School which was forced into arms of England’s largest academy trust now facing crisis

Holland Park School in West London has announced departure of its fifth headteacher in four years, while NEU staff members put together an explosive letter warning of "unsustainable" situation under United Learning Trust.

 

A school which was handed to England’s largest academy trust in the teeth of a fierce community campaign now appears close to crisis, Education Uncovered can reveal.

This follows the announcement of the departure of its fifth substantive headteacher in four years, and with teachers warning, in an explosive letter to the school and trust’s leadership, of “unsustainable” workload pressures and staff shortages.

Holland Park School, in Kensington and Chelsea, West London, was the subject of intense local controversy during 2022 after its board, whose members had been parachuted in by the Department for Education, voted for it to join the United Learning Trust. The transfer was then pushed through by ministers after the campaign, which had been backed by the local authority and MP, lost a legal challenge.

Last Thursday, it was announced that Samson Olusanya, Holland Park’s headteacher only since last September, would be leaving to lead a school in Enfield, North London. The school described this as “disappointing,” in its letter to parents.

But in the meantime, a letter in which National Education Union members at the school warned of “unsustainable” staffing issues and a raft of other problems has been leaked to parents. This lifts the lid on a situation which parental critics of the transfer will see as vindicating the concerns they had.

ULT’s high-profile former director of secondary education, Dame Sally Coates, has now announced that she is to come out of retirement to lead the school for the third time, in response to these developments.

Mystery is also currently surrounding the school’s finances, with Holland Park’s last accounts before it joined ULT showing it to have had reserves of nearly £4 million, but with staff now complaining of pressures on its budgets and official figures for the academy putting its “revenue reserve” at only just over £1 million.