100 signatures reached
To: Ian Franklin, Philip Webster, and Milton Keynes LEA
New Bradwell Multi Academy Trust, the NO campaign.
The Governors and Headmaster of New Bradwell School are proposing the creation of New Bradwell Multi Academy Trust. We as parents believe this move will be of no benefit to the pupils, the school or the wider community. We do not want our community school to become the lead in a Multi Academy Trust or to convert to Academy Status, as both these actions put our children's future into the hands of private concern. We want this action stopped now.
Why is this important?
1: The role the school will play seems to be very much the lead school in the partnership with, as of yet, unnamed schools. While we are sure the intention will be to fully carry out due diligence and fact finding before adding schools to the MAT, we are not convinced that the lead school's children benefit from this process. The desire to add to the MAT's portfolio can often mean that risks are taken and the weight of the risk weighs on the sponsor school, meaning staff are diverted to resolve these. The standard of education our children receive is very high and we are not convinced that diverting resources to improve another school will allow that to continue. We also believe that, when a MAT takes over a school, if it is not able to fully devote specialist help to that school, the effect on its children can actually be a worsening rather than an improving one.
2: The need to develop and employ centralised support services will be another area that could mean that staffing costs for the centralised provision are actually quite high. Professional services such as HR would be needed and these are very expensive. We do not feel that this is money well spent if these services can be ably handled at the LEA level.
3: The cost of ground maintenance and improvements has been met by the tax payer recently. While there is not a plan in place to expand, we feel that our children now have a fantastic learning environment. We are aware that a lot of schools in the area do not have this. We are not happy to think of this tax payers money being transferred into the assets of a private entity without elected accountability. The current white paper suggests that parental representation on governing bodies will not be required. This would be a significant worry as we feel that in any new structure there MUST be some active community and parental involvement.
4: The success of MATs over all is very questionable if current evidence is to be believed. The fact that children at NBS progress well is down to the local team working hard. Being a MAT brings no benefit to this situation, and we feel could actually detract from it. The school already works with partner schools to share best practice and develop new ideas. The school already takes part in local and county events and competitions and the school already supports the community. We do not see how being a MAT will improve this, and from evidence seen when secondary schools are taken over, it can actually reduce this.
2: The need to develop and employ centralised support services will be another area that could mean that staffing costs for the centralised provision are actually quite high. Professional services such as HR would be needed and these are very expensive. We do not feel that this is money well spent if these services can be ably handled at the LEA level.
3: The cost of ground maintenance and improvements has been met by the tax payer recently. While there is not a plan in place to expand, we feel that our children now have a fantastic learning environment. We are aware that a lot of schools in the area do not have this. We are not happy to think of this tax payers money being transferred into the assets of a private entity without elected accountability. The current white paper suggests that parental representation on governing bodies will not be required. This would be a significant worry as we feel that in any new structure there MUST be some active community and parental involvement.
4: The success of MATs over all is very questionable if current evidence is to be believed. The fact that children at NBS progress well is down to the local team working hard. Being a MAT brings no benefit to this situation, and we feel could actually detract from it. The school already works with partner schools to share best practice and develop new ideas. The school already takes part in local and county events and competitions and the school already supports the community. We do not see how being a MAT will improve this, and from evidence seen when secondary schools are taken over, it can actually reduce this.
