Petition to consult the community before Tidemill Primary School is converted to an Academy

Frankham House resident and Tidemill parent Leila has posted the following petition and would like you to sign it. 

"It is proposed that Tidemill Primary School, Deptford, London is converted into an Academy. To consult with and inform parents, it has been suggested that over the summer holiday a random selection of 5 parents from each year followed by a one hour meeting by the Board of Governors is adequate.

This petition is for a full and unbiased consultation with all parents and the local community before this important and far reaching change is pushed through."


To sign the petition go here: 



Further information from Leila:

The new government plans to make us pay for the crisis brought about by the greed of the banks. A major part of this plan is to slash public services – and this means private investors taking over our schools and running them for profit.

Tidemill Primary School headmaster Mark Elms is proposing that the school become an academy this September 2010. 

Parents and the community in Deptford need to be informed and consulted about these proposals being rushed through.

Emotions run high whenever our children’s education is involved. For me, it is all the more personal as I have been an educator for the last 25 years and I am passionate about education and the transformative outcomes. Of course we should explore new ideas, but let us support them with our eyes fully open.

 This new proposal is far reaching and may contribute to a major lack of state (and therefore accessible) primary education in this area, but, as with many developments in the area, a decision may be taken without full presentation or representation.

•    The governors have registered an online interest in Tidemill becoming an academy.
•    On the 7th July, the school provided a questionnaire to ask parents to tick if they required information about academy status.
•    A cut and paste letter, complete with FAQs which are selectively edited segments from the government website, was given to children on the 19th July to hand to their parents. The school stated that the governors have begun a period of consultation to gather views of parents and staff to span the next two months (i.e. during summer holidays).
•    On the 8th September at 8am to 9am (1 hour only) a meeting is arranged for parents to share their views, after which the governors go into a meeting to finalise their decision about academy status.
•    In the July newsletter Mark Elms states that they are planning to canvas five parents from each class (“randomly selected”) to run through questions on how they “feel about the Academy issue”. 
•    Parents with questions are invited to email businessmanager@tidemill.lewisham.sch.uk during the holiday break.


Leila Galloway

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