Newman
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell's proud boast was that the school cost nothing to build as it was paid for by flogging off council land to developers!
When pointed out to the lady that it still cost taxpayers £100 million she still looked puzzled and bemused!
What a financial ingenue....
Anyway, the die is cast. Money which could have built 3 or 4 'ordinary schools' is down the drain.
The departure of the £280,000 a year head, Colin Hall has done nothing to stabilise the failing academy.
Things are so bad that the parents have got together HERE exercised over the Governors' plans to turn the school into a United Learning Multi-Academy Trust
Things are now so bad that the Council was forced to put out this strange PRESS RELEASE
Surprise, surprise. More chickens come home to roost. Another cock up by RBKC and ANOTHER failure of Leadership by Cllr dizzy Campbell, Leader of the Council. Tory Councillors really do need to get rid of this woman and replace her with a Councillor who can pull things together in the Borough. Leadership is difficult and cannot be sustained by huffing and puffing and self importance.
ReplyDeleteThis debacle (rioting pupils and furious parents) has been developing for a long time. All the signs were there. Ex Children and Services Cabinet Member, dizzy Campbell. Say no more. Ex Education Director Mari Carry departed Hornton Street with £500k payoff and gagging order only to re surface as Chairman of Governors at newly independent Holland Park Academy. Out of control head case appointed as Head Master and fired in 2021 for building a toxic regime of pupil bullying by staff and ruthless manipulation of school admissions to bolster exam results. Strange interim Chairman (a mood expert) and bogus Board of Governors appointed to sort out the mess. And guess what? An even bigger mess.
Dizzy is out of her depth and has had to call on central Government to mount a rescue mission.
In the meantime Tory canvassers for Local Government elections next week are door stopping to tell residents that central Government has nothing to do with local Government and "partygate is therefore irrelevant".
It all stops at the top. Get shot of dizzy.
What more needs to be said?
Both the Dame and Council Watcher appear to be unaware that academy schools are not under the control of local authorities.
ReplyDeleteWhat is so strange about the Council's statement on the school?
We are well aware. The statement is strange because what Mrs Newman should be saying is that the council made a mistake in building this mega school in the first place.
DeleteThe Council should never have re-built this mega school
DeleteDearest 1.10. Of course I understand that Academies are not controlled by the Council. What YOU may not know is that disgraced ex Leader Cllr Cockell forced through his vision of a huge rebuilt comprehensive school (his statue of Liberty in the park) in pursuit of a peerage. He wanted to get noticed. Pure and simple. And the whole £100 million project was financed by tax payers. And it was an abuse of power because the condition of the school's fabric was in the top quartile of British schools according to the Government survey "Building Schools for the Future". And brain box of the Century, cabinet member Cllr Campbell managed to figure out that the school "cost nothing" which she broadcast to all in support of her boss. And then a little runt of a person called Hall was called in to be the new Headmaster. He reinforced the Cockell position that the old school needed to be rebuilt because the playing field flooded after heavy rain. But Hall was no fool. As soon as he got his new empire (including a £100k Philip Gormely statue on the roof and Philip Stark furniture for his office suite, and fragrant candles for the school corridors) he lost no time in dumping the hopeless Council and took the school into Academy status. His jump to freedom. Hall dominated the Board of Governors and turned the £100million tax payer funded school into a ruthless dictatorship. The regime became unbearable and he was fired. Leader dizzy Campbell re entered the fray and appointed a Board of interim Governors with a "mood modifyer" Chairman.
ReplyDeleteNow we see the results of two "" Leaders. Cockell and Campbell. I wonder who the third monkey will be?
I once went to a consultation meeting on the Western Environmental Relief Road (WEIR). A Department of Transport official got up and said "The first thing you have to remember is that consultation is not negotiation". Ie we may be forced to 'consult' with you but after taking notice of your views we don't have to follow them and at the end of the day we can do what we like.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that even if Holland Park school is forced to a proper transparent consultation and appointing (in a minority) community governors, ultimately they can do whatever they want.