As teachers at The Barclay School in Stevenage prepare to take strike action tomorrow (Wednesday), professional golfer Ian Poulter has joined the campaign to stop the imminent takeover over of the school by an academy trust.
Parents have formed campaign group Hands Off Barclay and more than 2,500 people have signed a petition against Future Academies taking over from February 1.
Staff will form a picket line tomorrow morning – having previously taken strike action in December – and now Ryder Cup legend Poulter, who is a former Barlcay pupil, is backing the campaign.
He has tweeted: “This is an absolute must. This shouldn’t happen to @TheBarlcaySch in Stevenage. The school I went to is becoming @FutureAcademies. This just isn’t right. How can we all help turn this? People let me know how this can change.”
The forced move to academy status has come about because the school was rated inadequate and placed in special measures by Ofsted in 2016.
But an Ofsted inspection in April 2018 found it had progressed to requires improvement, with elements of good.
Teachers and parents are worried there may be needless changes to the curriculum, school structure and systems.
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