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Parents meet in anger over school’s treatment
Pimlico has been deliberately neglected to make way for an Academy, they say
PARENTS of pupils at Pimlico school met on Monday night to express their fears over the future of their children’s education.
They claimed their children are suffering from years of “neglect” of the school by Westminster Council and are angry that it was put on special measures following a snap Ofsted inspection.
The Pimlico School Association met on Monday night in the recital rooms of Pimlico School to discuss what impact they could make in shaping the future of the school.
They left in buoyant mood after voting unanimously in favour of community school status.
The setting was significant as the school’s pioneering music scheme is under threat after the council announced a “drop” in funding.
It is another example, parents claim, of the deliberate neglect of the school from the council leading to the controversial Ofsted inspection that in December put the school on special measures.
The findings, which followed a report naming the school as Westminster’s “most improved”, came as a shock to many parents who have since appealed, unsuccessfully, against it.
The move followed last month’s announcement from Sir Simon Milton, leader of Westminster Council, that he would like Pimlico to become Westminster’s fourth academy.
The sponsors have not been chosen though sources close to the DfES believe Absolute Return for Kids (Ark), a charity using money raised through hedge funds and private equity, are being lined up for a takeover.
The anger against the plans centres on the removal of parents’ ‘right’ to have a say in the running of the school, the hiring and firing of staff and the curriculum.
Under the reforms schools are removed from the control of the local authority.
A damning report from the DfES pits Westminster’s secondary schools as the third worst improving in the country and the worst in London.
Among the speakers was Alan Bradley, an English teacher for 21 years at the former North Westminster community school that split into Paddington and Westminster academies in September.
He said: “When they changed North Westminster into the academy I knew it was going to be horrible. They have got rid of departments and the curriculum has changed so that most of the time the teachers are left not knowing what to teach. English as a second language has been wiped out and lessons for Special Educational Needs have gone. The respective teachers in those subjects have been made redundant.
He added: “We have not yet moved into the new £30-million building a year after it was promised.”
Philippa Birket, the chairwoman of CASE (campaigning for state education) said: “It actually states in the government agenda that there are to be no more community schools. They are pushing to bring in 400 of the schools before Tony Blair goes and it is absolutely staggering how many schools have been turned into academies just in the last two months.”
Academies are often given consent by councils because they promise extra funding for education.
Warwick ward Tory councillor Nicky Aiken spoke, to a chorus of boos, of her uncertainty at whether academy status was the right thing for Pimlico.
She said: “I have spoken to pupils here who say Pimlico has no soul. We just want to save Pimlico School for the pupils.”
But a parent, drawing the biggest cheer of the night, replied: “We don’t need rescuing, this is a good school. If you say we are struggling enough it becomes a self-fufilling prophecy. I made my mind up to send my child to a state school and I don’t want anyone changing that decision for me.”
Parent Helen Holtham said: “I have had three of my children at the school and they are now at Oxford, Sussex and Leeds universities – that is thanks to the staff.
Labour opposition councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, who was in favour of turning North Westminster into an academy, said: “It has been a disaster. On the Paddington example I would not want it for Pimlico.”
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