Strikes at the Academy?

We have been informed that the pupils at the current schools are threatening to strike over their placements in the Academy.

Children in year 10 at Alfred Barrow stated weeks ago that none of them would attend the Academy in protest at being left out of any debate in their future. Last week the decision of where current Parkview and Thorncliffe pupils was released and although generally unreported in the Evening Mail, it has caused uproar.

In September pupils in years 7, 9 and 11 will attend the Parkview site, while years 8 and 10 will attend the Thorncliffe site. As things stand at the moment most pupils attend the closest school to where they live, many within walking distance. Under the new system around 70% of pupils will have to travel further to school, most by transport as it puts the distance to school beyond walking distance. Of these children an amazing 59% will have to pass the site they currently study at in order to get to the new site!

The current year 9 at Parkview are worried and thinking of striking as well as the Alfred Barrow kids. There are threats from ‘The Orsmgill Crew’ that nobody is welcome ‘on their turf’. The choice of sites is going to cause even more disruption to the education of our kids due to the blind assumption of the Academy leaders that they are doing the best for our kids. They clearly have no idea of life on the streets of Barrow in the eyes of a teenager. The fact that there are gangs of kids from different areas has generally gone unreported, but, as the police can verify, there have been instances in the last 12 months of ‘gang wars’ between certain groups involving weapons on the streets of Barrow. In fact  I am sure residents and readers will verify the facts. In one confrontation a couple of months ago several streets around the Ainslie Street area were virtual battlegrounds, so putting these children together on one site is a big mistake.

100% of the children chose the school they wanted to attend, even the current year 6 were not given the Academy as a choice. They chose that school for a reason, whether it be convenience or other reasons. The fact that most will now have to make travel arrangements is going to impact on the finances of parents. Parents of many of these pupils do not want the Academy at all, do not want the burden of travel and in home dinner cases food expenses as well as the uniform costs. Most are happy with the current schools. Parkview is a cracking school as it stands and Thorncliffe has turned around, the only problem with the current setup is the problem of Alfred Barrow. It has become unsustainable as it stands due to low numbers and it does have discipline issues, from people we have spoken to it has become a bit of a no go area in corridors at times.  Staff have lost motivation due to the uncertain future and you cannot blame them to be honest, they have been the poor relation from the beginning in this whole farce. To be fair though, according to our sources, Walney School is not much better as the leadership is poor from top to bottom, roles are unclear and the senior management just pass the buck down the line rather than making decisions.

It is not really viable for Alfred Barrow to just run down to a natural end as staff need to have a future to look to and security, but they feel the Academy does not suit them either. Staff at the other schools involved have low morale right now also. Support staff have been shafted by having their wages cut to incorporate the inflated costs of the new management, teachers have a guaranteed income, but only for 1 year so many are disheartened as well. The pupils, especially years 9 & 10 have the most to lose as they are going to have their lives turned on their heads! Nobody really supports the Principal that has been employed, very few have any faith whatsoever in this man.

The Evening Mail, despite having the information about his personal life months ago, failed to report anything about it themselves. They instead reported on an article in the Daily Mail and have since just given quotes from people involved such as Anne Attwood, they have not done any reporting. They quoted sources as denying the man was on ‘gardening leave’ but failed to say he WAS on ‘light duties’.  They have also put the stories on their website and them let them disappear  from view at the earliest chance. The reason for this? Senior editorial members have a conflict of interest, hence no coverage. Even Forum posts have either been blocked or edited out of their original context.

The solution?

Delay this Academy. It was clear who should have been principal from day one, but the candidate did not apply due to the fact the whole thing was a hot potato. Anyone with half a brain would have wanted Dennis Faye as the principal. He turned Dowdales in to the star it is today and has turned round Ulverston Victoria in record time. He was the man for the job at the Academy but obviously saw the plan was flawed from day one. If he had applied and been appointed then the opposition would have been support, because the small man has the respect of his peers and a strong proven leadership.

This article has  been put together with information gleaned from people in the know.  What we really need on top of information sources are full stories written by you the people of Furness. We have no bias whatsoever, so anybody wanting to contradict the article above will have the full story posted. The only edits that will be made are to *** obscenities.

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