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Notes of Meeting 8th March 2023

Parent and carers tell local authority what they most value about KES

Information collected from parents and carers on what they most value about King Edward VII school (KES) was presented to the local authority at a meeting on Wednesday (8^th March).

It follows an Ofsted report published in January 2023 which rated KES as inadequate and led to a directive academy order which will see KES taken out of council control and placed with a multi-academy trust (MAT).

Over 3,000 people have now signed a petition which states: “We strongly believe that if we are unable to challenge and stop forced academisation, then the governing body and teaching staff should have a real say in the choice of the academy.”

The results of a survey completed by around 200 parents on what three things they most valued about the school or why they chose it for their children placed no uniform, having experienced and knowledgeable staff and the breadth of curriculum and other activities such as sport, art, music and trips at the top of the list.

Presenting the results to the meeting, parent governor Mike Heselton said 96 of the 185 responses he analysed mentioned no uniform as being important, not for its own sake but because of the individuality it allowed.

Second of the most mentioned categories was the teaching style and how experienced and knowledgeable staff were able to build rapport with pupils and go beyond a one size fits all approach.

A broad curriculum with lots of options and flexibility also came out strongly in the responses with the school treating students as individuals with their own preferences, aspirations and abilities while also encouraging them to be confident and critical thinkers.

Around 30 parents also specified that they would not want to lose the ethos of a school that they see as supportive but not pressured, pupil focused but also diverse.

The meeting also heard responses from parents who valued the welcoming atmosphere, did not discipline for the sake of it and had a friendly vibe.

Additional analysis of feedback from 200 parents and carers by parent governor Kate Williamson also showed ‘remarkable’ consistency including that no uniform is a popular policy that encourages a sense of self among pupils.

She also pointed to breadth of curriculum being important to parents and carers and pupils and there was praise for the school’s pastoral policies from a number of respondents.

There was a recurrent theme throughout the responses that KES is historic presence in the city and there is an enthusiasm for its independence – a word that came up time and time again, the meeting heard.

Details from the parent and carer survey on choice of MAT were also presented noting that 400 responses were received in just three days.

In all 86% said they wanted the academisation process to be delayed and 74% said should it go ahead they would prefer a small local trust as an MAT sponsor for the school.

Minerva Learning Trust – the MAT whose secondary schools include Ecclesfield, Handsworth Grange, High Storrs, and Stocksbridge – was the preferred candidate.

KES had previously been in discussions to join this MAT a few years ago before it fell through over the private finance debt associated with the lower school building.

Chorus and Tapton were the next two most popular MAT choices. Mercia Trust was another option that seemed to polarise parents, the meeting heard with 80 in favour but 217 who said they would not want the MAT to be the sponsor.

Kevin Straughan, director of education and skills at Sheffield City Council assured those at the meeting they would relay what parents had said and the depth of feeling to those in the Department of Education (DfE) who would be making the decision of which MAT would be selected.

He added that they had their first meeting with the DfE which was “extremely positive” and he believed there “was a desire to listen”.

Articles about King Edward VII School

Letter in Sheffield Telegraph 16th March 2023 https://kesthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/nste-16-03-23-016-nste.pdf

NSTE-16-03-23-016-NSTE Download

King Edward VII: Sheffield parents have their say on trust they would rather be ‘forced’ to join Parents at a Sheffield school faced with being “forced” into an academy trust have had their say on which they would rather join. https://www.thestar.co.uk/education/king-edward-vii-sheffield-parents-have-their-say-on-trust-they-would-rather-be-forced-to-join-4063028

King Edward VII School: Petition launched against plans for top Sheffield school to become an academy A petition has been created to stop the academisation of a Sheffield school after it received a shock “inadequate” Ofsted rating. https://www.thestar.co.uk/education/king-edward-vii-school-petition-launched-against-plans-for-top-sheffield-school-to-become-an-academy-4053303

King Edward VII Sheffield: Parents say ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating ‘does not reflect the school we know’. A number of parents have spoken out against a Sheffield secondary school’s ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating, saying it ‘does not reflect the school we know’. https://www.thestar.co.uk/education/king-edward-vii-sheffield-parents-say-inadequate-ofsted-rating-does-not-reflect-the-school-we-know-3999135

Opinion: Year on year more schools have been forced to join multi-academy trusts https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/opinion/letters/year-on-year-more-schools-have-been-forced-to-join-multi-academy-trusts-4049039

From Oxbridge feeder school to an Ofsted ‘inadequate’: what’s going on at King Ted’s? ‘That a school with such a long, proven track record should be forced to become an academy based on a two-day inspection seems ridiculous’ https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/p/from-oxbridge-feeder-school-to-an

Notes from Meeting 22nd Feb 2023

Parents urged to share views on ethos and value of KES with local authority

Last night parents attended a meeting with Andrew Jones, Director of Children’s Services at Sheffield City Council, to ask questions and learn more about the process of academisation.

One very important takeaway from the meeting was that the local authority can share the views of parents with the Department for Education (Dfe) regional office who are making the decision on what multi-academy trust (MAT) to select but we have a very small window of TWO WEEKS to do this. We have set up a Google form for parents to share what they most value about the school and its ethos and what is important to them and their children. We urge you ALL to fill this in as soon as possible. There will be a meeting in fortnight with Andrew Jones to discuss the outcome of this work. For example, if uniform turns out to be a very important issue to parents he can relay that information to the Department for Education, he said.

At the start of the meeting Mr Jones explained the context of the Ofsted inspection and that his understanding was this was triggered by one parental complaint. A one-day inspection then turned into two days. The school were given a copy of that report in September and formally challenged the findings three times. Eventually the report was upheld by Ofsted and sent to parents.

The inadequate rating triggered the school being issued with a directive academies order in December. The DfE has now invited interest from MATs in taking over KES and that invitation has been put out nationally.

Under this process the school leadership and governing body have no say in the choice of academy sponsor because they were judged to be inadequate and they cannot set up their own academy either. The criteria for selection of which MAT is chosen will not be made available.

The Local Authority do not make the decision of which academy trust is selected as this rests solely with the DfE but they can feed in the concerns of parents and the school community which is why it is so vital that they hear parents views. It was also made clear that the Local Authority have a legal obligation to enforce the Academies Act.

Other points made at the meeting included:

In 2017 the school had tried to join Minerva Trust but this did not progress and the academy order in place from this process is now superseded by the directive order which forces academisation
KES is likely to attract strong interest for various reasons including that it has a surplus budget. The issues which may cause more difficulty are the listed building of the upper school and PFI contract of the lower school
Once expressions of interest from MATs have been received the Department for Education undertakes a due diligence process and will look at aspects such as the track record in improving schools particularly against the criteria set out in the Ofsted report, and the financial position. Geography may come into it in terms of an academies ability to support a school in Sheffield.
When a recommendation on which MAT should be selected to take over there will be a parent consultation process. This can be a meeting with parents but can also be a simple questionnaire. At this point parents/public can access high level notes about sponsors/applications on DfE website. This is intended to be a transparent part of the process but it won’t include the full discussion.
Once a selection is made there will be a conversion process. It was also pointed out that sometimes a selected academy doesn’t follow through.
On the financial side, an MAT “top-slices” a proportion of the school budget for the running of the school. If a school is “inadequate” they can take more money from the school budget to finance rest of business.
Ultimately once a MAT takes over they are the governing body. Some also have local governance arrangements that include parent representatives but this is up to the trust. Some keep existing structures others bring in new ones.
An MAT with an already requires improvement school can take on another but factors such as how long it has been in the trust and what issues need improving may be taken into consideration

In terms of a timeline, it typically takes five months from the report publication date. This means for KES the process could finalise in June but this could also take longer due to the building issues.

During this period, the school can request a reinspection from Ofsted. Andrew Jones has the view that there is a risk that if this is done too early on after the inspection and you don’t show necessary improvements had been made because time is against you, a further ‘inadequate’ judgement is awarded. There are still unanswered questions about when Ofsted may reinspect.

If the academy process does not happen within nine months, the school will be subject to monthly monitoring visits by Ofsted looking at progress that has been made.

Parents who have more questions for Andrew Jones can please submit them via this form and a couple of parent/carers will collate them ready for the next meeting in 2 weeks with Andrew in 2 weeks. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSef5GrtJWdpRFJ5rVslRfIuEps71rEzUOiVENmlWpA1xzyclw/viewform

Please also do keep sending messages to your elected councillors and MPs on your views on this process and how it is being managed.

[Thanks Emma and Claudia for these notes]

Update from Meeting 8th Feb 2023

Update from the latest meeting of KES – The Future (thanks to Emma Wilkinson)

The second meeting was held at King Edward VII Upper School last night for parents and carers concerned about the Ofsted report and subsequent academisation order; and we thought it would be helpful to summarise what was discussed and the latest actions being taken.

There were five local councillors at the meeting who are all very concerned about what is happening and would like to hear more from parents in their constituencies about their views. They stressed they could not influence process or outcome but could feed back concerns. We know a lot of you have been writing to your MP and the school but do also get in touch with your local councillor if you want to share your thoughts.

Ruth Milsom, Crookes and Crosspool – ruth.milsom@councillor.sheffield.gov.uk

Tim Huggan, Crookes and Crosspool – tim.huggan@councillor.sheffield.gov.uk

Minesh Parekh, Crookes and Crosspool – minesh.parekh@councillor.sheffield.gov.uk

Bernard Little, Walkley – bernard.little@councillor.sheffield.gov.uk

Angela Argenzio, Broomhill and Sharrow Vale – angela.argenzio@councillor.sheffield.gov.uk

Those at the meeting heard there is now a website, and a WhatsApp announcements group to keep interested parents/carers up to date. The idea is to make it easy for parents/carers to get involved to whatever level you wish. For further discussion there is a general WhatsApp group called “KES The Future Parents&Co”. For more detail there are four subgroups looking at specific aspects of work – SEND, legal challenges, research into multi-academy trusts (MAT) and the Comms group who are working on communicating what we are doing and networking with parents and other interested parties. All these groups can be accessed via our Whatsapp community here and all parents/carers are invited to join if they like.

The SEND subgroup are keen to gather examples of good practice and point out the potential consequences to those children that a move to an academy might bring. They have outlined four areas they would want to be kept as part of the ongoing ethos of the school: Nurturing the individual, an effective pastoral system, positive support for mental health needs and effective co-production with parents. They have also set up a meeting with Kevin Straughan, Director of Education and Skills at the council.

The Legal subgroup have also been exploring several options including complaining to Ofsted, Freedom of Information requests around how decisions were made (for Ofsted, Department of Education and the Local Authority) and whether a legal challenge is possible.

There was general agreement that there need to be two strands of work happening simultaneously – one looking at potential legal challenge but, as that is unlikely given the situation we’re in and what has happened at other schools, it is also vital to prepare to influence decision-making over which academy is chosen. We have to be mindful that not everyone will have the same views or have had the same experience of the school. The meeting heard some negative and positive points from those with experience of academisation, including Angela Argenzio who said at High Storrs (Minerva Trust) she had not noticed the difference once it became an academy in terms of ethos. Others pointed out that not being in an academy had allowed KES to adapt to the Covid pandemic far more quickly than neighbouring schools.

Another important point that was raised was around potential levers for slowing the process down and what could then be done with that time – for example, a reinspection. This is something the Legal and MAT subgroups will be looking into and if anyone has any thoughts on this or examples of where this has happened with other schools, please get in touch!

The MAT subgroup has been set up to research academy trusts and consider what might be a good fit for KES should that be the only option. If anyone has any experience in education and can help inform this work, please do consider joining.

On the Comms side, one vital bit of work is happening to collect parent views as evidence of what we most value about the school. There is a Googleform set up for parents to give their views and you can be anonymous or named, just tick whichever consent you are happy with.

A petition is also being finalised this week to get a sense of how many parents share concerns about the Ofsted report and forced acadamisation order. We will post a link as soon as that is ready.

The meeting was led by Kate Williamson and Mike Heselton who are both school governors but it was felt that a parent spokesperson/leader might be more useful. A few parents put their names forward to do this as a group. Anyone else interested in this please get in touch with us.

One of the strengths of KES is its diversity and yet that hasn’t been reflected in the meetings so far. That diversity needs to be represented in our work, the meeting heard, and we will be working to share the website and WhatsApp groups far more widely as well as the Googleform to collect parent and carer views. We would encourage you all to share these links among your friends, communities and other groups you may be involved in.

And finally the point was made that the school does not have a Parents (or friends of the school) Association and there was wide agreement this is something that should be explored to give parents a properly constituted system for parents and carers to have a voice. This is something else we should look into.

A future meeting date will be publicised as soon as possible. The governors are hoping that Andrew Jones, Strategic Director of Children’s Services at the council, will be able to attend.