the government must immediately intervene in London’s “socialist”. Ethan”After claims students The council said it rebelled over plans to join the network of academies.
Sarah Newman, head of the Kensington and Chelsea Children’s Affairs Service, reported the situation in Holland Park School has grown to such a level that she wants a department for education to join.
A heated debate erupted after it was announced that the school would join United Learning, the country’s largest network of academies.
Some parents and students want the school to join forces with neighboring Kensington Aldridge Academy.
Ms. Newman said teachers distrust management and parents are threatening them with lawsuits.
She said: “There have been many reports in recent months of problematic and bullying behavior by students outside the school … This week the teacher left the school in tears and more than 200 students were involved in riot to protest against the future plans of their school and to express their concern to their teachers ”.
The parent team of Holland Park, set up against the school joining United Learning, said the incident was not a “riot”.
The group said on its website that the silent student “sitting campaign” protest had been canceled, but “unfortunately some students did not receive notice that it had been canceled … while other students took the opportunity to play along and encourage others to join them, run, water, skip lessons and be destructive. For those students who wanted to express a peaceful protest, it was very sad. “
The group added that “teachers decided to call the police because they were concerned about their ability to control the number of children running around, but order was restored fairly quickly.”
The school, which graduates include the children of famous Labor figures Tony Ben and Roy Jenkins, as well as the Minister of Education Nadhim Zahavi has been under close scrutiny since statements were made about the “toxic” work culture and “public disgrace” of students.
The government issued him a financial notice of improvement, ordering him to curb the salaries of his executives and consider joining the network of several academies.
A spokesman for the Department of Education said: “Holland Park Academy benefits from stability and support that can provide strong trust with multiple academies, working with the school and its community to prioritize the interests of students.
“The existing school board of trustees has conducted a thorough process and concluded that the best trust with several academies to support the school’s needs is United Learning.
“They are now conducting a period of engagement with stakeholders led by the board, including parents, before a formal proposal is submitted to the Department.”
A school spokesman said the school had “extremely serious problems” that began many years ago. These include allegations of bullying, including favoritism and public humiliation of staff and students, serious failures in defense, controversial costs, misleading Offsted, and key groups of children denied access to school.
A spokesman said the problems had led to the appointment of new governors, who ordered an independent investigation to be reported soon. He said the Kensington and Chelsea council is also investigating defense issues, while last year the government issued a school notice of improvement.
He added: “Trustees have identified United Learning as the preferred provider of trust for several academies because they believe it is a strong expert MAT that will provide the school with the necessary support. We know that some parents disagree. There are also many who are desperate to take action.
“The priority and guiding principle of governors is to make sure that the school meets the goals again and provides the first-class education that students have the right to count on. This is simply impossible to achieve without significant, long overdue changes. The final decision on the future of the school will be made by the government. Governors will not make final recommendations until the stakeholder engagement process is complete. “
Speaking about the “problems” of recent days, he said many senior staffers have inevitably left school. A long-standing problem with the school was the lack of middle management, which is usually reinforced in the absence of senior staff.
“As a result, we brought in a consortium of experienced external senior staff this week to make sure the school is well maintained in the short term before a long-term decision.”
Jodie Bartle, who has three children and is a member of Holland Park’s parent team, said: “We certainly want the current board to leave – we don’t trust them because they were in a hurry and an opaque process to marry us to United Learning. The Royal District of Kensington and Chelsea has listened to us and supports the goals of the HPSPC. RBKC considered the need to move to the Department of Education.
“However, it is the inevitable truth that it was the Department of Education that led our current and incompetent interim council in the first place.”
She added: “For the most part the school continues to be successful thanks to our wonderful teachers and wonderful children and in general an excellent base. The vitality of Holland Park School is strong. «
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/riot-holland-park-school-socialist-eton-academy-chain-b997860.html
