Politics being put before children says angry MP in academy row
POLITICS ARE being put ahead of children’s welfare, Wakefield MP Mary Creagh has warned, as a battle over the future of two city schools gathers pace.
There was outrage earlier this week after it emerged the Department for Education had ordered that a successful partnership cannot continue.
Parents and staff were outraged at suggestions that Mackie Hill Junior and Infant School, on Painthorpe Lane, should become an academy rather than stay under the guidance of a nearby secondary.
Since it was rated inadequate by Ofsted in January, the school had been under the stewardship of Kettlethorpe High, which parents say has seen it improve substantially.
Ms Creagh met with Education Secretary Damian Hinds on Wednesday to discuss the issue and said she hoped the decision could be overturned. Asked why she thought the Government had sought to make the order in the face of local opposition, she said: “I think for them it’s a political solution, but it’s not an education solution.
“I’m very concerned this will cause more disruption for Mackie Hill, the staff and the children there. What we had before was a good system of improvement.
“If the school was given another six months, it could actually, I hope, come out of special measures and get itself on a stable footing.
“This will just produce another round of uncertainty.”
The New Collaborative Learning Trust, which runs sixth-form provider New College Pontefract, has been put forward as the Government’s preferred choice to sponsor Mackie Hill.
But Ms Creagh added: “New College Pontefract is a very good and very successful sixth-form college, but the leaders there have no experience of running a junior school.”
It is understood that a headteacher board, made up of school leaders from across West Yorkshire, will meet on December 13 to either rubber stamp or oppose the decision.