Letter: A matter of Trust?

Sadly, there appears to be no regard for the preferences and values expressed by parents.

There are, within the city, one or two homegrown academy trusts who would do a great job of honouring the existing ethos of King Ted’s and the school’s unquestioned academic excellence.

They would also support improvement in the areas where Ofsted felt the school fell short.

However, it has become apparent that Carolan Goggin, the regional director of the Department for Education, is favouring an expression of interest from the Brigantia Learning Trust.

A trust that currently holds a small number of schools – all significantly smaller in scale than KES – 40% of which have themselves been rated ‘Requires improvement’ by Ofsted!!

On this basis alone, how is it possible that this can be seen as a suitable match when other clearly well-matched trusts also threw their hats in?

This raises serious questions about trust in the process of academisation in the region, and makes a mockery of the consultation between the DfE, Sheffield Council and parents at the school.

It does make you wonder what the motivation for this is, and whether the Department for Education in the Yorkshire region can make credible, transparent decisions that genuinely prioritise the school’s best interest, or whether they are simply incompetent, or even whether the Brigantia Learning Trust somehow wields disproportionate influence, as it cannot be denied that KES would surely be the jewel in its underperforming crown.

K Bennett

Sheffield, S6