Free school served with termination warning by DFE
ATROUBLED Runcorn high school is facing closure or assimilation into another academy trust after it was told to improve or have its funding pulled.
The Department For Education (DfE) has served Sandymoor School with a ‘termination warning notice’ informing it that it has not done enough to address concerns identified by Ofsted.
School leaders have until Friday, July 13, to respond and show how they can turn around its situation and the DfE has said it will consider the reply ‘when deciding whether or not to terminate’ Sandymoor’s funding agreement.
This would effectively mean the school would probably have to close under its current guise, although the school has told parents that the principal Emma Simpson and and governors now believe it would be best for the school to be amalgamated into an existing multi-academy trust – a group of academies run by the same trust.
Rumours have abound in recent weeks that the school had continued to struggle since Ofsted graded it ‘inadequate’ in April following an inspection, when inspectors slated Sandymoor’s GCSE performance as ‘among the worst nationally in 2016 and 2017’.
Following the issuing of the notice, the area’s MP, Mike Amesbury, Labour MP for Weaver Vale, has called for action to ensure pupils’ education is protected, as he slated Sandymoor’s ongoing struggles as ‘the legacy of the Government’s failed free school agenda’.
The area’s MP, Mike Amesbury, Labour, Weaver Vale, has spoken today in Parliament to demand action to protect pupils’ education, as he slated its problems as
A spokesman for Mr Amesbury said the DfE is now considering a ‘range of options’ to ensure the ‘best possible outcome’ for students,
Sandymoor School had been lauded as a flagship model for the Conservatives’ free schools programme.
David Cameron visited Sandymoor School during his 2015 General Election campaign, where he accused Labour of wanting to ‘strip’ and ‘undermine’ the free school programme and hand control to local authorities, which he slated as a ‘depressing view’. It also received a visit from Education Secretary Michael Gove, and one of the Governor’s was Mr Amesbury’s predecessor Graham Evans MP, Conservative, who lauded the school in Parliament in 2014 as ‘ going from strength to strength’ after it had been graded ‘good’ by Ofsted.
Mr Amesbury said: “The most important thing is that the children receive a first-class education, and I’ll be liaising with the Department For Education and the local authority to ensure that happens. But this is also an indictment of the Conservatives’ free school programme, which put ideology above the practicalities of delivering a first-class education for our children.
“We must ensure these mistakes don’t happen again.”
A DfE spokesperson told the Weekly News: “We will not hesitate to take action when a school is underperforming.
“A termination warning notice has been issued as it has not demonstrated that it can deliver the necessary improvements that parents and pupils at Sandymoor School deserve.
“The academy has until July 13 to make representations before a final decision is taken.”
A letter sent to parents by the school and attributed to ‘ The Governing Body’ said: “Following our Ofsted Inspection in February, we have been working closely with the Regional Schools Commissioner.
“In a circumstance such as ours whereby Ofsted have given a judgement of ‘inadequate’, they often take the approach that the school would benefit from joining a Multi Academy Trust (MAT).
“A multi-academy trust (MAT) is a single entity established to undertake a strategic collaboration to improve and maintain high educational standards across a number of schools.
“A group of schools form a single MAT which has overarching responsibility for their governance.
“The chair of governors and the Principal, Mrs (Emma) Simpson, have met with the Regional Schools Commissioner and the decision has been taken that joining a MAT would be good for the development of Sandymoor School.” ●