High-profile founding headteacher of free school steps down

David Perks, the high-profile co-founder of a free school with close links to the libertarian publication Spiked, has stood down as its headteacher, parents were told today.

Perks has left the East London Science School, which he set up in 2012, having been on a “leave of absence” in recent months. The news was revealed in a letter to parents from Kevin Hinde, the school’s chair of governors.

Hinde’s letter said: “As you will be aware, Mr David Perks has been away from the school for some time and he has now made the decision to leave the school on a permanent basis.

“Mr Perks founded the East London Science School in 2012, opening its doors to its first cohort of pupils in September 2013. On behalf of the Trust, I would like to thank Mr Perks for all of his efforts in establishing a school providing an ambitious, high-quality academic curriculum grounded in maths and science, to all pupils regardless of background or ability.

“Looking ahead, I am happy to say that Dr Mark Taylor will continue in his role as Interim Principal, supported by his senior leadership team.”

It was unclear from the letter whether Perks has stood down, too, from his position on the trust’s board. Companies House was still listing him as a director as of this afternoon.

Perks was also a long-standing “member” of the trust, having been one of three people who co-founded it, one of the others being his wife, Jennifer. This meant that, for years, he served as member, director and headteacher at the same time.

David Perks stood down as a member in March this year.

Perks featured in the national media in February, opposing government advice at the time that secondary school pupils should wear masks in the classroom.

No reason has been given as to why Perks had been on a “leave of absence,” which was revealed to parents back in June. When I asked Hinde why this was, he replied that the board would not be commenting.

The Daily Telegraph reported in May that Perks had faced “investigation” by the governing body over his stance on mask-wearing in class, while the trust had been under intense pressure since being issued with a “Financial Notice to Improve” by the government in December.

The school, currently rated “good” by Ofsted, was inspected back in June. However, more than four months on, no report has yet been published.

East London Science School was one of a small number visited by Ofsted as part of research which informed its current, curriculum-focused, national inspection regime. Perks also served on a Department for Education group advising it on the introduction of “complete curriculum programmes”.

 As you would expect, I will be continuing to follow goings-on at this school closely.