Downhills campaigners vow to fight on despite damning Ofsted report (From Haringey Independent)

Downhills Primary School campaigners vow to fight on despite damning Ofsted report

12:26pm Monday 13th February 2012 in News By David Hardiman

Protestors marched to Haringey Civic Centre last month.

Campaigners fighting the attempt to force a Tottenham school into becoming an academy have pledged to continue despite the resignation of the headteacher.

The headteacher of Downhills Primary School in Philip Lane, Leslie Church, resigned on Friday after the school learned that it would be placed on special measures following an Ofsted inspection last week.

Investigators were ordered by Education Secretary Michael Gove to visit the school last week after being threatened with legal action over pressing ahead with changes before staff had a chance to show the school had improved.

Members of the Save Downhills Campaign, which has been vocal in criticism of Mr Gove and took part in a protest march to Haringey Civic Centre last month, said it was “extremely disappointed” with the Ofsted report.

In a statement, it added: “The Ofsted report does not change our opinion that the best place for school improvement to take place is within the local family of community schools.

“Many schools across the country come out of special measures and go on to be highly successful within the framework of local democratically controlled education authorities.

“This is a tried and tested method of school improvement. There are very few primary academies and we have seen no evidence to show that turning primary schools into academies is a route to school improvement.”

Governors at the school said they would now seek a “constructive dialogue” with Mr Gove about any changes at the school, while the Department for Education said it would examine the full Ofsted report before making any decisions.

The school had been given a deadline of mid-January to commit to becoming an academy and to find a sponsor, or face an interim board of governors being imposed, but the current governors argued that was illegal and threatened a judicial review.