Revealed: how pleas for school to go to academy trust with better Ofsted record fell on deaf ears

Waltham Abbey town, in south Essex, home of Waltham Holy Cross primary school. Pic credit: Christine Matthews/Wikipedia.

The headteacher of a school facing a forced takeover by an academy trust with a chequered Ofsted record wrote a passionate plea to a Regional Schools Commissioner to go with another trust, with a better national record, but got nowhere.

Erica Barnett, head of Waltham Holy Cross primary in Waltham Abbey, Essex, wrote to the government’s Regional Schools Commissioner with a detailed account of why a rival trust – which had offered to run the school – would be ideal for its community.

However, the request was rebuffed. Mystery still surrounds exactly why the incoming trust, NETAT, was chosen, over the rival Barnett backed, Vine.

In another revelation revealed under FOI, Vine’s chief executive told Barnett that “I got the impression that no matter how hard you try it will not be possible for you to join the Vine”.