mistermister

How could the school have anticipated the building issues? Are you suggesting that the school could have done something to have helped expansion in 2016 take place as was initially proposed? What do you think the relationship between the school and the building contractors is? The building of the school and other works has been contracted by Southwark. Again, your email is misleading. The school can in no way be blamed if expansion is delayed through building work. This is not the fault of the school. Period. It is not a moot point. You seem to have access to the thinking of Ivydale Governors, and, it would seem from the forums, also a detailed insight into most schools in the LA. You also seem to champion the cause of Southwark at every opportunity, yet you claim not to work for the LA. Interesting.

Also Ivydale has bulged twice recently. Once at the request of the LA and once preemptively as there were a large number of siblings expected. Ivydale is certainly not a school that has resisted bulging. Obviously it is not the case that bulging is always in the best interest of a school ? otherwise all schools would constantly bulge. Whether it is in the best interest or not will be a decision involving lots of factors, including space, capacity, pupil flow, standards etc. It is right that any GB would consider these factors carefully. So even if it is true, as you suggest, that some governors are not keen on bulging, then this is probably just an indication of a GB doing due diligence and reaching rational conclusions. To portray the GB as an anti bulge GB is clearly false because of their track record. Reading between the lines I suspect that you work for the LA. The LA and contractors have messed up in terms of their completion dates and the LA somehow want to paint this mess up as the fault of the GB. Because of this mess up there will be pressure on Ivydale to bulge again, which many parents/governors/staff/pupils would rightly have reservations about. Someone at the LA wants to portray the GB as somehow to blame; which I really don't believe they are.

Hmmm I am not sure what to make of this response. The letter from the governors suggests that the delay in expansion is due to building issues. Are you suggesting that the governors are lying and that the delay is really down to the governors having second thoughts? Lying in a letter like this would be a very serious issue indeed. I do not believe the governors, including the headteacher, would lie in this way. As such I think any delay in expansion cannot be blamed on the school. If you have proof that the governors have deliberately delayed expansion, then I think you need to present this. Re the school belonging to Southwark. It is true that the school is LA maintained, but is funded by the tax payer so arguably belongs to the people. The GB is responsible for the conduct and direction of the school. A GB can decide to leave LA control if it wishes, so the sense that the school belongs to Southwark needs quite a lot of clarification. It is true that Governors (in general) might not always act in the best interest of the pupils at the school, though I am sure that most GBs try to do this. I am also sure that not all Local Authorities act in best interest of pupils ? though no doubt they try. Bulging may be in the interest of the parents (and pupils) who might want to come to the school, but not necessarily in the interest of the pupils at the school. It depends on what you consider the remit of the GB to be. Re ?some governors oppose this?. I am not sure how you would know this, as I do not think that their views are in the public domain. Either you are a governor at the school or (more likely from your other posts) you are someone senior in the LA. In either case I am not sure that the use of the forum in this way to spread such confidential views is morally appropriate (assuming that they are even the true view of the governors). Do you work for the LA?

Re Ivydale and expansion My understanding is that (to use a metaphor) Ivydale School will be the tenant and Southwark will be the landlord of the new site. Any delay in construction of the site is the responsibility of the Landlord, not the tenant. So it would not be Ivydale school delaying expansion, but issues with building. In terms of offering an additional bulge class if the new site is not ready for Sept 2016, then that would be a discussion between governors and the LA. Although it should be noted that Ivydale has bulged twice recently and many parents feel the school is already at maximum capacity. The governors are there to act in the best interest of pupils at the school.