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Academy future uncertain as Tory friends take over
• THE news that John Nash’s Sovereign Capital has sold off its education arm, Alpha Plus, has dealt another blow to his proposed takeover of Pimlico School (Passion at a price in Pimlico’s Future?, December 21). Though Mr Nash later denied any connection, Alpha Plus was mentioned in the original expression of interest as providing support to Future in running the school should it become an academy.
Future, the charity founded two years ago by Mr Nash, has no educational experience, undermining the claim that it compared favourably with Haberdashers’ Askes’ and Westminster School as suitable Academy sponsors.
Further, the claim that both Haberdashers Askes’ and Westminster School were also eliminated because of their Church of England connections was undermined by the discovery that Haberdasher’s has no CoE links and that Westminster School is no closer to the CoE than Oxford or Cambridge universities. Neither is a school designated as having a religious character.
Throughout the whole process Westminster City Council has ignored the views of parents who want to retain Pimlico School as a local authority community comprehensive. The latest evidence for the contempt in which they hold parents is the fact that no parent was involved in the selection process for the designate Head, despite a commitment to do so from the council-run IEB that has replaced the Governing Body. Despite repeated requests, the IEB has refused to discuss parental representation.
In March last year, and even before the consultation about the future of the school, Council Leader Sir Simon Milton declared that he wanted to see Pimlico turned into an academy. The council’s dismissal of the views of parents, staff and pupils over the course of the year makes it clear that Pimlico’s fate was decided a long time ago.
The threadbare and, at times, farcical “evaluation” of possible sponsors, which ended with the proposal to hand Pimlico School (and a £35 million new building paid for by taxpayers) over to an organisation with no experience of running schools but which just happens to be a donor to the Conservative Party, must seem to any impartial observer, a shocking example of political cronyism.
Even in special measures the school achieved its best GCSE and A-Level results ever. The recent HMI inspection report shows good progress towards coming out of special measures.
The council should give the school back to the people who are committed to it. The outgoing governing body should be re-instated pending the election of a new one and the council should match the “endowment“ of £2m to Quinton Kynaston by giving the same amount to Pimlico.
PADRIAC FINN
Secretary, Westminster National Union of Teachers.
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