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Axe falls on school roll despite head’s protest
Council blamed for creating surplus of secondary places
THE headteacher of a comprehensive praised by inspectors has lost a battle to prevent next year’s intake being cut by 30 pupils.
In an interview with the Tribune this week, Islington Arts and Media School head Richard Ewen also revealed that his school could lose £4 million of vital rebuilding money.
At a council executive meeting last week Mr Ewen begged for a year’s reprieve to attract pupils but his pleas fell on deaf ears as councillors forced a 30-pupil cut.
He believes the school in Turle Road, Finsbury Park, is being punished because Islington now has too many secondary schools. St Mary Magdalene Academy in Holloway opened in September last year and Islington Green is to reopen as the City of London Academy in September.
Mr Ewen made a heartfelt plea to the council executive: “What message does this send to the people of Islington? That there’s no confidence in the future of the school. If it’s decided the school should be reduced I would beg you to give governors one year to set it right. Give us the year to turn around local opinion, build up the school and give it a good, strong, vibrant, dynamic future.”
Despite the pleas, the committee agreed to cut student numbers at his school, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School and Islington Green, when it reopens as an academy.
The proposals will affect staffing at Islington Arts and Media School as the reduced first year intake moves up each year.
The school, once shut because it was “failing”, has been transformed under Mr Ewen’s leadership. An Ofsted inspection in January rated its curriculum as “outstanding”. Mr Ewen said: “We’ve come through a difficult time, facing closure, difficulties with finance, recruitment and numbers and now, just when it’s on the up, the local authority is discussing reducing numbers.”
He added: “Why was the decision taken to reopen Islington Green if there are surpluses in the secondary system?”
He said the pupil cut comes as councillors agree details for Building Schools for the Future (BSF) money, adding: “The difference between 180 and 150 pupils is about £4 million. We can take numbers out but to put them back in is difficult.
“The school has experienced an influx of different nationalities. These demographics are hard to predict. We can be a useful source when the demographics go wrong and someone needs to expand.”
Governor Victoria Phillips praised the school for its academic record. It has encouraged 18 pupils to take maths GCSE a year early, and some pupils now take AS maths at the age of 15.
She said: “There are too many places by about 120 so why open another academy? We don’t want to knock other schools but we are saying ‘Don’t penalise us’. If we haven’t got 800 pupils overall, the school built under BSF will be smaller.”
Lib Dem education chief Councillor Ursula Woolley said Islington must reduce a nine per cent surplus of places to five per cent.
She added: “There’s a whole range of complicated factors why numbers go up and down and I don’t think Islington Green is a factor. We hope to build in a bit of flexibility.”
Cllr Woolley said Islington Arts and Media had been under-subscribed but denied that it was being punished. “A number of our best schools are also the smallest,” she added.
Lib Dem council leader Councillor James Kempton said: “Figures show something’s got to be done. I regret that we’ve got this unplanned system in London where academies spring up almost at will.” |
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