Action against Academies
This is information from NAME for members and supporters, it will also be of interest to those fighting against Academies elsewhere.
At the beginning of this crucial week for the future of all schools in the Rother Valley, NAME would encourage you to contact Robert Back directly (Robert.Back@westsussex.gov.uk) expressing your concerns.
Why is this so important? We know that the consultation will offer us little room for manoeuvre. We are told "it will not be a 'referendum'", which means that majority opposition to the Academy will not alone be sufficient reason for County to change its plans. However, we know that there are doubts among some even at County Hall about the wisdom of this deeply controversial proposal. In addition to attending the consultation meetings, and filling in the forms, we should therefore also consider going directly to the people who make the decisions.
If e-mailing Robert Back, you might ask him to address these points:
* Academies were designed to bring 'choice and diversity' to urban areas. For instance, North London parents might choose a Christian Academy, or a Business Academy. The Rother Valley represents an untried experiment: as the country's first rural Academy, it does not offer a choice to parents, but demands that their children comply with the sponsor's ethos.
* Although rolls are falling in the Rother Valley, West Sussex as a whole does not have anything like the ‘surplus’ of some local authorities, and the privatisation of the secondary school system seems a rather desperate way of addressing an issue which other authorities are finding different ways to tackle.
* If the ‘consultation’ we are to be offered only allows us the ‘option’ of a privatised Academy for the Rother valley, what kind of a ‘consultation’ is this? A ‘preferred option’ is one thing, a fait accompli is quite another.
To our disbelief, the man who actually makes the final decision, cabinet member for education Cllr Mark Dunn has 'gone on leave' for the period of the consultation, presumably in order not to have to field the kind of inconvenient concerns which are sure to be expressed by local communities. Nevertheless, NAME would urge you to copy your e-mails to him (Mark.Dunn@westsussex.gov.uk); you might also consider sending your questions to your local County Council elected member (and /or Midhurst's councillor Nola.Hendon@westsussex.gov.uk), or simply copying Ms Hendon in on your questions to Mr Back.
Please forward this e-mail as widely as possible to friends, colleagues or anybody who you feel might wish to contribute to this debate. If you receive a reply from Mr Back, Mr Dunn, Ms Hendon or anybody else at County Hall, please forward it to us at NAME (namecampaign@yahoo.com): we are intrigued to see what kind of responses you get!
At the beginning of this crucial week for the future of all schools in the Rother Valley, NAME would encourage you to contact Robert Back directly (Robert.Back@westsussex.gov.uk) expressing your concerns.
Why is this so important? We know that the consultation will offer us little room for manoeuvre. We are told "it will not be a 'referendum'", which means that majority opposition to the Academy will not alone be sufficient reason for County to change its plans. However, we know that there are doubts among some even at County Hall about the wisdom of this deeply controversial proposal. In addition to attending the consultation meetings, and filling in the forms, we should therefore also consider going directly to the people who make the decisions.
If e-mailing Robert Back, you might ask him to address these points:
* Academies were designed to bring 'choice and diversity' to urban areas. For instance, North London parents might choose a Christian Academy, or a Business Academy. The Rother Valley represents an untried experiment: as the country's first rural Academy, it does not offer a choice to parents, but demands that their children comply with the sponsor's ethos.
* Although rolls are falling in the Rother Valley, West Sussex as a whole does not have anything like the ‘surplus’ of some local authorities, and the privatisation of the secondary school system seems a rather desperate way of addressing an issue which other authorities are finding different ways to tackle.
* If the ‘consultation’ we are to be offered only allows us the ‘option’ of a privatised Academy for the Rother valley, what kind of a ‘consultation’ is this? A ‘preferred option’ is one thing, a fait accompli is quite another.
To our disbelief, the man who actually makes the final decision, cabinet member for education Cllr Mark Dunn has 'gone on leave' for the period of the consultation, presumably in order not to have to field the kind of inconvenient concerns which are sure to be expressed by local communities. Nevertheless, NAME would urge you to copy your e-mails to him (Mark.Dunn@westsussex.gov.uk); you might also consider sending your questions to your local County Council elected member (and /or Midhurst's councillor Nola.Hendon@westsussex.gov.uk), or simply copying Ms Hendon in on your questions to Mr Back.
Please forward this e-mail as widely as possible to friends, colleagues or anybody who you feel might wish to contribute to this debate. If you receive a reply from Mr Back, Mr Dunn, Ms Hendon or anybody else at County Hall, please forward it to us at NAME (namecampaign@yahoo.com): we are intrigued to see what kind of responses you get!
Labels: Academies, information
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