Campaign to be launched to fight Hastings academies plan
Angry parents are planning to set up a campaign to fight controversial proposals to replace three secondary schools with two new academies.
The newly-formed Hastings and St Leonards Against Academies wants to hold demonstrations, launch petitions and distribute leaflets around town.
Parents plan to meet next Thursday (October 8) at a venue to be arranged to discuss their next move.
Nik Roberts, of Wykeham Road, has created a group called Hastings and St Leonards Against Academies on social networking site Facebook, which already has more than 20 members.
He said: "Everyone is being told how wonderful everything is going to be but not getting the other side of the story.
"Children are our future and deserve high quality state education with good leadership in our schools.
"Locals are not being given all the facts to enable informed decisions, based on the consultation process currently being implemented."
Mr Roberts said the current consultation between parents and the academies' sponsors was 'heavily biased' towards supporting the controversial scheme which would replace Hillcrest, The Grove, and Filsham Valley by 2011.
The three schools are currently managed by schools improvement company Ninestiles Plus, led by Sir Dexter Hutt.
Outline plans for the academies were approved by the Government earlier this year.
The sponsors of the two proposed academies are the University of Brighton, East Sussex County Council and the telecom giant BT.
If the scheme goes ahead a brand new academy will be built on the Hillcrest School site and would accommodate 900 pupils aged 11 to 16.
The second academy would provide for 1,500 pupils aged 11 to 16 at a redeveloped Filsham Valley School site.
Mr Roberts said: "People feel it is a foregone conclusion that decisions have already been made and will be pushed through regardless. This is not the case and the people of Hastings and St Leonards can stop these academies from going ahead.
"There is also a concern that academies will mean children will be offered vocational qualifications above academic ones, as the current evidence suggests when reading about limited success rates and frequent failings of academies elsewhere in the country."
Mr Roberts said exam results at all three schools had improved at a 'great rate' and plans to knock down Filsham Valley to make way for an academy was an 'outrageous waste of money'.
Nick Perry, LibDem parliamentary candidate for Hastings and Rye, said his main concern was over parents' representation on the academies' governing committee.
He said: "The sponsors will get the lion's share of the decision-making power. There will only be one parent governor across the whole board."
A county council spokesman said: "We are delighted with the improvements at the three schools and congratulate all involved. They prove we are on the right track but in order for the schools to become some of the best in the country we need to build on the incremental success of three years of the federation with plans that will ensure a lasting, sustained transformation in standards. The contract with Ninestiles Plus ends in 2011.
"We believe the academy plans represent the best available option for the radical transformation needed for the future. They offer the chance of obtaining significant Government funds for major improvements with state-of-the-art buildings and technology. They mean we get the chance to inject the knowledge, expertise and experience of BT and the University of Brighton who have a major and extremely valuable contribution to make. Academies will also allow us scope for a new and innovative approach to the way children learn with a more flexible curriculum.
"There are no guarantees but we believe they will lead to the changes that will ensure pupils in Hastings have the best possible opportunities to learn and succeed not just now but for years to come."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Hastings
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: West
