King Edward VII Sheffield: Open letter demands pause to 'forced academization' ahead of announcement at midnight

King Edward VII School (KES), which has sites in Broomhall and Crosspool, was stripped of its ‘Good’ rating by Ofsted in an inspection report published in January. The only aspect of the school deemed ‘inadequate’ was its leadership – but this was enough to drop it into the lowest rating available and prompt an ‘compulsory academisation order’ from the Department for Education.

Today (May 4), parents are waiting to learn what trust King Edward will be joining, after the school was told they would not find out until after the ‘purdah’ period for the local elections was over – which ends at midnight tonight.

But ahead of this deadline, an open letter from the ‘KES the Future’ campaign group published today is calling on regional director of the DfE Alison Wilson to halt the decision and give time to “clarify" the many decisions surrounding the issue they feel have been ‘kept secret’ because of the election.

They have also criticized Ofsted’s rating in the light of several national stories, including two ongoing legal challenges and an indication by Nick Gibb MP that the watchdog’s grading system could be overhauled.

The open letter from ‘KES the Future’ to Alison Wilson can be read in full below

The letter – which was created on May 3 and has gained over 200 signatures from parents in less than 24 hours – reads: “...we believe it would be appropriate to pause the process of academisation of King Edward VII School to allow clarity to be sought… we urge you to seriously consider a pause in this matter.

"Pending clarity about policy change and legal matters, one viable solution would be for the DfE to take no action until King Edward VII School has had an opportunity to address the issues identified in the inspection report and be reinspected a short time later.”

In the inspection report, the only area found outright ‘Inadequate’ was the school’s leadership. The strongest criticism seemed to be over the safety of how older pupils were reportedly leaving school grounds at lunchtime. Despite this, the school’s ‘safety’ rating was only ruled to be “requires improvement”.

The open letter effectively asks that the school be given time to address this policy and be reinspected, and pleads for a stay of execution over the academization order.

Previously, a survey of 400 parents indicated they would prefer the school joined the Minerva Learning Trust, but an itinerary for upcoming meeting of the DfE’s Yorkshire and the Humber advisory board suggests the school will instead join the Brigantia Learning trust. Notably, 80 per cent of parents said they would rather not join a trust at all.

In the months since the report, parents have launched a petition railing against the decision that has garnered over 3,000 signatures and held a protest out City Hall attended by hundreds of households. They have also expressed their concerns about the track record, capacity and lack of experience of the Brigantia Trust, who many believe are set to take over.

The announcement over which trust KES will join is likely to come tomorrow (May 5) when the local election purdah is lifted.

The letter from ‘KES the Future’ to regional director of the DfE Alison Wilson is as follows:

Dear Ms Wilson

As parents and carers of students of King Edward VII School, Sheffield, we are writing to urge you to pause the process of academisation of the school given the changed national context. In January, the process began to issue a new academy order for King Edward VII School, superseding the previous order to join Minerva trust. This followed publication of an inadequate Ofsted grading. Since then, Ministers have expressed concerns about Ofsted overall inadequate judgements made based on safeguarding issues alone.

The Chief Inspector of Schools has publicly stated that there are legitimate debates about grading1 and the Minister of State for Schools, Nick Gibb MP, announced on 20/4/2023, that Ministers and Ofsted will look at the issue of limiting judgements, indicating that this policy could change.2 Ofsted has also announced it will reinspect schools more quickly when an inadequate judgement on safeguarding alone has been issued.3 Given these announcements, we believe it would be appropriate to pause the process of academisation of King Edward VII School to allow clarity to be sought.

In addition to policy review, there are at least two legal challenges that have been publicly announced of the Ofsted grading approach in cases such as King Edward VII School. This means that even if Ofsted and Ministers decide not to change the one-word Ofsted grading approach, the current approach could yet be found to be unlawful. The two legal cases we refer to are as below:

NAHT based on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which imposes obligations on public authorities to take reasonable steps where there is a real and immediate risk of a loss of life;4

Queen Emma Primary School in Cambridge who intend to challenge the reasonableness of the Ofsted grading criteria in the specific case of an inadequate judgement on the basis of safeguarding.5

Irrespective of any changes, or challenges, to Ofsted’s inspection processes, we believe there are grounds for the DfE to reconsider how it intervenes in schools found to be inadequate on ‘limiting’ grounds, and that were graded good or higher prior to the most recent inspection. Pending clarity about policy change and legal matters, one viable solution would be for the DfE to take no action until King Edward VII School has had an opportunity to address the issues identified in the inspection report and be reinspected a short time later.

The Secretary of State provides you with discretion to exercise your powers to achieve the policy aim of creating a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential. Indeed, guidance states that you “may” intervene if maintained schools are judged inadequate, but it does not set out a timescale for intervention. Given the current situation we have set out, we urge you to seriously consider a pause in this matter.