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Boswell speaks out on behalf of Croydon’s “heroic” teachers

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Canon Colin Boswell used Croydon’s annual civic service yesterday to call on the people of the borough ”to encourage heroic teachers”.

Croydon Minster: civic service with strong message

The Vicar of Croydon’s remarks came in a sermon to the congregation in Croydon Minster and to the many civic dignitaries in attendance.

Earlier in the week, Ofsted inspectors had carried out a further “raid” on the Parish Church junior school, where the vicar is the chair of the governing body.

The very early return of Ofsted to inspect the Church of England school, just a month after the publication of critical findings about the school’s performance, is judged by local Labour politicians as being part of the Michael Gove-instigated national campaign by the government department to use inspections to force as many schools as possible to become privatised academies.

Oval Primary, Roke School and Archbishop Lanfranc are among the local schools to have undergone forcible academisation in recent years, often against the wishes of the staff and parents. The handover at these schools has often been rushed and badly managed.

“To inspect within just a few weeks of the publication of the critical report has given insufficient time for the school’s new senior management to make an impact on performance,” said a Town Hall source attending yesterday’s service. “It is clearly calculated. It is a shame to see Ofsted debased for party political purposes.”

Inside Croydon has been informed that Department of Education officials are expected  in Croydon this week to push the Diocese of Southwark to agree to turn the school into an academy, something which the prelates have resisted so far.

Canon Colin Boswell: Vicar of Croydon defends “heroic” teachers

This attempt to push academisation under a private sector provider comes only two weeks after the Church of England was seen to criticise the way the school, and its staff, had been handled by the Department for Education.

The civic service had been, until 2012, an annual event to celebrate life in the borough, but that year, “NightMayor” Eddy Arram caused its cancellation because he claimed to be too busy. The service resumed last year and this year was properly attended by Mayor Manju Shahul-Hameed, who gave a reading from the New Testament.

Other notable local dignitaries at the service included Stuart Collins (the deputy leader of the council), Tim Pollard (leader of the opposition) and the council’s deputy chief executive Hannah Miller. Tony Newman, the council leader, was not present.

The sole representative from Parliament was Lord Bowness, the long-serving former Conservative leader of the council.

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