Proposed Calder High Academy: public meeting with speaker from Anti-Academies Alliance
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
The National Secretary of the Anti-Academies Alliance, Alasdair Smith, has has agreed to travel up from London to address a public meeting about the proposal to change Calder High from a community comprehensive to an Academy. The meeting will be at 7.45pm on Thursday 17 January 2013 at the Town Hall.
Alasdair Smith has written on the Anti Academies website that "Anyone who doubts that free schools and academies are about privatisation and will ultimately lead to ‘for profit’ schooling should read this report from the ATL’s Martin Johnson. It tells how IES – a company that has a contract to run a school in Suffolk has seen its parent company sold to a huge US private equity firm. This is the corporate takeover of education!"
See also
HebWeb Forum: Calder Academy?
Moves to turn Calder High into Academy
Monday, 26 November 2012
Further to the placement of the school in the OFSTED category "notice to improve" in January 2012, Calder High School parents have now received a letter from the chair of governors, Rob Good, dated 23rd November, confirming that "the Dept. for Education's view is that Calder High School will become a sponsored academy."
The letter states that "the governing body has resolved to work with the DfE and the Local authority to ensure the best possible outcome for the students, the school and the community. At this early stage we do not know a great deal about the process or the implications and issues. As soon as we have more information we will share this with you. Our aim is to engage you in the process as far as is possible and we will be holding a parents meeting in the near future to do this."
".....Mrs Watson and Mr Leicester are to continue as Executive Headteacher and Interim Headteacher until the end of this academic year. We can also confirm that Mrs Spillane has now formally resigned her post as Headteacher here."
Calder High opened in May 1952 as one of the very first comprehensives in the country.