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Camden New Journal - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 13 September 2007

Why this school?

• ONE question was asked repeatedly to UCL’s provost Malcolm Grant during the only public meeting he saw fit to organise or attend: Why does UCL want to sponsor an academy rather than a community school?
Judging from his body language, that question had never occurred to him before. The only comment he managed to offer was that no other kind of school had ever been mentioned to him.
There are at least two important differences between academies and community schools.
First, academies are not subject to the body of education law that protect parents and pupils in community schools. In an academy, parents and pupils have fewer rights.
Secondly, whereas governing bodies of community schools include representatives of all stakeholders (parents, staff, local authority and local community), the governing body of an academy is dominated by the sponsor’s appointees in a way reminiscent of the political style of the old Soviet Union.
Governing bodies are responsible for appointing the headteacher and for keeping track of his or her performance, so a dysfunctional governing body has potentially disastrous consequences for the life of a school.
UCL’s Prof Grant and Camden’s Tory/Lib Dem administration have provided us with plenty of evidence that they are scared of openness and of public debate:
1. They withdrew details of their secret negotiations in the spring while holding what they at the time described as an open consultation.
2. They have rejected calls for an open competition between various kinds of schools, so that the best proposal could win.
3. They have filibustered the full council meeting on Monday September 10 by talking waffle in order to waste time and reach the end of the meeting without having to discuss the academy proposals in public.
4.They are proposing a school with a Soviet-style governing body to avoid any scrutiny of the future headteacher’s performance.
LUCA SALICE
Chair of Governors
Torriano Junior School
Torriano Avenue, NW5

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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