Birkenhead MP Frank Field pleads with Ridgeway High parents not to block academy plans

Oct 21 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

She said the proposed boys academy aimed to have results comparable to Ridgeway after five years, adding: “I can’t see what our kids are going to get from this academy if that’s the aspiration.”

Jamie Shields, who is a governor and the school’s business manager, said governors had found the sponsors’ expressions of interest document acceptable – but with a number of caveats.

He said: “Our agreement doesn’t sell Ridgeway down the river – it gives our commitment to move to the next stage of the process.

“We were conscious that we wanted to see more about what the academies offer had for us and it would have been foolish to reject it. In essence we’re not against academies but there are concerns it would dilute the outstanding high standards we have achieved”.

Parents who spoke at the meeting said they were concerned standards would fall and feared their children’s education would be disrupted if they had to change schools.

One, Ken Clark, said: “My son goes here and I was hoping my daughter would.

“The local authority has tried to sell off the libraries and swimming pools and they’re now looking at the golf courses. I just see this as a land sale.”