The battle for Sedgehill school

No to Academies!

The battle for Sedgehill school

James Kerr

Parents, teachers and school students in Lewisham are angry. Labour-run Lewisham council in south London plans to dismiss the governors and headteacher at Sedgehill school and impose an ‘interim executive board’ (IEB), a precursor to Sedgehill being forced into being an academy.

On 12 December over 400 people, mainly students at schools threatened by ‘academisation’, joined a noisy lobby of the council.

Teachers are organising too. Martin Powell-Davies, Lewisham National Union of Teachers (NUT) secretary and a Socialist Party member, has conducted an indicative ballot of NUT members in the five schools at risk. They voted by 98.4%, on a 73% turnout, to take a programme of strike action – a vital part of fighting academies.

The council claims Sedgehill school is ‘failing’ as its exam results dropped by 9%. But exam results nationally went down by 7%. Even Ofsted (the government’s education inspectors) deems Sedgehill to be improving.

And as year eleven student Omodara said: “It’s more than just a school to me now, everyone there is my family. Academies aren’t going to accept everyone but Sedgehill does because it is a community school”.

Sixth former Siobhan Prince said: “All the opportunities I have derive from being at Sedgehill. Even being out here today speaking on the microphone comes from the confidence Sedgehill gave me.”

Lewisham council’s attack is all about the break-up of local authority run education and also cutting costs as part of the council’s 33% cuts package over four years.

Students at Sedgehill and Prendergast schools echoed Socialist Students’ call for student action. They are now discussing how to build a united school students strike if the policies are forced through.

The actions are having an impact already. The council pushed ahead with its plans for an IEB at Sedgehill but when the new term started the old head teacher was still in charge!

Tory education secretary Nicky Morgan has delayed deciding on Lewisham’s application. Bethnal Green academy (whose Principal had been named as Lewisham’s preferred option as the academy’s new executive headmaster), may not have expected to face a mass campaign!

Stop Academies in Lewisham (SAiL) will fight academisation whatever the council or the academy lobby do. Martin Powell-Davies says the NUT will call for strike action if the council carries on with its policies.

The big demonstrations have gained media publicity. When Martin Powell Davies announced he would stand as Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate in May’s general election in Lewisham West and Penge, the South London Press mischievously headlined this: “Elect me, I’ll save school.”

The fight is on to save Lewisham’s schools.


Academies and Free Schools are major planks of the Con-Dems’ education policy. They are outside local authority democracy and are, effectively, unaccountable private companies. They promise increased funding, but at the expense of the remaining local authority schools. They don’t have to follow the national curriculum nor teachers’ national pay and working conditions agreements. Also, claims that higher educational standards are achieved by such schools do not hold water.


Education on the cheap

Tory education minister Nicola Morgan admits that the number of unqualified teachers in academies and free schools rose by 50% last year to 7,900.

Overall, some 430,000 children are being taught by unqualified teachers, based on a class size average of 25.3.