Recent social media reports (and retractions) from local activist groups have caused some confusion about Forest Hill School’s financial and staffing situation.
Councillor Paul Maslin provides the following summary of the school’s situation:
[edited to add the following]
This is dated from the end of March.
Paul pointed me towards this today - which I took to mean it remains valid.
[original post since updated with more recent statement from Paul]
Valid but possibly not comprehensively up-to-date.
He has provided a new update today:
I understand that there is a rumour circulating that says that 30 teachers have resigned from the school in addition to the staff cuts that have had to be made as part of the deficit recovery plan. This is false. Resignations and redundancies are broadly in line with what the school anticipated they would be.
Thanks. Looks like he tweeted me the wrong one. Have updated the original post.
I hope the person who posted earlier about the resignations is able to respond to this.
It does make me wonder how many resignations and redundancies the school anticipated.
It’s certainly a vague answer, would be good to hear the actual number of departures and how many will be replaced.
Paul Maslin is correct when he says that there are not 30 members of staff leaving. I’ve heard it’s more like 34 although the school is attempting to replace most of these posts except for the 15 teaching posts lost as part of the restructuring.
Our son is at the school and frankly we are now sick of the strikes and the effect they are having on the children’s education.
I understand when the last senior management team departed last summer they left behind an £800k deficit. Perhaps this deficit should have been spotted by council auditors but if the NUT have a beef with the council they should target the council directly, not the school’s new senior managemet team. The PFI arrangements are something all the New Labour-built schools are burdened by.
The head teacher Mr Sullivan appears to be a decent, honourable man. He put his own son through the school. He did not ask to inherit this mess and appears to be doing his best to put things right while running the school and reassuring current and prospective parents. There appears to be one compulsory redundancy (the rest were voluntary) and increased workload - but still below the 90% contact time many schools expect. We are also losing RE and PHSE. It is not clear to me that this justifies a strike - let alone the extraordinary number of strike days that have been and continue to be called. It appears to be achieving only damaged education and bad feeling.
My understanding is that the NUT does not require a ballot for this strike action and their London lead, Michael Powell-Davies has the unilateral power to call them - there are potentially another four called for the coming weeks. I understand Mr Powell-Davies gave up his teaching career for this full time NUT post and the NUT are reimbursing the lost income of every Forest Hill teacher that strikes. It is not clear that all the teachers striking want to strike to this extent and I worry there is disproportionate power vested in one man with possible vested interests beyond Forest Hill School.
I’m in the process of trying to work out things amicably with various groups, be it trying to find a meeting space to finding out who will communicate, and what parents concerns are to vocalising it to people that may be able to help.
I also don’t agree with School strikes as I think the only ones that suffer from this is the kids & their education.
Please bare with me on this, I’m on the case 
I just wanted to share with you a Council question I tabled and the answer provided, hopefully this should answer some of the questions raised in this thread.
Question by Councillor Upex
of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People
Question
What steps have been taken to improve the ongoing financial difficulties faced by Forest Hill School? Has the Council has exhausted all routes to improving their situation? Please explain to residents and parents the role that central government plays in school funding and the role of the local authority and ensure that this is better communicated to parents who are understandably worried about the future of the school and of their children’s education.
Reply
The funding of mainstream schools is mainly determined by central government, with the DfE determining the size of the ring fenced Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). There is little local discretion either in terms of the overall quantum or in its distribution to individual schools. For the first time, all schools are experiencing a financial squeeze as nationally their funding is failing to keep up with rising costs. Lewisham has joined with other boroughs in protesting about the national underfunding of education.
For individual schools, responsibility for the budget sits squarely with the governing body following decades of increasing autonomy for schools. The local authority does not have a fund it can use to bail out schools which get into financial difficulties, either in the council’s General Fund or in the DSG. The council is required to be totally transparent with all schools, ensuring fairness and much of the local decision making on school funding lies with the Schools Forum which is made up of school representatives.
Council officers have worked closely with the headteacher and governors of Forest Hill School to help the school to set a financial plan that enables it to recover from its deficit situation. In particular the HR Team has supported with the staff restructuring. The school’s staffing spend was higher than that of other similar sized schools and needed to be put onto a sustainable footing. The school also experienced a serious dip in GCSE results in 2016 and the Local Authority and Lewisham Secondary Challenge have been providing school improvement support to the school all year.
The headteacher and governors have been working to keep parents and prospective parents informed and reassured, with support from the council’s Communications Team but this has been challenging given the amount of misleading information circulating on social media. The headteacher has been personally visiting all feeder primary schools and meeting with parents to reassure them.
I’m sure this article will reinforce everybody’s existing opinions on the situation:
Were any other questions asked about FHS Paul.
I am sure he is not affected. Still, good for him. I am sure he has the kids best interests at heart.
Kids’ interests at heart? Really? Another three days of strikes next week? I am much less sure than you about the NUT’s agenda.
Meanwhile the council response leaves the head teacher high and dry and themselves freed from blame as I read it. I firmly believe Mr Sullivan trying his best to turn things around despite having had nothing to do with the financial shortfall, despite being caught between an unsupportive employer and a union whose response to his attempts is at best disproportionate. It is him that needs parents’ support right now, not a Union that appears to scent his blood.
Personally I think emotions are flying high right now - Mine were initially as my son is directly effected by these cuts, but taking a step back to look at the bigger picture for the future of all the kids & not just my own son with SEN I’m willing to work & speak to all parties amicably to try and find a financial solution if possible here.
I’m in email contact with many concerned & hopefully all get on the same page eventually - which in my eyes is probably to find a way to extend the PFI repayments to give the School a bit of leeway on finances and/or for some emergency funding to be found to give the School a bit of a break with repayments short term to reemploy key staff members for the boys.
My Sarcasm was obviously too subtle 
While I have no reason to doubt this, I believe that the council can restructure debt repayments if they chose to (I believe that there are local precedents for this). Perhaps the financial plan already does this? As it is now on a “sustainable footing” it would be rather surprising if this were not the case as the alternative would be even less palatable.
Sorry, yes that went over my head!
Ellie Reeves said at her hustings this would be a top priority if she got in. She’s clearly having lots of fun but be nice to see her put her money where her mouth is.
https://twitter.com/elliereeves?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author
If you hop over to the Forest Hill School Action Group page youll see she has already been engaging with the issue.
Completely agree,& she said she would inject cash into FHS on the day if she was elected!
Not seen any of this, which is why I was pushing for @JohnRussell as I knew he would do exactly that straight away & I can personally vouch he would have done this.
I hate when people lie with things as important as education.
I completely know that @JohnRussell was prepared to get on the case with this straight away.
Which was one of the reasons I backed him wholly!
All - whilst it’s all on-topic, some of these comments are crossing over into Local Politics (opt in here).
Don’t forget, this topic is in the main forum.
Gentle nudge - please reply as a new linked topic in “Local Politics” to talk in depth about political issues.
Thanks but can you link it pls. Googled ‘Forest Hill School Action Group’ and nothing comes up
It’s just a Facebook Group and you have to be accepted in by the admins (whomever they currently are). Perhaps Starman will put in a good word for you.
Oh, I know I’m blocked. I raised the issue of PFI and then had a minor back-and-forth of comments with Martin Powell-Davies (the NUT / TUSC activist that seems a key figure in the Action Group), and then I was blocked for “squabbling” - although Martin remained.
I’ve had no conversations with this person, though many more.
While this strand of the conversation might best be consigned to the play room, as it’s in an all access area its probably worth correcting Pauline’s statement. Ellie Reeves did not say this. Here’s SE23’s report from the Husting[quote=“SE23.life, post:8, topic:4833”]
Ellie Reeves (Labour)
Lived here for almost all of my life, and bringing up my family here. I will be proud to represent this area in Parliament. Thousands fought to help Lewisham Hospital - we will ensure our services do not come under threat again. We will create a National Care Service. People are rightly concerned about Brexit - we will guarantee the rights of 3M EU nationals living in the UK, and fight for employment and environmental rights. I will not vote against local interests.
[/quote]
In her acceptance speech she said this would be her priority. The next day, as reported over on the FHSAG facebook page, Ellie arranged a meeting between the Council, teachers and parents. The council sadly cancelled at the last minute at which time Ellie arranged to meet with one of the group admins Lynely Oram that same day. Efforts to get the Council to the table continue.
Judge her on her actions. This is not going to be solved overnight, and post election everyone should get behind her efforts. I’m absolutely sure John would agree with this as well
Pauline of course should know all this as she is a member of the Action Group too…
The Admins by the way are all listed on the site. Chris if you want a list there are many, many, many members of SE23.life who are also members of FHSAG who I’m sure would love to help you out.
.
You around on Sunday at 4 Mr?
Xx
I have tried to register and not had any reply. Irritatingly less accessible (and intolerant?) compared to this forum.
Aware it won’t get solved overnight but there is an urgency. Two full weeks of strikes this academic year so far plus the best part of another week of strikes next week. It’s disproportionate and harmful. I still don’t hear or see justification for targeting the school’s SMT for trying to turn things around.
Howdo… I’m not an admin of the group. I’m only a member who contributes from time to time. The four admins are also parents of FHS kids, have jobs and perhaps other demands on their time. I gather this a volunteer-led group rather than a professionally led activist group so I would I’d just suggest some patience. When I joined the group a few weeks ago I recall it took a half day before my request was approved.
Hi @Brett
The Council has a mechanism of reviews of its loans to schools an a yearly basis. This is scheduled and will happen in the latter part of the year (I think it was Novemeber when loan was granted so the year will be up then). I can not possibly predict what the review will conclude, but it is the right time to put a case forward to address issues caused by the loan.
Hi @Howdo
I was keen to understand a bit more about general school funding and the relationships. The result is this report that will be jointly heard by Public Accounts and Children and Young People Select Committee next Wednesday.
It is on http://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s50807/04%20Joint%20report%20for%20PAC%20and%20CYP%20Select%20-%20challenges%20faced%20by%20schools.pdf
Please feel free to submit any questions that arise from the report to me by next Monday on cllr_maja.hilton@lewisham.gov.uk
Interesting report, thanks for sharing @MajaHilton. There seems to be a strong correlation in table 5.7 between increase in funding and voting results per borough at the 2015 election. Surely only a cynic would deduce a causal link though!
Those who doubt the funding pressure that London schools are under should take note. This supports what I hear anecdotally re the loss of support staff and the additional pressure this will create on the remaining staff. Is there any feel at the council for the impact this could have on standards?
I notice that there are some services that can be supplied by the council, though it is up the schools to opt for this. Is there any plan for IT procurement (hardware & software) to be offered in this way? Am sure that economy of scale could save money if this could be organised.
Elsewhere I had pondered what was included in the PFI unitary payment as often these can include energy bills and IT procurement. I saw energy as a line item in table 6.1 so I suppose isn’t included in the PFI payment.
This just makes me feel so sad!
Thanks Maja, I’ll make sure I read this tomorrow evening when I have time.
I think it’s been designed to appeal to emotion, and was written by one of the Evening Standard’s most partisan political commentators.
This kind of article probably belongs in #politicos:local-politics, but I know you didn’t intend it to be political, Pauline, so I won’t touch it.
I quite like that, ‘we care about you so we won’t teach you’. It reminds me of my old headmaster before he caned me ‘john, this will hurt me more than it hurts you’. I never believed him. All local schools have cuts but I don’t see them striking like this. Something is very very wrong in Lewisham. First Millwall, now this. Surely they are not connected?
Thanks Chris, it’s the kids & their education that’s suffering the most through all of this 
Sadly you are quite right Pauline. Maybe all sides need to reflect on this.
I think this is OTT. One school has strikes over this. Why assume this is down to its location in Lewisham borough or make a connection with Millwall?
@MajaHilton I have just submitted a question & will come along to the meeting
Because that is the way I think, sorry.
NUT members leafleting Fairlawn parents this morning with material deliberately designed to frighten year 5 and 6 parents into seeking other schools. A cynical desperate attempt to wreck the school’s future when all they’re being asked to do is equivalent to teachers in other local schools - including their partner school, Sydenham Girls. That is according to the Sydenham Head Teacher according to posts on the FB page.
A low act.
Agreed.
Amid all this information flying around on social media, the school’s management team is at a disadvantage, presuming they aren’t allowed to post or react online. And there may well be other voices that we are not hearing. As ever, the picture is incomplete. As such, I’m loath to call out either side for being at fault based solely on FB groups and second-hand reports, or even missives from councillors.
Had a productive meeting with @MajaHilton today & personally I don’t think shouting helps. I think working together to the best of our ability is the best way forward on this.
Forgot to mention there will be a parents meeting with Paul Maislin probably on Monday 11th July. I will post as an event when confirmed.
Really? Banned? That’s mad.
As a parent of a boy in year 10, I’m also sick of the strikes. And very worried that there seems to be an attempt to undermine the school. What parent would want to send their son to a school where the teachers are constantly running the school down?
I don’t agree with strikes either… I feel the ones that suffer the most from this is the boys… I feel the best way forward is for all parties to communicate & be transparent about the effects the financial difficulties will be for the kids & the future of the School - Only then can we as parents step in & fundraiser for what is needed be it text books, SEN staff, School Clubs or whatever.
As I said I had a productive meeting with @MajaHilton yesterday afternoon & really hope all take a leaf out of her book & come forward to speak about what is realistic financially or not & what we can do to work together to close the gap on the financial deficit.
There is a strong possibility we can close this gap if we all work together - but it needs more than a few to work on this to make it a reality
There’s only one problem with that @Pauline The 11th is not Monday!
Sorry Hilary, I meant the 10th. I’ll confirm when I get confirmation
Hi Pauline, on another note, am a library volunteer and tried to pop into the shop to talk about kids’ library plans this morning. Could you tell me when the next meeting might be please? Thanks!
Pop by anytime for a chat about the kids library, though I don’t open till 10am. If it’s the kids Advisory Board meeting we’ve not set a date for the next one yet
There is some work going on in the background with helping this situation the best we can, but I won’t post any info unless it’s concrete. Though I will say @Satchers has been doing a lot of work in the background & @MajaHilton has too. I think all groups will finally come together soon to do the best for the boys & the School
[NOTE FROM THE MODERATORS: A QUOTE FROM AN EXTERNAL SOURCE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THIS POST AT THE REQUEST OF THE ORIGINATOR OF THAT SOURCE MATERIAL. THE ORIGINAL SOURCE IS NO LONGER PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.]
There are apparently big incentives for Forest Hill School to become an academy. It would not wipe out the PFI debt but it will transfer the previous operating deficit from the school to the council.
Other than the financial implications I cannot say whether the pupils would be better served by an academy than as a council maintained school. But I think there might be a correlation between the worst results in London from Lewisham schools and the ‘political stance to stop’ academies in the borough. However, I’m not an expert on education, I’m happy to accept that academies are a ‘bad thing’ compared to the current state of Forest Hill school if anybody would like to explain why.
Personally I’m not a fan of Academy Schools, though I would favour the previous deficit being transferred to the Council in any other form if possible?
Hi Michael. If you want to know about the academic performance of ‘multi-academy trusts’ such the Harris Federation, you can view the stats here:
The relevant document is the spreadsheet “Tables: SFR02/2017” and you need to look at the ‘ks4’ or key stage 4 tab. I’m attaching a screenshot of the data with Harris highlighted. Harris is in the ‘Significantly above average’ banding for the Progress 8 measure. That means they get very good exam results in ‘core’ subjects such as English, Maths, sciences, etc compared to schools whose intake of pupils was academically similar.
In general, although the government continues to push for more and more schools to become academies, their academic performance compared to local authority maintained schools is what you might call a mixed bag - ie. they are not in general outperforming local authority maintained schools. So Harris seems to be doing a good job. Obviously Harris is not the only option, but would clearly be the obvious one.
If becoming a ‘sponsored academy’ (the term used to describe schools that are forced to become academies due to poor performance) will help with the financial situation (for the school) then I’d think that’s be a very good thing.
I know this data pretty well, as I’ve been working on the https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk service for the last year.
If you want to give your views to Ofsted, you can do so here: https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/login?destination=give-your-views
I would have though that anything which provides the boys with a secure education would be a good thing?
David, I would be up for a meeting with you to understand this more.
@Satchers just making you aware of this.
I think the issue with academies as I’ve seen it reported is more about how rounded and inclusive the education is, issues over whether ‘difficult’ or poorly performing children disappear off the books/and from the results, and how they can be a bit ‘my way or the highway’.
When visiting secondary schools of did find the academies I visited to be much more regimented in their approach. Which wasn’t what I was looking for.
I guess one of the things it depends on is whether you think the results from a set formula of tests is everything?
But I’m absolutely sure there are good and less good examples of all school types…
I think what Paul Maslin was saying is if they took on this debt in any form (if they had to), then with a finite budget other services would need to be cut.
Really sad. I’m so proud of my daughter starting Uni in London, but not sure what the future holds for my son sadly due to these circumstances, especially as he has SEN.
Saying that I don’t know the best way to make cuts in general in our society.
To be frank, it’s crap & I think someone on our local Council has to grow a pair & start fighting against Central Government to stop these cuts - someone has to start somewhere right?
This is the whole reason why I thought about running for a local Cllr - I don’t see anyone breaking the mould & fighting our corner anytime soon, but someone needs too!!!
And soon!
BTW Not me, I looked into it & I couldn’t give it my all.
A reminder to all participants in this thread: this is an important source of information and updates for all interested in the future of Forest Hill School. It needs to be focused on the current situation and immediate solutions for what is a critical situation.
Wider discussions about central government school funding, and protests relating to that, properly belong in Politicos. Discussion about the pros and cons of academisation is, I think, relevant here, if we can make an effort to keep it non-Partisan, both in our comments and the sources of data we share.
As ever, this is a tricky thread to mod and I want to keep it as open, active and relevant as possible.
Indeed, and to treat them fairly. It is only state maintained schools that have to follow the increasingly rigid national curriculum. Schools that opt for Academy status, of their own volition, seem to get a easier ride with Ofsted too (as do Private incidentally, totally different framework). As FHS is more likely to be converted to Academy (as mentioned above), the pressure would still be on them so, apart from the deficit transfer, less of an advantage. Source:
There are currently 1,012 open schools with no inspection grade. As schools close and re-open they can lose their inspection history9 and this can affect the national proportions of overall effectiveness grades. Of the schools with no inspection grade:
73% are sponsor-led academies
20% are new free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges
4% are local authority schools
3% are academy converters
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspections-and-outcomes-as-at-31-march-2017/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspections-and-outcomes-as-at-31-march-2017
I agree that exam results are definitely not the be all and end all, but if FHS did become a Harris Academy, at least exam results doesn’t look like it’d be a worry. The good thing about the new emphasis on progress measures such as Progress 8 is that for schools to get a good score, it is just as important for them to help low achievers and high achievers and middle achievers, as it’s all about their amount of progress, not just their actual results. The old measures used to incentivise schools to help ‘D’ grade pupils to get a ‘C’ grade, as the emphasis was on the proportion getting grades A*-C.
@moderators have moved some posts debating union involvement and central government policy into our opt-in Politicos section
Agreed the discussion was wandering but am lost as to how some of my comments that were moved into politicos fall into the debate around the broader issue of union involvement and central government financing. So I’ll paraphrase here.
I’m heartened to see parents and teachers working in unison on common issues at FHS. It is clear from talking to both groups that they have much to collaborate on to the betterment of “our” children/students’ education. This is particularly relevant as the financial situation of FHS is directly affecting teacher levels and that directly affects quality of education. Striking is naturally divisive among parents (some for/some against) but both sides have some interesting points. There is a healthy debate on this at the Forest Hill School Parent’s Action Group facebook page. Regardless of issues on striking, it was also obvious from the meeting transcript that parents are universally concerned about teacher staffing levels at FHS.
Even though I have no kids (now), I am sincerely interested in the state of our local education. Notwithstanding the importance it holds to many friends who do have kids in full time education, I am increasingly engaged in this community and want all facets of it, particularly social, to succeed.
Thanks for that round-up, @starman. It was impossible to split the thread without scooping up some posts that might or might not be overtly political, but all had strayed somewhat from focussing specifically on the situation in hand. Your post above is a good example of how to keep the discussion focussed on FHS, while allowing the scope of discussion to go beyond budget spreadsheets.
Nicola Mitchell, who wrote these notes, has decided she doesn’t want them visible here. So she has altered the permissions making them unreachable.
https://twitter.com/nicmitch999/status/885616829024137216
Update she has since deleted the above tweet, in which she made an interesting request - that our link to the notes be removed, and also all the ensuing discussion about them be removed from this site.
Does Ms Mitchell represent the “Action Group”? Perhaps someone can explain why they are unwilling for the proceedings of a public meeting with a local councillor to be discussed on an inclusive, open forum?
I have spoken to an attendee and in no way was this meeting declared confidential.
I’m afraid I’m the one at fault here. I failed to ask permission to link to the transcript and given that it was released to a closed group I am terribly remiss in this regard. Furthermore, given the public animosity between @anon5422159 and FHS PAG I should most particularly have sought permission first.
I’ve removed my post with the link.
I don’t think anyone has suggested the meeting was confidential. Bit of a straw man. This person who is not an admin of FHS PAG took it upon herself to transcribe the meeting and share it with the group she belongs to. I’m now told she had no wish for these to be shared beyond the group as they are not or have never been intended to be official minutes of the meeting. My rush to share these gave the indication they were official. They aren’t. I cannot stress this strongly enough. Its akin to one of us taking notes of a Forest Hill Society meeting and then publishing them as some official notice.
The meeting was open to any parent of a child at FHS… The meeting was however closed to only parents and that was as at the request of Paul Maslin himself. So sadly neither I or you would have been welcome.
Don’t feel bad, Jason - linking between relevant pages is a basic function of the World Wide Web, and no one can tell you not to link to their publicly accessible page, provided you do not actually share any of their content on your own website. You’ve done nothing wrong.
This incident raises questions about the nature of FH “Action Group” meetings, which in this case was entered into in good faith by a local councillor.
If the transcription was designed to be shared with certain “parents” groups but not others, that strikes me as a bit odd. No?
Update I see you have edited your post to add a long piece about her supposed intentions. Have a read of her (public) tweets to get a better feel for her thinking on the matter. It strikes me that she’s concerned that the Action Group won’t be able to control the narrative and discussion if it’s on the open web:
https://twitter.com/nicmitch999/status/885628329289814016
If the notes of this public meeting were shared on Facebook, I see no reason why they cannot be shared on other social media?
Obviously Nicola is more than welcome to comment on this here as we are an inclusive, open forum.
Chris. I don’t agree with you here. The meeting was open to all parents of FHS. Any parent on SE23.life could’ve gone and discussion entered into. I now understand Nicola though made notes available to the FHS PAG which is a closed group.
Seems a shame that people who were not able to make the meeting, including future parents and ex-pupils of the school, are not able to understand the problems faced by the school, the council, and by current parents.
The notes from the meeting were very useful in understanding some of the issues and the position of different groups.
It is such a shame that after the school was completely rebuilt 10 years ago that this is how it has ended up. Even with the PFI contract, it shouldn’t have ended up like this. I really hope that this year’s results are better than last year, and I wish every success to all the pupils and teachers at my old school.
I’ve been through periods of massive cuts, teacher redundancies, and strikes at the school in the 1980s. It wasn’t a pleasant atmosphere at the school and it wasn’t a pleasant period in my life.
Is there any reason to suppose this information won’t be made available in due course via official channels?
Perhaps what is needed is an edited summary of the key points raised and answers. However because some of the actions here and general accusatory tone of some I suspect Nicola will probably be unwilling to do that herself now.
I am keen that everyone manages to be reasonable and polite to each other and not hostile. As you can imagine that is tricky enough within an informal group with a range of different views and a complex set of issues, let alone when others wade in too.
But the Facebook group were not the only people at the meeting, yes? I’m just wondering if there will be any official minutes released by any parties present.
I am very appreciative of having had the chance to read Nicola’s minutes. I have young girls, so will never be sending them to FHS, but it was a real eye-opener in terms of understanding how the relationship between government and council and school works.
It’s a really difficult problem, with no easy solution. As Councillor Maslin said, we have to live within our means, and this is a direct result of not doing that. On the other hand, we’re talking about the future of hundreds of boys, so it’s a very emotive issue.
As Nicola has made it clear that her notes were never intended for public consumption and they are no longer publicly accessible, I think we should refrain from referring to their content, however obliquely. I don’t think anyone has stepped over the line here, but I think it’s a courtesy we could extend to her from this point forwards.
I have amended the title of this thread to reflect the latest update.
I have changed it back - I didn’t think it was particularly helpful
I don’t want to reply to this thread with any info without any official or concrete updates, but what I will say is that small meetings with core groups etc & emails with small groups are going on to try to help the situation in the best way possible & all are responding with positive feedback, comments, and looking into things as far as I can see.
These are different groups & I’m happy to be part of all. But can say this is a very difficult situation for all involved
I must stress personally I don’t think shouting, striking & being rude in any form to anyone helps, that’s from no group in particular but just overall my view - I think it is much more constructive to try to speak to each other & work on what is possibly achievable to help the School & the boys - And move forward realistically from there on.
I’ve just spoke to my friend @JohnRussell & no official minutes were taken at this meeting he chaired very diplomatically.
So no official minutes on this.
I also think he should be thanked by all parties for stepping in and chairing this meeting neutrally last minute when asked!
Maybe I am being naive, but it seems very unusual for a public official like a councillor to meet with selected members of the public with an interest in a highly controversial situation and for no record to be kept of what was discussed.
Is anyone else highly uncomfortable with this?
I don’t know Cllr Paul Maislin personally so can’t answer this.
I do know @JohnRussell personally & as a friend and know he is doing all he can to help FHS even though he is not a Cllr & just as a resident like myself.
Happy to speak to you anytime with suggestions that may help. I’m a parent.
Also speaking to other local Cllrs that are trying to help, so please do come speak to me with any ideas.
I want to find a solution that works best for the kids & parents & teachers (who all that have left have found jobs already, so I’m m not sure of the NUT position here) and the head teacher especially needs our support I think.
I see there’s a big article about FH School in today’s ‘Guardian’.
Here’s that article, containing interviews with:
Disappointing at the lack of investigative journalism into the 2008 PFI contract, and lack of comparison to other local schools that haven’t run up a deficit.
Actually it does do this and also compares with a local school that has (Ladywell Prendergast, though this is interesting as it is in a consortium AFAIK).
Posting the link to the article was helpful, thanks. The misleading comments less so.
Where in the article is FHS compared to a local school that hasn’t run up a deficit?
Forest Hill’s current predicament is partly a consequence of the funding constraints affecting all schools. It was particularly badly affected by cuts to post-16 funding, losing £150,000 from its annual budget. But the council claims that other specific factors have played a part – one document suggests that teaching costs at Forest Hill are £125 per pupil above the average for similar-sized schools within Lewisham.
There have also been claims that, historically, the school’s financial management has “been unable to adequately monitor the school’s budget position to allow early identification of issues”.
Nevertheless, Forest Hill is not the only state school in Lewisham to be in financial difficulty. Prendergast Ladywell school, a mixed secondary in the south London borough, overspent its budget by £173,000, according to a council document dating back to November. The same document reveals that eight secondary schools were in deficit at that point, up from two in the previous financial year.
Prendergast has run up a deficit.
Yes but am sure you can read the rest of the quote without my help. I included the Prendergast Ladywell part as it puts the rest in context.
Hi Brett, I’m sure you will appreciate there’s a massive difference between £150,000 and £1.1M!?
Yes, but I am not the one seeking comparisons which may or may not be helpful.
I also think that there may be a confusion between deficit and debt and the article is at fault on this. I suspect that many more schools are operating on a deficit right now. FHS has built up a huge debt but its deficit last year was £129K
I’m sorry, but the Guardian has just posted an article that basically says “this is all the Tories’ fault because of evil austerity”. That is bad reporting, simple as that. FHS’ situation has nothing to do with that; it was poorly managed, full stop.
Let me expand on that: the Guardian has found a convenient example (FHS) to push an agenda that austerity is evil, and look, you needed proof?, here’s proof.
I don’t think the article says that at all but it does put the school’s issues partly down to policy and partly down to management. Am not saying that is correct, I do not know, but the article is not as bad as you make out.
Apart from
the school’s financial management has “been unable to adequately monitor the school’s budget position to allow early identification of issues”
(which is pretty euphemistic) in a 2,438 word article with the title “One out, all out! The school where cuts are pushing teachers to the brink”, where else does it refer to mis-management?
Having just read the article, it’s worth noting that the journo does say that both the headteacher and the Council were approached but declined to be interviewed. Maybe they could have added something.
For what it’s worth, I think there’s a story to be written about PFI but the FHS story seems to be more complex than the implementation of one policy across successive governments.
Chris, Zoe IS simply a parent with concerns about her son with SEN the same as myself which is why she was part of setting up this group in the first place to help where she possibly can with this awful situation.
I don’t know any of the others personally, but can certainly vouch that Zoe is doing all she can to help in anyway - She definitely deserves to be thanked rather than pointed at unreasonably.
So I would appreciate it if she was taken off your pinpoint list.
I’m not suggesting Zoe’s done anything wrong. Just that the Guardian should be open about her involvement in the Action Group. It’s about honest reporting and balance.
Oh and BTW, 9 of her last 16 tweets have retweeted the NUT. Just an observation.
People are free to tweet what they want - I do & you do. The thing is the only consistent engagement with parents is from the NUT so why wouldn’t most listen to them if they think they are helping the situation in any way whatsoever.
Personally I’m not sure about their involvement, but that’s just my own opinion.
I don’t see why Zoe shouldn’t be a parent above all else, as that’s what she is in my opinion.
This is a really sensitive topic for many, so please think from parents, kids & teachers points of views when posting on this if you don’t have a direct emotional link to this as a parent etc.
Many local kids are missing many days at School because of strike action, which is affecting their education.
Some Teachers are leaving or losing their jobs.
The School and head need to work out the best way possible on their budget, which can’t be an easy task - so they need support from all of us.
The Council have had cuts too, so let’s keep in mind how much they can possibly help financially on this.
I’m as frustrated as the rest on this, but shouldn’t we be trying to work together to find the best way we can help for the sake of the boys.
Sorry for the essay.
