The Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, Councillor Dave Stewart, has now written to the Education Secretary calling for Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) to be sacked from their role in running both Sandown Bay Academy and Ryde Academy.
Cllr Stewart has wrote to Justine Greening advising her that the Isle of Wight Council has ‘no confidence in the ability of AET to provide the high quality secondary education our children deserve’ and saying that ‘AET has let down our children for too long’.
The letter follows the recent meeting of the Isle of Wight Council on 17th May at which members from all political groups voted unanimously for a Motion criticising AET and asking for them to be removed from their responsibilities.
Speaking today, Councillor Chris Whitehouse, who leads for the Council on education has said:
“I have been absolutely consistent since first being appointed to my role. We want AET out of Sandown Bay Academy and preferably off the Island altogether. The Leader of the Council and I are determined to do all in our power to secure the continued provision of secondary education on the site of the Sandown Bay Academy and remain hopeful of finding a solution that will deliver this.”
The letter to the Education Secretary reads:
“I am sure that it will have been brought to your attention that Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) has announced their intention to close Sandown Bay Academy on the Isle of Wight. The academy currently has around 1,000 students on roll and numbers of students of secondary age within the locality are set to increase slightly over the next few years. The rationale for the closure appears to be financial with AET claiming that they would like to move the students to Ryde Academy which they also lead. Ryde Academy is six miles away from Sandown and, given that the route is necessarily through rural roads, will take the best part of an hour in additional travel time for pupils.
“Members of the Isle of Wight Council were appalled that AET announced this plan without any dialogue with officers at the Council. The proposal makes little sense in terms of place planning as the population of the Sandown area clearly warrants a secondary school. The argument around financial viability would appear to be weak as there are hundreds of secondary schools across the country that are perfectly viable with 1,000 students on roll. One is forced to wonder why AET cannot run a viable school with a 1,000 students when many other academies and local authorities clearly can and do. In addition, were the plan to proceed the Local Authority would become liable for an additional home to school transport bill of around £1 million per year, a sum that could be put to far better use in improving services for children on the Island.
Article continues below this advertisement “Academies Enterprise Trust already has a poor reputation on the Island. They originally sponsored three schools but closed Weston Primary after they had led that to failure at an Ofsted inspection. Both of their secondary schools have relatively low attainment. There are positive signs that Ryde Academy is now improving but we believe that is down to the appointment of a strong headteacher rather than the actions of the sponsor. Sandown Bay Academy remains weak after being sponsored by AET for over five years. Performance is currently below the Government’s minimum floor standard.
“The Isle of Wight Council discussed the situation at Sandown at a Council meeting on Wednesday 17 May 2017 and unanimously supported the attached motion. As a council we have no confidence in the ability of AET to provide the high quality secondary education our children deserve on the Island and we would welcome your intervention to work with officers and the Regional Schools’ Commissioner to put in place alternative arrangements to lead both Ryde Academy and Sandown Bay Academy. It is the view of the Isle of Wight Council that AET has let down our children for too long”.
