Last gasp academies bid

11:00am Saturday 7th November 2009

By Chris Wickham

Conservatives have issued a last-gasp call to stop two schools being turned into academies.

Richmond Council is in the middle of a formal consultation on the proposed closures of Hampton Community College and Whitton School. If agreed, both schools will shut on August 31, 2010, and be replaced with academies run by Swedish education firm Kunskapsskolan the following day.

The authority’s cabinet is set to make the final decision on November 23 and Councillor David Marlow, deputy leader of Richmond Conservatives, said his party, which has expressed concerns about the move since it was first launched, could not support the double handover.

He said his party backed Whitton School being turned into an academy – an independent, all-ability school run by sponsors – but not two schools so close together.

“We cannot support a double handover in Twickenham,” he added. “We need to preserve parental choice. We support academies in principle. So we are ready to negotiate positively with Kunskapsskolan over Whitton in view of its desperate need for major investment.”

The Tories are concerned about the teaching methods used by Kunskapsskolan and have called for curriculum material to be published before the handover. They also called for plans to drop Whitton from the name to be scrapped and guaranteed investment from the firm if Government money dries up.

Coun Malcolm Eady, Richmond Council cabinet member for education and children’s services, said Kunskapsskolan would bring strong educational expertise to the schools and he was disappointed with the Conservatives’ approach. He added the consultation process had shown there is strong staff, governors and parents’ support for these projects.

He said: “The Conservatives just resort to spreading misinformation in order to try to scupper the projects and they dismiss Kunskapsskolan’s methods as progressive, as if our schools do not already try out new methods and techniques. Along with many parents, I think these schools need help to make a step change in their progress, and our academies programme will do this.”

A meeting to give residents a final say on the decision to turn two schools into academies takes place at 7pm, on November 16, at York House, Twickenham. Coun Eady will attend the scrutiny meeting with council officers and representatives from Kunskapsskolan.