DUFFIELD TEACHERS STRIKE OVER ACADEMY MOVE

Teachers at Ecclesbourne School in Duffield, Derbyshire, are taking industrial action on two days this week against proposals to convert the school into an ‘academy’. Members of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, are walking out on Tuesday 11 and Thursday 13 January over their serious concerns about the governors’ consideration of becoming one of the Coalition Government’s controversial academy schools.
Concerns raised include:
• Evidence from Sweden and the United States that have adopted similar systems shows that educational standards were NOT raised.
• Removing teachers from the National Pay and Conditions framework. Academy schools do not have to adhere to national pay frameworks. A national system ensures that schools don’t compete against each other for staff, and staff can concentrate on raising standards at the school.
• Taking the school out of local authority control is dismantling this country’s state education system. Academy schools are effectively private schools, funded directly by the Government.
• By opting out of a local authority system, education becomes fragmented. Local authorities’ ability to provide specialist services for disadvantaged children across the area will be impaired.
• Once converted, there is no going back.


Parents, governors and members of the public are being urged to look carefully at, and query, all proposals concerning the academy. There is also the opportunity to  raise the issue with the local MP, and write to them expressing specific concerns.




Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said: “The teachers at Ecclesbourne taking strike action are doing the right thing by standing up for what they believe in – maintaining the excellent education they provide under a state-run school system.
“They don’t want to see this school handed over to the Coalition Government’s sweeping reforms that effectively open the floodgates to the private sector. Do people in Derbyshire want their local schools to be privatised?
“I’ll be joining the staff in their action later this week to support them, and show how seriously the Union takes their concerns.”
Dave Wilkinson, NASUWT Local Secretary, said: “Teachers at Ecclesbourne have serious concerns about the future of education for the pupils here. We don’t think that becoming an academy is right – so far, all the evidence suggests that academies don’t improve educational standards.
“This peaceful action is quite simply to demonstrate concern and urge governors to look carefully at the plans and make the right decision for Ecclesbourne – don’t convert to academy status, because it’s effectively being privatised. We should be asking ourselves - Do we really want to break up the state education system?”

Unions ramp up campaigns against Academy plans

The Government is encouraging all schools judged ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted to become academies. Each school’s Governing Body will need to decide this month if it wishes to become an academy from this September. There is no requirement for the Governing Body to consult with parents before making this decision. This means that children could be attending an academy after the summer holidays, without any prior consultation with parents.
Once a school has become an academy, there is no way back.
Trade union members are committed to continuing to provide children with an outstanding education, but we have grave concerns about the proposed academy model. Academies were originally set up to improve the educational attainment of secondary school pupils in disadvantaged communities and under challenging circumstances. There is no evidence to suggest that converting an outstanding school into an academy will make any difference to pupils’ educational attainment, nor is there any evidence to suggest benefits for pupils in primary or special schools. In fact, we believe that the risks involved in academy status, in particular the loss of support from the local authority, far outweigh any of the suggested advantages of obtaining academy status.
We strongly believe that schools can only remain outstanding with the support and trust of its parents. Any
decisions affecting the future of  children’s education in such a fundamental way must be taken jointly by parents, staff, governing bodies and the community. If you, as a parent, share our concerns, we urge you to contact your parent representative on the Governing Body immediately to make your voice heard.

The teaching unions have produced model letters and petitions for use in campaigning against the spreading of Academies and these are avialable here:
http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/11674
and here:
www.nasuwt.org.uk/ChampioningEducation/Academies