Academy trust chair suggests school has retained Ofsted-outstanding rating, in advance of inspection report’s publication and despite teacher strike

The chair of an academy chain has suggested to a parent that one of its three schools has retained its Ofsted-outstanding rating, despite a teacher union having last month put forward a 37-point list of concerns about the trust’s operations, and with staff turnover having been high.

The chair of Canary Wharf College (CWC) Ltd, which runs three free schools in East London, hinted at the verdict of the inspection at Glenworth academy following an inspection in October, in a letter to a parent who had been raising concerns about goings-on at the trust.

The Ofsted report has yet to be published.

The detail

Alfonso Padro, chair of the CWC trust, was responding to an email sent by a parent on November 30^th. The parent had copied in a local councillor and the local Labour MP, Apsana Begum, in her email, which was sent to Mr Padro and two other CWC board members, beginning “Dear Trustees”.

The email drew attention to a video which had been circulating on social media, which appeared to have been created by a student or students at the trust’s secondary school, CWC Crossharbour, which raised concerns and which, said the parent, “encapsulates the prevailing sentiments towards the trust and its new leadership.”