Lewisham: Schools minister Nick Gibb backs Prendergast plan

Tory schools minister Nick Gibb criticised teachers in a letter to the National Education Union (NEU).

He wrote separately to leaders at the Prendergast schools, encouraging them to defy the local community and push ahead with plans to convert into an academy trust.

The NEU says 99% of its teacher members at the schools oppose academisation, while 64% of responses to the schools’ own public consultation were also against it, compared to 6% in favour.

Claire Hallam, whose daughter attends one of the schools, called Mr Gibb’s interventions “unspeakable”, but “unsurprising”.

They came to light just as unions had agreed to suspend strike action next week and meet governors for further talks.

Teachers were due to walk out on June 6, 7 and 8, but the NEU said governors had accepted their offer to return to talks at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) on June 8 and 9.

“We are suspending strike action for that week to try to facilitate that,” a union rep said.

Staff began nine days of strike action last month, but have suspended the last three days after governors agreed to fresh talks (Image: Prendergast NEU Reps)

Previous ACAS negotiations had focused on postponing academisation while a working group was set up to explore alternatives.

But they broke down after the schools said they wanted to begin the academy conversion while the working group was still investigating and also wanted a guarantee of no further strikes.

The NEU said it could not agree to those terms and governors said they were not prepared to budge.

The Letter

Just as governors finally agreed to get back around the table with union reps, a letter was leaked to the media, sent by Mr Gibb to NEU bosses on May 19.

“It appears that local members are willing to risk the life-chances of hundreds of children in an ideologically motivated dispute,” he wrote.

The Department for Education (DfE) confirmed the letter was genuine and that he had also written to school leaders, backing academisation.

The DfE issued its own statement calling the strikes “completely unacceptable”.

Teachers and parents reacted angrily.

One teacher said that whilst staff were only told of the plan to academise in February, they later learned governors had been planning it for years and had anticipated strike action and built it in their plans.

“They knew it would take place during the exam period,” the teacher said. “It’s pure cynicism on their part, trying to shift the blame onto us.”

Conservative schools minister Nick Gibb told the NEU in a letter that teachers were putting their ideology above the life chances of hundreds of children (Image: HM Govt)

Another teacher added: “Why isn’t their ire directed at the governors as well? All they had to do was agree to pause and we would be back in class.

“Everything is being laid on us for striking, but that all we have available to us. What about them? Ninety-five per cent of their workforce is against it, but they aren’t prepared to listen.”

Parent Claire Hallam said: “It’s awful. They are using the same language as the schools, pitching parents against teachers that are so loved by so many people, making it all sound like the teachers’ fault. They are fighting to protect our schools.”

Dispute

Parents supporting the teachers have denied being ideologically opposed to academies, saying evidence simply shows academisation can make schools worse, not better.

The DfE said countered that “the best academy trusts transform outcomes for pupils and drive improvement”.

But even Prendergast’s chair of governors, Andy Rothery, said joining a large multi-academy trust (MAT) would be the “worst possible outcome”.

He claimed having one board of governors donating hundreds of hours per year to oversee all three schools was “unsustainable”, so they want to form a small MAT, giving each school its own governors.

They have publicly guaranteed that there will be no reduction in staff, no sale of assets and no change in pay or conditions for current or future staff.

But opponents say those guarantees are worthless, as once they are academies, the schools could be taken over at any time by new owners with no duty to abide by those agreements.

The schools were approached for comment.