Saturday, January 15, 2011

When Academies don't add up

Though the most recent press release doesn't yet show up on the sayingno.org webpage, it appears that Tidemill Primary School may have had some difficulty with the numeracy section of the Academies entrance exam:...

Expect the governors to quietly (i.e with even less genuine consultation) take a resit on this one

Here's the text of the press release:



Press Release:Save Tidemill Primary School Campaign 

Friday 14th January 2011 

Country’s highest paid Superhead Mark Elms 
gets maths wrong in academy bid 


The governors at Tidemill Primary School in Deptford
are about to withdraw their application to become an academy. 
Though the school governors previously voted 8 to 5 on the 
2nd of December 2010 to take the school into academy status, 
it has recently come to light that the financial breakdown 
presented by Mark Elms was in fact seriously flawed. 
Solicitors Leigh Day & Co acting on behalf of Leila Galloway, 
a parent of two children at the school, have received strong 
indications that the school is minded to withdraw its application
before being drawn into an application where they would be 
subjected to a Judicial Review. 

Although campaigners maintain that there were many flaws in 
the school's proposal and consultation process it appears 
that the main reason for the school withdrawing its 
application rests on a set of seriously flawed figures. 
There is more than one miscalculation. One glaring example 
is where the school estimated that it would cost them £60,000 
to pay for additional services normally provided by the LEA 
when in fact the DOE’s estimate is £78,000 and the LEA estimates
the figure to be in excess of £229,000, see: Lewisham Council
response to consultation. 

All schools that apply for academy status are also mandated to 
undertake an Equality Impact Assessment. It would appear 
the school has not done this. Leila Galloway and local campaigners 
maintain that this is a victory for parents and local residents. 
Many people feel that the whole process has been rushed and important 
decisions made without fully exploring the implications of such a 
profound and irreversible change. 

For further information please contact: 

Leila: 07766710638 or 02086928939 

Email: leila.galloway@gmail.com 

Website: www.academies sayingno.org 

7 comments:

  1. Sounds like Mr Elms needs some extra coaching.

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  2. More tutoring after school - I understand teachers are volunteering their time to help with yr 6, maybe there are spare places, but you have to make the commitment for 10 weeks, hopefully he'll resign by friday - LOL

    The Absent Governor

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  3. How we'd love to have the inside story from the recently resigned governor!

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  4. shipwright's palaceSaturday, January 15, 2011

    he could 'learn a train'

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  5. What a woman, well done.

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  6. Take the cynic routeSaturday, January 15, 2011

    There is one group involved in all this that we rarely get to thank for making Mark Elms look so good - apparently good enough to make him believe he has a right to steal the school from the community - and that group is Deptford's children. Local, bright, diverse, the school can't steal them. Well done, children!

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