Free schools chain sees half of board step down, including chair, with no apparent announcement to parents

An academy trust which has featured extensively on these pages in recent months has seen half of its board of directors depart, including its chair –without seemingly having told parents.

Canary Wharf College Ltd, which runs three free schools in Tower Hamlets, East London, saw its chair, Alfie Padro, replaced in that position on New Year’s Day, the trust’s governance information on the DfE’s “Get Information About Schools” (GIAS) official website discloses.

Mr Padro had stood down as a trustee/director on December 31^st, GIAS states, although, strangely, on the trust’s Companies House page, his leaving date is stated to have been January 9^th. Two other directors, Silvia Asole and Emma Curtis, also stood down last month*, according to Companies House.

A new chair, John Afolayan, took up that position on January 1^st, according to GIAS (Companies House does not record changes in the chairmanship of boards), having only been appointed as a director on December 6^th.

Mr Afolayan is a medical doctor. He was not listed on the trust’s website as a trustee/director as of Friday, though by yesterday (Monday), information had appeared, though no specific education governance experience was included in his biography.

The text on the website reads: “Mr John Afolayan is an NHS surgeon with extensive national and international experience in the fields of healthcare, education, business and innovation. He schooled and was raised in inner London. He is community focused and committed to making a positive impact in the lives of others. He wholeheartedly believes that education is a critical component of this mission, and he is passionate about supporting the growth and development of young people.”

One other trustee/director, Andrew Sanderson, has been appointed in the last two months, although the trust’s website does not give any biographical details for him. Three other trustees/directors who were in post as of early December remain in those positions.

Mr Padro, though having stood down as a trustee/director, last month became a member of the trust, meaning he is now one of six people who have the right to appoint and dismiss trustees, and to amend its constitution.

Strangely, there has been no mention of the change of chair, or the other trustee/director changes, in newsletters to parents in the weeks since the moves happened, while I understand that there has been no specific email from the trust with any announcement, either.

It is unclear why Mr Padro left, after two years as chair, the last 12 months of which seem to have been bruising, as he sought to deal with concerns raised by a large number of families about the direction of the trust since the arrival as the current chief executive, Joanne Taylor, 13 months ago, though some parents back her strongly.

An Ofsted report on one of the chain’s two primary schools, Canary Wharf College Glenworth, published last month, though seeing the academy retaining its “outstanding” verdict, had stated: “Too many parents lack trust in the school’s current leadership”. It had also warned that “leaders’ efforts to allay parents’ concerns have not been successful”.

The trust has also seen the heads of two of the three schools stand down in the past nine months. Last summer, Martin Blain, Glenworth’s head who seemed popular among staff, left and is now running another primary in inner London. Now Duncan Hewson, headteacher of the trust’s secondary school, Canary Wharf College Crossharbour, is leaving. The trust was also subject to strike action by National Education Union members in December.  

I asked the trust why there had been the turnover of directors, why Mr Padro had stood down and why there appeared to have been no announcement to parents. But there was no response.

Was CEO post not advertised?

News arrives of the appointment of a new leader for a multi-academy trust which is becoming an increasingly significant feature on the education landscape in England’s South West. But was the post advertised, as trust policy seems to indicate it should have been?

Gary Schlick is to be the new chief executive of the Bristol-based Futura Learning Partnership, taking over in September from Andrea Arlidge, who has been the organisation’s leader from when it started life back in 2012.

An announcement on the trust’s website highlights Mr Schlick’s career of more than 40 years in education, and his current role as its deputy chief executive and director of education.

But a statement by the trust’s chair, Malcolm Broad, raised eyebrows. It said: “Gary Schlick has been appointed to this crucial and important role following a rigorous internal recruitment process.”

Those last three words come against the background of the trust’s “safer recruitment and selection policy and procedure,” which is also available on its website.

This states: “All posts will normally be advertised internally and externally [my italics] unless internally ring fenced due to staffing reductions/re-structuring.”

Futura has just taken over another trust, so it is likely that some “restructuring” will have been taking place. However, it seems unusual not to advertise for the top role in the trust, given this policy.

I have asked the trust to comment, but there was no response at the time of publication.

On that takeover, Futura, which began its life as Wellsway School before becoming Wellsway Multi Academy Trust and then taking on its present name in 2021, legally absorbed the 13 schools of the Clevedon Learning Trust on March 1^st last year.

This meant that Futura went from having 15 schools and 7,000 pupils, in and around Bristol, to an organisation of 28 schools and 11,600 pupils, also spreading into the local authorities of Somerset and North Somerset. It is likely now to be just inside the largest 50 academy trusts in England, based on pupil number data for 2023.

But what is billed as a “merger*” between the two organisations still seems to be having ramifications.

I looked for Futura’s 2022-23 accounts on its website, but could not find them. This was surprising, since all academy trusts are supposed to have had their latest financial statements on their websites by January 31^st.

I asked the trust about this, and was told: “The trust accounts for the financial year 22/23 have not yet been approved by our board and therefore cannot be uploaded to our website. The ESFA [Education and Skills Funding Agency] is aware of the reasons behind this and we are working with them to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”

When I asked what the reasons were, the trust responded: “It is concerned with the discovery of High Alumina Cement Concrete [HAC] at Clevedon School and the allocation of costs the trust is incurring in connection with this.”

Last autumn, it was reported that students at the school, which is in Somerset, were having to be taught in marquees after 22 classrooms were closed, because it has large beams made of HAC which had degraded over time and needed replacing. The issue is not related to problems reported nationally with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

*Two MATs coming together often seemed to be termed mergers, when in reality the legal situation seems to be that one organisation takes over the other, which seems the case here.