Inquiry into academy plan for grammar will not be made public

The findings of an investigation into a controversial plan to convert a city grammar school into an academy will not be made public.

Details of the independent probe will remain secret despite education chiefs insisting they want “transparency and openness” after the trouble-hit proposal at Simon Langton Girls’ was ditched.

Instead, the only people to see the report once it is published will be the school’s governors, before the chairman solely decides if any action should be taken.

The inquiry, which is being led by England’s former chief schools adjudicator Prof Ian Craig, was commissioned by the governing body.

It followed a flood of complaints about the way in which Langton leaders conducted the process to form a multiacademy trust (MAT) with the ailing Spires Academy in Hersden.

Kent County Council says while many of the complaints are about the process, the range and number are “significant enough” to warrant an independent investigation.

But KCC spokesman Ella Watkins added that any findings would remain private.

“In a letter of September 16 to all stakeholders, then chair of governors Dr Christine Carpenter informed them that the independent investigation would be led by Prof Ian Craig with support from the schools’ personnel service at KCC,” she said.

“This letter also confirmed that the report to be produced by the investigation team would be confidential to the chair of governors who would then decide whether any action was needed in light of the findings of the report.”

When the academy plan was mooted earlier this year, it was claimed there had been a lack The Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School and right, head teacher Jane Robinson

of transparency with parents.

Langton head teacher Jane Robinson came under fire, with calls for her to resign.

The school was accused of pushing ahead with academisation regardless of opinion when it was revealed the proposal had already won the approval of the Department for Education.

But it later emerged that a vote by governors on the plan was invalid due to “procedural shortcomings” involving apparent conflicts of interest.

In June, following huge outcry by parents, who feared the move was a step towards privatisation, as well as criticism over the consultation process, the school ditched its plan.

Five governors subsequently stepped down – including chairman of the governing body Ash Rehal – and in a letter to parents, the Langton and KCC said they hoped to restore relationships.

“Moving forward, the school governors and KCC are determined to ensure that relationships can be restored under a new climate of openness and transparency,” it said.

But parents say there remains a lack of openness if the report findings stay private.

Richard Davis, whose daugh

ter is at the school, confirmed he would not be given access to the document, despite being called as a witness in the investigation.

“I won’t be given a copy once it is completed as I was sadly informed it was confidential to the chair of governors,” he said.

“Therefore, we must await, with bated breath, not only the publication of the report findings but also the decisions and actions of the chair.

“The inquiry has been running for a number of weeks now, and has interviewed a significant number of witnesses.

“There is a large spectrum of complaints and grievances that have been made, which range from alleged staff bullying and victimisation, to complaints about alleged unlawful conduct on the part of key members of the school’s leadership team and former members of the governing body.

“My understanding is that this numbered more than 200 official complaints from April 2015 onwards.

Former parent Anne Booth, whose children have since left the school, said people deserved to know what is going on.

“It’s very worrying after all the stress that this is not being considered with clarity and openness,” she said.

“I think pupils, parents and teachers deserve, after a very traumatic time, to know what is happening.

“A lot of people have had to be very brave and it seems wrong they will not find out what is in the investigation.

“To rebuild the trust that has been lost there needs to be a sense of openness.”

KCC was unable to give a timescale of when the investigation would be completed or when chair of governors, Alisdair Chisholm, who has taken over from Dr Carpenter, will make a decision.

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