100 signatures reached
To: Iain Duncan Smith
Don't force Chingford Church of England Primary School to become an academy
Please do everything you can to make sure our local school isn't forced into becoming an academy.
Our school should be able to decide its own future.
Our school should be able to decide its own future.
Why is this important?
This school is one of the oldest in Chingford and it has been part of the community for over 150 years. For nearly a hundred years, it was funded by local parish taxes, donations and small fees and since 1944 it has been funded by the Local Education Authority; this is our school. It is our money and our efforts that have made it the well-respected and happy school that it is today. To take control of the school away from the local community and to put it in the hands of the Westminster government or, even worse, a distant and unaccountable academy chain , is theft and an act of vandalism against the history of our town.
No two schools are alike. But the government doesn't seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy, the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. It is doing this despite there being no evidence, according to the National Audit Office, that turning schools into academies actually helps to improve results. It is also a process that will cost hundreds of millions of pounds at a time when we are being asked to accept cuts in many services in the name of austerity.
Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they are a step towards privatisation۪, ignore local views, and could force some schools to close.
One size does not fit all, and local parents and teachers should have a say in the future of our school.
No two schools are alike. But the government doesn't seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy, the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. It is doing this despite there being no evidence, according to the National Audit Office, that turning schools into academies actually helps to improve results. It is also a process that will cost hundreds of millions of pounds at a time when we are being asked to accept cuts in many services in the name of austerity.
Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they are a step towards privatisation۪, ignore local views, and could force some schools to close.
One size does not fit all, and local parents and teachers should have a say in the future of our school.
