Commenting on Free schools: The next 10 years, a
report by the New Schools Network which calls for the 92 ‘orphan’
schools rated inadequate to be taken over by parent and community
groups rather than wait any longer for a suitable academy
sponsor, Dr Mary
Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the
National Education Union, said:
“It is beyond parody that riding to the rescue of the free
schools project should be the New Schools Network (NSN), a
charity very largely dependent on DfE funding and which has been
led since its creation by a succession of former Government staff
and Conservative cronies. They need look no further than their
Christmas card list for the causes of the problems they seek to
solve.
“The fact that so many schools are ‘awaiting’ a sponsor and are
effectively in limbo is a searing indictment of the dysfunctional
academies and free schools policies which the NSN promotes. The
ridiculous dogma that academisation is the answer needs to be
abandoned. There is no evidence that academy sponsorship improves
pupil outcomes and forced academisation is both disruptive and
anti-democratic.
“We need a supportive and cooperative framework for school
improvement, involving the local authority and neighbouring
schools in full consultation with parents and staff. Parachuting
in NSN approved groups to take over schools would be a recipe for
disaster.”
