Row erupts over faith school plan for Malton School

It was revealed yesterday that governors have opted to seek academy and faith status, but turned down a bid to make it a grammar school.

County councillor and school governor Mike Knaggs has expressed concern about the move and is urging fellow governors to re-consult parents on the issue.

He said: “Parents are very concerned that such an important part of their lives seems to be being decided in a hurried way without enough information for them to make up their minds.”

Coun Knaggs has written to headteacher Rob Williams, saying he has been approached by constituents in the Malton division which he represents at County Hall.

He said he was “very surprised” about the planned change of status of Malton School.

Coun Knaggs said he did not understand the issue of the school becoming a Church of England Academy.

He has told Mr Williams: “What I and some of my constituents would like to know is how the church influence would be exercised. There must be some in exchange for the school becoming linked with the church. Will the school select pupils on the basis of their faith?”

Coun Knaggs added: “What about parents who do not wish to have a faith-based education? Presumably they will need to look elsewhere for school places.

“I understand that the local authority has advised that it is not correct for governors to consult on both becoming an academy and becoming a church school at the same time.

“While there is uncertainty, I would expect that governors would hold back from making any decisions.”

Mr Williams, in a letter to Coun Knaggs, said the main reasons for the proposed change was that the Government expected most schools to become academies.

He said: “It would not be to the advantage of Malton School to be at the back of the pack. It is now clear that there is no ‘status quo’ option.”

He added: “The move allows us to strengthen our position by re-branding in a way that further emphasises the traditional and academic nature of the school.”

“We believe that a re-connection with the church family of schools, offers the best prospect of a genuine network that will sustain and strengthen us in the years to come.”

Mr Williams said Malton School’s name changed in 1971 when the former grammar school merged with Malton Secondary Modern School.

He added that the school had been a church school from 1547 until the opening of the new buildings in Middlecave Road in 1911.

Speaking yesterday (Tuesday), Mr Williams said the governors had now decided to seek academy status and if it was successful, to make Malton a faith school.

However, they had now decided not to pursue the possibility of it having grammar school status.

Parent Philippa Hare said she believed that it was only by remaining proudly secular that the school could promote the mutual acceptance and celebration of diversity.

“While totally respecting the private beliefs of individuals, there is plenty of evidence that the Church as an institution is intolerant, even openly oppressive, of many people in our society – not a ‘family’ I would want my children to be part of.

“I don’t find ‘mutual tolerance’ in the Church’s assertion that “homosexual practice... ‘falls short of the ideal’ expression of sexual love...”, or in its refusal to accept actively gay priests. That won’t help teenagers to ‘come out’ and express their sexuality openly at school.

“A ‘safe family’ is not one where those who are female, gay, of another religion or allied to none are at best ‘tolerated’, at worst oppressed – nor will the school be safe, if it aligns itself with teachings incompatible with its responsibilities to promote equality and diversity, let alone free thinking.”

Academy status not for us, says Lumley’s head

LADY Lumley’s School in Pickering has opted to go against the current educational flow and not become an academy.

Despite an increasing number of schools across the country, including Norton College, achieving academy status, the governors took the decision last week to maintain the status quo.

Headteacher Richard Bramley said they had carried out an extensive consultation involving parents, staff, feeder primary schools and the students themselves.

“Every school is having this debate at the moment and we had to decide whether to continue to debate or whether to make a decision now and go with it.

“We took on all the views and opinions and decided that becoming an academy was not right for the school and the students at this time.

“It was a unanimous decision by the governing body and fully supported by the staff.”

The Government opened up the academies programme to all schools, including, for the first time, primary schools and special schools, last year, pledging to make the process of becoming an academy quicker.

Mr Bramley said that he accepted becoming an academy was the right move for other schools.

“From our point of view we have always found the local authority a useful body. I likened the situation to pupils of leaving home and standing on your own feet, only in this case there was no opportunity to go home again.

“We feel we can do exciting things as a local authority school and it has been energising to make this positive decision.”

Mr Bramley said that as part of the consultation process, he and members of the governing body had visited other schools which have become academies.

He said: “I can understand why some of these schools have gone down this route and we will keep on eye on what is happening in the education system and look at our situation again next year.

“But in the meantime we will not be spending time on pursuing academy status and instead spend our time on our core purpose which is educating pupils.”

Norton College became one of the first schools in North Yorkshire to become an academy last month. The move means operational issues and the strategic direction of the school are now managed by the governing body.

Chairman of Ryedale School’s governors, Susan Balf, said they were investigating the issue of academy status but were not committed either for or against.