They hope to raise community awareness of the school's plans to opt out of local authority control. They say that the new building, which will house the new school (at the back of the development by the railway), has been publicly funded but is in danger of being handed over to a privately run trust for a peppercorn rent. And they say that the trust, run by private sponsors, will lie outside any democratic structure and become unaccountable to the community it should be serving. It will buy from privately owned companies the services now provided by the local education authority. Parents who disagree with any school policies will have to appeal to the Secretary of State, rather than the local authority.
We have already written on this blog about the poor consultation process (see here). In their consultation document the school states "we do not want to influence you one way or the other", but parents going to the school to get more information are presented with a document to sign that only has the option to say "yes"...
Show your support for the campaign by turning out this out this evening to watch it.
Meanwhile, if you can't make it at 6.30pm see it here.
Postscript:
If you want to help stop Tidemill becoming an academy, respond to the consultation document, replying by Email or Post by Monday 15th November.
Email to: chairofgovs.tidemill@gmail.com, cc: businessmanager@tidemill.lewisham.sch.uk, sue.frewin@lewisham.gov.uk
Post: Chair of Governors, Tidemill School, Frankham Street, London, SE8 4RN (make sure to keep a copy). Feel free to extract some points from the campaign's counter argument They Say, We Say, or just register your opposition to academy schools in general. Copy any letters to: jeevan.vasagar@guardian.co.uk, john.hugill@slp.co.uk, CllrPaul.Maslin@lewisham.gov.uk, cllrpaul.bell@lewisham.gov.uk, steve.bullock@lewisham.gov.uk, frankie.sulke@lewisham.gov.uk, letters@guardian.co.uk (and anyone else you think may be interested).
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