United: the GMB Southern Region’s two days of strike action have forced Red Gates School governors to abandon academy plans
Staff at a Croydon special school are claiming a victory after the board of governors dropped its plans for academisation.
Red Gates School in South Croydon, which specialises in educating children with severe learning disabilities, received a Good/Outstanding Ofsted rating as recently as March this year.
But the governors wanted to hand over control from the local authority to the Pegasus Academy Trust, which has no background in running schools for children with SEND – Special Educational Needs and Disability.
The Pegasus Academy Trust currently operates seven schools, including Whitehorse Manor, Atwood and Ecclesbourne primaries.
At Red Gates, the chair of governors is Anne-Marie Brown, appointed by the local authority in 2021 having previously served on the board of governors at two other Croydon schools. “I am committed to the journey with Red Gates School as we move into the future,” Brown says on Red Gates’ website.
Organised by GMB Southern Region, union members took two days of strike action at Red Gates earlier this month, and with support from a public petition, the governors have now U-turned over the academisation.
“We do not want Red Gates School to be taken over by an academy,” one school staff member told Inside Croydon. “We love our school and want what is best for our pupils.”
The staff said that they feared for their job security if the school was handed over to Pegasus, with some suggesting that they faced having to re-apply for their jobs, but at considerably reduced terms and conditions.
Success: but campaigning GMB members will be monitoring the Red Gates situation
Red Gates management have been given “acting” job titles, meaning the governors, or any academy, could change the school’s management structure any time.
“Pegasus Academy have not got SEN experience,” the union member said. “We feared for the wellbeing of our pupils and for our school as a whole.”
The school’s staff, and trade unions, will be monitoring the situation carefully, even after the governors’ change of mind.
“The board of governors have had a weak presence at Red Gates. When meeting and making decisions about the academisation, they chose to exclude people who have extensive knowledge of the school and would have given valuable insight and advice.
“Our governors have ignored our questions and failed to handle our grievance correctly. We have lost faith in them and their judgement.”
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