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Upfront

 

Anti-academy fight continues

Hundreds of protestors marched through north London in January against Education Secretary Michael Gove’s plan to force four schools to convert to academy status. NUT members, parents and pupils from Downhills, Noel Park, Coleraine Park and Nightingale primary schools in Haringey carried placards and balloons declaring their opposition.

Downhills is at the forefront of a David and Goliath struggle to defend primary schools in England from forced academy conversion. The Government has said it wants all schools to become academies, but by 1 January just 360 out of almost 17,000 state primaries had converted voluntarily.

Supporters of the campaign include local Labour MP David Lammy, a former Downhills pupil, and local councillors.

Other schools are also fighting back. At Montgomery School, in Birmingham, local MP Roger Godsiff is backing an alliance of teachers and parents (see page 8).

The Downhills campaigners achieved a significant victory in January when the threat of legal action forced Michael Gove to lift his deadline for agreeing to convert and find a sponsor. They expressed their disappointment when an Ofsted inspection in February put the school in special measures, and the head teacher resigned, reiterating their view that the best place for school improvement is within the local family of schools.

The Downhills campaign demonstrates that when the school community unites it is capable of challenging Government action.

 

NUT launches Holocaust resource

At an event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, the NUT and the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) launched new jointly produced materials which support teaching about the Holocaust. The project is called Mosaic, to indicate the interrelationship of different groups affected by Nazi persecution and how it impacted on these historic communities.Resources include posters, case studies and downloadable teacher notes. To download materials visit www.teachers.org. uk/teachingresources/holocaust or visit www.het.org.uk.

 

Keep up to date with education and the NUT by following us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/NUTonline for all the latest news and views. You can also stay informed by visiting www.teachers.org.uk.

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