Travesty, treachery, betrayal!

So, things had quietened down a bit. I was getting back to work, back in the swing of blogging about books and translation and other matters that this blog is supposed to be about. We had started to breathe a little more easily about the school – the IEB seemed like they were honest, Ofsted were due in soon and we had good expectations that they would take the school out of Special Measures.

The school playing field and new fort looking gorgeous in the sunshine, with the allotment to the right.

And then, wham! Today we learnt that the school has indeed come out of Special Measures. Hooray! Congratulations to all concerned. Nobody can force us to become an academy any more. Except, wait… What’s this?

The Interim Executive Board (IEB) has decided, at the behest of the County Council and the DfE academy broker, to apply for an academy order anyway!

Of all the shocking and outrageous events in this whole sorry saga, this is the most appalling. The school is no longer “eligible for intervention” so the IEB has no mandate or authority to do this. Throughout the process, they have done a reasonably good impression of having the best interests of the school and our children at heart. This flagrantly political action, however, shatters any good will they might have built up and removes the last vestiges of positive spin that could be put on the process. This is nakedly political. The IEB have done their duty to the County Council and the DfE and can walk out, move on. Go on to the next school to slip into Special Measures and leave us parents, teachers and the local community to pick up the pieces.

Well it ain’t gonna happen. We will fight this through the courts. The example of Galton Valley, the Warren School and many others show that we can win.

To quote the press release just sent out by the campaigners:

“We are being used as a plaything by people who have no interest in the long-term future of Cavell, but only see the school as a vehicle to promote their ideology. This is nothing less than an outright abuse of power. We teach our children to say no to bullies, and we will do the same.”