Parents accuse Lewisham schools of waging propaganda war amid teacher strikes

Teachers at the Leathersellers’ Federation of Schools announced nine days of strike action as governors voted to become a multi-academy trust (MAT), despite significant opposition.

Workers had already gone on strike for six days over the MAT plan and national pay and conditions.

Anti-academy parents claim the schools – Prendergast School, Prendergast Ladywell, Prendergast Vale and Prendergast Primary – have subjected pupils to “political lobbying”.

“Our children are being told in assemblies during school time that academisation would be a good thing for all,” they complained in a petition.

Parent Claire Hallam said leaders were also “weaponising ParentMail” – messages sent home to parents – in the dispute.

One accused the National Education Union [NEU] of putting “political objectives” above pupils, saying: “We do not believe the NEU’s ideology is a valid reason to deny our children 15 days of schooling.”

Another accused the NEU of “political activism”.

The NEU said 99% of its staff members had voted against the Prendergast schools MAT proposal (Image: Lewisham NEU)

According to the NEU, 99 per cent of its staff members oppose the plan, believing it would be harmful to pupils.

NEU officer James Kerr said school leaders had used ParentMail to portray teachers as “naïve”, “gullible” and “easily manipulated”.

The federation insisted its messages were “factual and provided accurate information, particularly to counter misunderstandings and misinformation circulating in the community.”

Opposition

The community fought off a prior attempt to academise eight years ago, backed by Marvel actor Mark Ruffalo, who is supporting them again this time.

Lend a hand if you can. https://t.co/1hUr14TqpH

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) April 26, 2023

After a consultation was launched earlier this year into the renewed proposal, more than 1,200 people signed a petition demanding parents, guardians and staff be given a vote.

Parents said a consultation did not amount to “meaningful” input and could simply be ignored.

“The power to make decisions over the future of our children’s schools is in the hands of a few,” the petition said. “They need to listen to the many.”

A prior academisation plan sparked protests in 2015 and was abandoned

Governors, who have already spent more than £40,000 pursuing the plan, refused a vote and went ahead with the consultation.

Six per cent of responses supported academisation, whilst 64% opposed it.

But on May 3, governors – only two of whom are elected by parents – approved the plan by a majority vote.

“The views of our community are very important to us,” the federation said, insisting it had “carefully considered” the consultation responses.

Fighting to keep public schools not for-profit and for everyone. https://t.co/8VMWjM0GhT

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) March 5, 2023

But opponents say the governors have ignored over the community.

“Seeing how they’ve treated teachers, how they’ve used ParentMail to bash teachers – the whole thing has been incredibly upsetting,” said Claire.

Concerns

Consultation responses show staff are “extremely worried”, describing the atmosphere after they learned of the planned academisation as “bleak”.

“A lot of staff came to work at Prendergast specifically because it’s not an academy,” said Claire. “They have real horror stories. We’ve heard of teachers having nervous breakdowns.”

The NEU says academies often pay teachers less and leaders more than state schools.

Some MATs have sacked staff to save cash and disadvantaged students generally have poorer outcomes in academies.

Becoming a MAT also removes local authority oversight.

The federation denies these issues will affect the Prendergast schools.

In an open letter, Andy Rothery, chair of governors, said: “We have heard the same examples of other MATs that have behaved badly… We are putting in place many safeguards to make sure that this is not and will not be the case in our federation.”

The Leathersellers’ Federation of Schools has acknowledged problems with other academy trusts but said it would work to ensure the same issues did not affect the Prendergast schools (Image: Lewisham NEU)

The federation told the News Shopper there would be “no redundancies, cuts or restructures”, no sale of assets, and no pay reductions or watering down of conditions.

It said it would “follow nationally-negotiated terms and conditions” for all future staff and claimed money it no longer had to pay Lewisham Council would be spent increasing provision for children with special needs and disabilities.

But anti-academy parents remain unpersuaded.

An online letter drafted by the NEU, urging governors to withdraw the MAT proposal, has been filled out and sent more than 6,000 times.

For Claire, the plan is the thin end of a wedge.

“Their guarantees are not worth anything,” she said. “Once you’ve made the change, the door is open. It could get taken over by another trust, which can then do what it likes.”