Over the past year scores of Primary Schools in Brimingham, all situated in economically deprived areas, have come under intense pressure to convert to sponsored academy status as part of Michael Gove’s drive to expand the number of academies. This pressure, which has been described by MP Richard Burden as bullying, has typically been applied by the combined efforts of a DfE official accompanied by a Local Authority officer. But  in May a Labour administration took office, and in July the new cabinet member for Children and Families, Brigid Jones, gave hope to this campaign and to school communities across the city in a letter to Headteachers that outlined a new vision for a co-operative model for the city’s schools. Crucially the model would include as one of its fundamental principles that no school should be forced to convert – the option to stay with current arrangements would be…