Downhills head quits after inspection

Released 13/02/2012

The head of a school in the middle of an academy row quits his job following a failed inspection by Ofsted

The school has previously accused Gove of trying to illegally force the school to convert to academy status

The head teacher of a primary school in the middle of a row concerning academy conversion has quit, following a failed Ofsted inspection.

Leslie Church, head teacher at Downhills Primary School in Tottenham, north London, handed in his resignation after the school was judged inadequate by the latest inspection by education watchdog Ofsted.

Governors of Downhills primary have said that changes to administration “should not be imposed” on the school by Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove.

The school has previously accused Gove of trying to illegally force the school to convert to academy status.

Governors said that they were disappointed with the outcome of the Ofsted inspection, but added that they wish to “engage in a dialogue over any proposed changes to the administration of the school.”

The resignation of the Head teacher of Downhills Primary School, Leslie Church was reportedly “reluctantly” accepted by the governors who issued a statement concerning the news.

“Leslie is tremendously popular with parents, staff and children and retains the full support of the governing body. We wish him every success for the future," they said.

Commenting on the issue of the Downhills conversion, governors added: "It remains our position that any restructuring of the school should not be imposed from above unless and until there has been a full consultation with parents, staff and the local community.”

A spokeswoman for DfE said: "We have been clear that we consider academy status to be the best way to improve schools that are consistently underperforming.

"Academies have already turned around hundreds of struggling secondary schools across the country and are improving their results at twice the national average rate.

"We can't just stand by and do nothing when schools are sub-standard year after year."

“Minimal support”

Meanwhile, the Anti-Academies alliance has published figures from a survey demonstrating that only a minority (27%) of respondents to the survey believe that academies and “free” schools will improve standards within education.

The survey was conducted by YouGov as part of a wider assessment of trends in current politics, varying from party leadership to the economy.

According to the survey, only a quarter of the participants believe that either academies or ‘free’ schools will improve standards, while over half believe they will make no difference or make them worse.

Furthermore, 44% of respondents stated that they were against the right of the free school leaders being allowed to commission private companies to manage their school.

Full results of the YouGov survey can be found here.

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