their removal if they do not agree to proceed to Academy status. The Local Authority under the previous Tory administration stated they were against forced Academies but did NOTHING. Michael Gove has said Schools are not being forced and they will be judged on a School by School basis. …
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