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It appears that time is of the essence!
Darren Francis at the DCSF (Department for Children, Schools & Families) wrote to one of the FaCT Committee members on Tuesday 20 January 2009 about the Academy process. The reply was very similar to the one in this article in which he spells out the process.
Essentially, Jim Knight MP, the Minister for Schools and Learners and Ed Balls MP, the Secretary of State for Children Schools & Families have to decide whether to issue a Statement of Intent (SoI) letter to the Council and the Diocese to allow the next phase of the process to begin. Nothing new there. This decision has been ongoing for some months.
However, this time Mr Francis says: we estimate that this will be completed during the first week in February.
So, each parent needs to write NOW to Ed Balls and Jim Knight to object to any proposal in relation to St Bernard’s closing as a Catholic Grammar School and subsequent merger into a new Academy or College.
The level of responses they both receive will indicate the level of parental objections to such a proposal. Do not wait for somebody else to do it as it is about each and every child both now and in the future having the continued choice of a Catholic Grammar education.
The address to use for both Ed Balls and Jim Knight:
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT |
