I am concerned that such a vote rides roughshod over the independent report on academies, the Academies 5th Annual report by PricewaterhouseCooper, commissioned by the Government.

Surely a report requires full and proper consideration that questions:

l The level of exclusions in academies being higher than other schools;

l The fact that pupils excluded from academies do not receive the same safeguards as those excluded from local authority maintained schools;

l The fact that academies employ more staff who are not qualified as teachers;

l That the number of children from deprived backgrounds accepted into academies has fallen;

l That some academies have used vocational courses to skew exam results, but when English and maths are taken into account, rates of progress are less substantial;

With these facts in mind I remain baffled as to why councillors and voting members of scrutiny endorsed an academy for north Halifax children. What is clear is that the substantive evidence of an academy being the model for school improvement is flawed.

More importantly the community of north Halifax deserve better.

Sue McMahon
Calderdale NUT Divisional Secretary