Former Highbury Grove headteacher Tom Sherrington and, right, Cllr Joe Caluori

A DAMNING report by Ofsted has created a crisis at Highbury Grove after teachers voted overwhelmingly to reject its findings.

At a packed meeting on Monday night – which the Tribune’s reporter was asked to leave before parents quizzed teachers and officials – shocked parents vented their anger, with one rejecting Ofsted’s judgment as “inaccurate”. The school was branded “inadequate” by inspectors and now faces being turned into an academy.

Ken Muller, joint-chairman of Islington National Union of Teachers, said: “We will fight this to the bitter end.”

Teachers voted on Tuesday to appeal against Ofsted’s judgment to try to prevent academisation. Schools have 10 working days from the report’s publication date to launch an appeal to the Department for Education. But in an internal Islington Labour Party email, seen by the Tribune, education chief Councillor Joe Caluori told fellow councillors: “Sadly there is no basis for the local authority to appeal the inspection outcome and the Governing Body has also decided not to appeal the outcome.”

Former headteacher Tom Sherrington resigned from the school just two weeks before the report was officially published on Wednesday.

More than 300 parents packed into the school hall to quiz teachers, governors and the local authority on how the school planned to improve.

“The Ofsted report is in the past and we now need to look to the future,” acting headteacher Aimee Lyall said.

Julie Hunt, who has two children at the school, told the Tribune afterwards: “A lot of parents were shocked about how sudden this all was.

“There were a lot of concerned parents who are worried about their kids who are coming up to their exams.

Ken Muller, joint-chairman of Islington National Union of Teachers

“At the same time some parents just don’t recognise the school in the report as the one their children go to. I personally do not feel it’s accurate.”

Ms Hunt, who opposes academies, added: “It is absolutely horrendous for the school to be forced into this position [of being turned into an academy]. It will cause bedlam in my kids’ lives. Teachers will jump ship. I chose Highbury Grove as I wanted my kids to go to a community school.”

Islington Labour opposes forced academisation in its manifesto, but according to Cllr Caluori’s email: “Appealing the report without any clear basis would effectively mean we would have no say in the future of the school going forward, as the Department for Education would see it as an indication that we are in denial about the challenges the school faces.”

Instead, the council is pushing Regional Schools Commissioner for North West London, Martin Post, who issues the academy orders, to consider the City of London Academies Trust (COLAT), thereby “keeping the big academy chains out of Islington”.

Highbury Grove

• Two-thirds of Highbury Grove pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is above average. This government funding is used to support pupils who are eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority.
• 77.9 per cent of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. The largest groups are from “any other White” background, “any other mixed” background, Black Caribbean, Black African and Bangladeshi.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average.
• The proportion of students who receive special educational needs support is above the national average.

COLAT run the City of London Academy Islington, rated “Good” by Ofsted, and will take over Mount Carmel College in Archway in September. A leading national arts charity could also be brought into the school to strengthen its music specialism. An academy order is likely to be made next week and Highbury Grove could be an academy in less than two terms’ time.

Cllr Calouri added: “I am personally gutted about this outcome. We have pushed Highbury Grove to replicate the approach of our other secondary schools but ultimately, when the inspectors go in, it is out of our hands.”

Mr Muller said: “We don’t think the findings are accurate and fair. If there’s not a challenge there’s nothing you can do stop the school from becoming an academy.

“We think whatever problems the school has, becoming an academy is not the solution. The solution would be to restore the funding cuts that have been made to the school.

“Last March, 13 support staff jobs were cut and, given that the report identifies student behaviour as an issue, it’s important to have that support in the classrooms to help teachers.”

Islington opposition councillor Caroline Russell is also opposed to academisation. Islington Council intervened at the school after a poor set of results in 2015. “Outstanding” schools are not routinely inspected, but inspectors were sent in after poor results over the past two years.

Mr Sherrington made an initial complaint to Ofsted but it did not affect the outcome. He has spoken out against the Ofsted regime in blog posts on his well-read Head Guru Teacher website.

Islington Council and the school say they have put in immediate measures to tackle the safeguarding concerns raised in the report.