Tag Archives: Harris Federation

Schools start summer term still struggling after cyber attack

Our education correspondent, GENE BRODIE, on the lingering difficulties facing teachers and parents Some pupils returned to their schools this week after the Easter holidays with their teachers still unable to access IT systems or use their usual telephone networks. … Continue reading

Posted in Crime, Harris Academy Crystal Palace, Harris Academy South Norwood, Harris Academy Upper Norwood, Harris Primary Purley Way, Schools | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

None of Croydon’s new school buildings have sprinklers fitted

Not a single school building constructed or planned in Croydon over the past five years has been fitted with a sprinkler system, despite building regulations going back for a decade having an “expectation” that sprinklers should be included in all … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Harris Primary Purley Way, Howard Primary, London Fire Brigade, Oasis Academy, Planning, Purley Way, Schools, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council planning committee approves primary school build alongside one of London’s most badly polluted roads

Croydon Council’s planning committee last night granted approval for a school, for children as young as five, to be built alongside one of the most polluted roads in London, the A23 Purley Way. Official air quality readings in the past … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Bernadette Khan, Commuting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Government reluctant to act over ‘disappearing’ Harris pupils

Education correspondent GENE BRODIE reports on how a government agency fobbed off Croydon Council’s legitimate concerns over dozens of academy pupils who “vanished” just before they were due to sit their GCSEs Well done Sylvia McNamara, Croydon Council’s erstwhile director … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Harris Academy Crystal Palace, Harris Academy South Norwood, Harris Academy Upper Norwood, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Harris seek head for school lacking planning permission

GENE BRODIE, education correspondent, on the latest non-development of an over-sized “academy” proposed for one of the most polluted stretches of road in Croydon The Harris Federation, which already operates several schools in Croydon, has started advertising for a head … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon South, Education, Harris Primary Purley Way, Planning, Purley Way, Robert Canning, Schools, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hundreds of teachers leaving Harris academies each year

GENE BRODIE, our education correspondent, reports on the mysterious case of the disappearing school staff Parents who are considering sending their child to one of the growing number of academies, primary and secondary, that are run by the Harris Federation … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Harris Academy Crystal Palace, Harris Academy South Norwood, Harris Academy Upper Norwood, Harris Primary Purley Way, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Harris determined to build primary beside polluted A23

The Harris Federation, established by a carpet salesman to run a chain of academised schools, seems determined to push ahead with establishing a primary school on the Purley Way, on a derelict site alongside one of the busiest roads in … Continue reading

Posted in Harris Primary Purley Way, Purley Way, Schools, Transport, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Planners block proposed primary school on Purley Way

Croydon Council planners have rejected proposals to build a primary school close to one of south London’s busiest road junctions on the Purley Way. In a rare example of Croydon’s planning department displaying clarity of thought and common sense, after … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Environment, Planning, Purley Way, Schools, Sean Fitzsimons, URV, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Academy head’s warped priorities: A Roke by any other name?

There has been a civil emergency going on in the Kenley area of Croydon for the past week. Residents of homes in one road have faced the prospect of being flooded out. The A22 Godstone Road has been impassable because … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Roke Primary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

One-fifth of an academy’s pupils “disappear” before GCSEs

An academy run by the Harris Federation in Croydon saw more than one-fifth of its pupils “disappear” before it was time for them to take their GCSEs. According to a report in yesterday’s Guardian newspaper, there was a fall of … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Harris Academy South Norwood, Oasis Academy, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Boris, the NFL, libraries and precious crockery: iC’s 2013

As we approach 2014 and all that may have to offer, here’s the 10 most-read iC articles of 2013 – an eclectic mix of politics, exclusive news stories, sport, arts reviews and controversy. With more than half a million page views … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2012 Olympics, 2014 council elections, 2015 General Election, Andrew Pelling, Art, Boris Johnson, Business, Cane Hill, Centrale, Croydon Council, Education, Housing, Inside Croydon, John Laing Integrated Services, Jon Rouse, Libraries, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Museum of Croydon, Planning, Riesco Collection, Roke Primary, Schools, Tramlink, Transport, URV, Waddon, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Harris primary reduces SEN support and adjusts report grades

Parents at what was once the high-attaining Roke Primary have lasted just half a term before losing all patience with the school’s new academy management, and they are now accusing the Harris Federation of trying to force out of the … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Kenley, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Compooter say ‘No’: council is “baffled” over GCSE results

GENE BRODIE reports on further concerns about the lack of information – withheld results, or through simple incompetence? – about the performance of Croydon’s secondary schools. Plus: The Guardian highlights again the injustices of Ofsted’s treatment of Roke Primary Three … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Harris academy gets 0/10 for staff’s spelling and grammar

It seems that some of the staff at a newly academised primary in the south of Croydon which is now being run by the Harris Federation need to go back to school, after a document outlining the strict new uniform … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Gavin Barwell, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Gove’s Roke “consultation” uses figures that do not add up

One of the basics taught at every primary school is adding up. Trouble with Michael Gove, the education secretary, and the “consultation” he commissioned on the future of Roke Primary School, is that none of it adds up. Roke is … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Kenley, Richard Ottaway MP, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Roke Primary victim of “overzealous” Gove, says Tory MP

Readers of a nervous disposition should look away now. The following article contains flashing lights and some robust English language and may not be suitable for those under the age of about 12. Or Michael Gove. If further proof were … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon South, Education, Kenley, Richard Ottaway MP, Roke Primary | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Highly objectionable: Roke parents lodge academy complaints

The sham “consultation” over the future of Roke Primary in Kenley, in which Michael Gove, the education secretary, wants to hand over the public property of a recently built, high-achieving school, to a Conservative party donor, ended on Friday. The Save … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Roke Primary | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Roke campaigners take their protest to Harris’s front door

It will be interesting to see whether the private education organisation run by a  carpet salesman rolls out a welcome mat tomorrow when the Save Roke Primary Campaign stages a protest outside the offices of the Harris Federation tomorrow, March … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Gavin Barwell, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Roke parents in legal challenge against “dictator” Gove

The Save Roke group is to launch a legal challenge to the plans of Michael Gove, the education minister, to hand their primary school over to a private academy. The group announced its plans last night, and is working with … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Roke and a tale of “threats, bribes and fake consultations”

George Monbiot, the Guardian journalist who established ArrestBlair.org and apologised to Lord McAlpine, has entered the row over Roke Primary in Kenley being handed over to a carpet salesman by education secretary Michael Gove. In a coruscating piece criticising Gove’s … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Angry Roke parents accuse minister of misleading over status

Parents of children at Roke Primary in Kenley have responded angrily to a letter from Department for Education under-secretary Lord Nash – which Inside Croydon published last month – effectively accusing the Tory peer of deliberately misleading over results and … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Nash letter dashes hopes for Roke to escape Harris

Parents, governors and staff at Roke Primary were left “shattered” last week, after the local MP, Richard Ottaway, passed on to them a letter he had received from Lord Nash, the under-secretary at the Department for Education. Nash’s letter runs … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Kenley, Richard Ottaway MP, Roke Primary | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tory councillor says Gove’s academy conduct is “woeful”

A Conservative councillor in Croydon has made an extraordinary attack against Michael Gove over the way in which the Tory-led government’s education secretary and his department is steamrolling through the transfer of a local primary school. In a rare, if … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Harris Foundation starts its charm offensive to Roke parents

The Harris Foundation, which has been handed hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds’ worth of public assets by being given Roke Primary by Michael Gove‘s Department for Education, has begun an attempt to smooch its way into the … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Roke Primary to be handed over to a carpet salesman

Roke Primary School in Kenley is being forced into academy status with the Harris Federation, against the wishes of the governors and parents. Malcolm Farquharson, the chairman of governors at Roke, issued this letter to all parents yesterday, the first … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Kenley, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments