King Edward VII School Sheffield: Teachers vote to strike if Government forces it to become academy

Teachers have been balloted, after Ofsted reclassified the school, near Broomhill, as a ‘good’ school, just a few weeks after having claimed it was ‘inadequate’.

The Department of Education planned to force the school to become an academy after the ‘inadequate’ verdict –sparking a wave of protests from furious parents.

Members of both the NASUWT and NEU teachers’ unions at the school, near Broomhill, now say they expect the forced academisation plan to be shelved, and say now that the school has been regraded to ‘good’ by inspectors, they can see no rationale for academisation to proceed.

Members of both unions have now voted for strike action as part of a campaign to prevent the forced academisation of the school, and are calling on the Secretary of State for Education to revoke the academy order.

Simon Murch, NEU Sheffield Joint Branch Secretary said: “The NEU fully supports its members' decision to fight the forced academisation of King Edward VII School. The revised Ofsted judgement means the Secretary of State should withdraw the academy order and the school remain part of the local authority. Our members are ready to take industrial action should that decision not be reversed at the earliest opportunity.”

Fiona Hawksley-Cartwright, NASUWT Sheffield Secretary, added: “Staff are delighted to see that the school has now been judged to be good with outstanding features. This is a validation of the hard work of the whole staff community.

“The DfE’s own guidance states that an academy order can be revoked under ‘exceptional circumstances’, including where a school has been re-inspected and found to be good or outstanding. We are calling on the Education Secretary to follow her department’s own guidance and halt plans to force the school to become an academy.”

“Academisation is against the wishes of staff and parents. The Minister needs to respect the views of the school community in light of the revised Ofsted judgement and withdraw these plans, or else we will have no other option than to move to strike action in the autumn term,” she added.

A Department for Education spokesperson said earlier this week: “We are pleased to note that King Edward VII School has secured a Good judgement from Ofsted following its most recent inspection. We are considering the school’s application to revoke the academy order and will provide an update in due course.”