20 July 2017
The announcement that the Collective Spirit Free School is to close after being deemed a failing school by OfSTED, months after the announcement to close GM University Technology College, makes a total of two Oldham schools shutting their doors and disrupting the education of their pupils. It is calamitous for Oldham that the government has wasted money on these projects that could have been spent on long-term investments in the education infrastructure of the borough.
There needs to be an inquiry into the running of the Collective Spirit Free School and the people of Oldham told what went wrong. Also, the land gifted to the free school by the DfE belonged to the people of Oldham. It is only right that the land that the Collective Spirit School stands on reverts to Oldham Council, who had designated it for much needed housing.
Recent events highlight how government policies have removed the powers of local authorities to plan, build and oversee local schools to best suit local needs.
We are now told that Oasis Community Learning wants to open a 1,500 place free school on the site of the former Breeze Hill Secondary School. Yet who ultimately makes this decision, not Oldham Council but a civil servant with no local knowledge or accountability, who can force the council to hand over land for schools that will not be under local council control.
The Green Party believes that the fragmenting of our education system - starting with the last Labour government’s academisation programme, and expanded with free schools and yet more academies by the Conservatives - has been a disaster and should be stopped. Only councils, not government, have the knowledge to plan the provision of places and where they should be located. Private and unaccountable interests should not be deciding what is happening in our schools. Only local authorities, with a stronger role for parents in governing bodies, can give the democratic accountability needed at local level.
Roger Pakeman
Oldham & Saddleworth Green Party
The announcement that the Collective Spirit Free School is to close after being deemed a failing school by OfSTED, months after the announcement to close GM University Technology College, makes a total of two Oldham schools shutting their doors and disrupting the education of their pupils. It is calamitous for Oldham that the government has wasted money on these projects that could have been spent on long-term investments in the education infrastructure of the borough.
There needs to be an inquiry into the running of the Collective Spirit Free School and the people of Oldham told what went wrong. Also, the land gifted to the free school by the DfE belonged to the people of Oldham. It is only right that the land that the Collective Spirit School stands on reverts to Oldham Council, who had designated it for much needed housing.
Recent events highlight how government policies have removed the powers of local authorities to plan, build and oversee local schools to best suit local needs.
We are now told that Oasis Community Learning wants to open a 1,500 place free school on the site of the former Breeze Hill Secondary School. Yet who ultimately makes this decision, not Oldham Council but a civil servant with no local knowledge or accountability, who can force the council to hand over land for schools that will not be under local council control.
The Green Party believes that the fragmenting of our education system - starting with the last Labour government’s academisation programme, and expanded with free schools and yet more academies by the Conservatives - has been a disaster and should be stopped. Only councils, not government, have the knowledge to plan the provision of places and where they should be located. Private and unaccountable interests should not be deciding what is happening in our schools. Only local authorities, with a stronger role for parents in governing bodies, can give the democratic accountability needed at local level.
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