King Edward VII: Sheffield secondary school 'will' become an academy, says schools minister despite appeal

Parents at King Edward VII School were given a stay of execution this month when they were told their imminent academisation would be put back until June or July at the earliest. It was celebrated as a small victory after months of petitions, a protest and an 11th hour letter calling on officials to pause the process on the night before they were due to be told which trust they were joining.

It comes after the school was scolded with an ‘Inadequate’ rating by Ofsted in January this year, which resulted in a ‘compulsory’ order to join an academic trust by the Department for Education.

But any households hoping for a miracle and see the academization stopped altogether may be out of luck.

In a written question by MP for Hallam Olivia Blake, minister of state at the Department for Education Nick Gibb dismissed calls to pause the process indefinitely and stated the Broomhall school “will” become an academy.

Ms Blake’s question on May 17 was an appeal to the Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan, to pause the academisation of King Edward VII while the DfE is reportedly reviewing the use of limiting judgements by Ofsted.

A limiting judgement is where a school will be found ‘Inadequate’ overall if it fails on safeguarding measures, regardless of their academic standards. This is the case at King Edward VII, where inspectors deemed children were not adequately kept safe after deeming some children would hesitate to talk to staff about bullying, as well as a policy where pupils were leaving school grounds at lunchtime.

The DfE is reviewing the policy in the face of arguments that schools with otherwise good records should be given a chance to correct their measures, as well as from criticisms following the death of Berkshire head Ruth Perry, who took her life in April following an Ofsted visit.

However, Mr Gibb responded: “As with any school that receives an overall judgement of inadequate, King Edward VII School will become an academy.

“The school will be transferred to a trust with a strong track record of ensuring pupils receive the highest standard of education.”

A forum of King Edward VII’s parents have expressed concerns at it was suggested in DfE papers that the school is due to join the Brigantia Learning Trust, which has currently manages five schools, two of which are rated ‘Requires Improvement. It would be the largest school on its books. In fact, with 1,800 students alone, at that point KES would account for one third of its entire student cohort.

Of course, many parents are unhappy over the academisation process full stop. In a survey of which academic trust they would rather see the school join which received some 400 responses, Minerva Learning Trust was the preferred candidate – but 86 per cent said they would rather see the process delayed outright.

Parents have raged against the decision ever since, leading to a petition railing against the decision that has since garnered over 3,000 signatures. A protest was also held outside City Hall and was attended by hundreds of households.