Academy plan loses sponsor (From Oxford Mail)
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Academy plan loses sponsor
8:10am Thursday 24th December 2009 in
PARENTS, teachers and former governors of Oxford School have welcomed news that a trust will no longer fund an academy at the school.
Christian charity United Learning Trust has told the Government that it will not go ahead with a plan for a new academy project at the Glanville Road secondary school.
Oxfordshire County Council has indicated it will look for an alternative sponsor for the plan, which was revealed by the Oxford Mail in March.
But last night opponents of the plan called on the council to admit that its proposal to create an academy was wrong.
Amar Latif, a former Oxford School pupil who was replaced as a governor by the council earlier this month, said ULT’s withdrawal was fantastic news.
He added: “It does leave a question mark over the future, but there would have been more of a question mark had ULT stayed involved.
“The county council now needs to own up to the fact it got it wrong.”
Jeremy Spafford, from Rose Hill, whose daughter Dora is in Year 10 at the school, said: “One of the things that worried me was ULT’s involvement. I think they’ve done the right thing by pulling out. I also think parents should have the option of a school which isn’t run by the church.”
Gawain Little, president of the Oxfordshire branch of the National Union of Teachers, said: “Nobody wanted an academy in the first place, apart from the county council.
“What they should be doing now is going back to the drawing board, asking local people what they really want.
“They shouldn’t be desperately searching around for a sponsor to take on this proposal, which was ill thought out from the very beginning.”
ULT told the Oxford Mail it pulled out of the Oxford project following a disappointing Ofsted report into one of its academies in Sheffield.
Michael Waine, the county council’s cabinet member for school's improvement, said ULT continued to make strong progress at North Oxfordshire Academy, in Banbury, which replaced Drayton School in 2007.
He said Oxford School was “not proving to be the first choice of its community”, and added that he found it strange that having been recently given Government reassurances about ULT’s involvement in an academy, there had now been a U-turn.
He added: “The council will await promised advice from Government officials with regard to a potential new sponsor.”
A spokesman for Schools Secretary Ed Balls said that new sponsors would now be sought for the proposed academy in Oxford.
awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk
Comments(5)
tonybrett
says...
11:31am Thu 24 Dec 09
I became a community governor of Oxford school in October 2009 (after the County Council had submitted the IEB application) and have lived practically next door to the school since 2004.
It is true that Oxford School has struggled with its raw results but it is also true that Oxford School has the highest Contextual Value Added score of any secondary school in Oxfordshire, and the raw results showed a huge improvement last year too. Oxford School supports many young people in extremely challenging situations including those who arrive with little or no English and many with special educational needs. I believe it is a County-leader in these services.
My experiences of Oxford school both as a neighbour and a governor have been extremely positive and it is blindingly apparent to anyone who looks that you couldn't want for a more dedicated team of teachers and support staff. They are excellent and show impressive commitment in the face of a huge amount of unfair and unwarranted adversity and bad press. I'm not saying more change is not needed but I do think that change has already started and is well under way.
I'll accept that a very small minority of students cause problems for the local community but they are most certainly not reflective of the general standards of engagement and behaviour of Oxford School's students. In Oxford School I see largely engaged and committed students and staff.
Phileas Fogg
says...
1:12pm Thu 24 Dec 09
Mr Lunt did nothing for the school and left before he was pushed. The teachers are not 'hard working nor dedicated' they are in fact made up of people seeing out their golden years and rejects from other schools that failed in the re-selection programmes these other schools had, schools which are now genuinely improving without them.
When Mr Lunt joined the school the results were better. Year on year under his management they got worse and the school is left now with too many Chiefs and not enough Indians. Does a school really need three heads and numerous deputies, what it does need is discipline in the classroom and teaching staff who want to teach rather than the uninterested and often power crazed fools they have now.
Andrew:Oxford
says...
2:23pm Thu 24 Dec 09
Grundon Skipp
says...
9:08pm Thu 24 Dec 09
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Phileas Fogg says...
10:51am Thu 24 Dec 09
“What they should be doing now is going back to the drawing board, asking local people what they really want.
And you sir are a pratt for assuming 'nobody' wanted it, believe me there are some parents who know that any change at that god forsaken hell hole of a school will be a change for the better.