By Joan Trevor
Parents and teachers of Northcliffe School, serving Conisbrough and Denaby near Doncaster, are fighting to keep their school and to keep it from Christian fundamentalists.
The school, a secondary school in an ex-mining area, had been declared a failing school in 2003 and was in special measures at the start of 2004. This makes the school eligible for bids from private or voluntary bodies or religious organisations to run it as a city technology college or city academy.
In such situations, the school is taken out of control of the Local Education Authority and answers to the Secretary of State for Education. The private organisation puts up just 20% of the money to run the school, and the government the bulk. In return for their nugatory act of generosity the new owners get control over administration, staffing and curriculum - within the bounds of the national curriculum.
The likely sponsor at Northcliffe is the Emmanuel Schools Foundation (ESF), formerly called the Vardy Foundation.
It is currently negotiating with Labour-controlled Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council to close Northcliffe and open a new 1,000 pupil academy that will specialise in business studies. The school would initially be for 11-18-year-olds, but might eventually cater for primary school children too. It also plans to open a 250-place sixth form.
The Foundation is the creation of multimillionaire car dealer and fundamentalist Christian Peter Vardy. ESF already runs a number of schools in northern England, and plans several more.
ESF is behind the Gateshead city technology college that hit the headlines for promoting creationism. The national curriculum says that evolution must be taught. It allows for other theories, ie, creationism - the idea that God created the universe, and in the way that the Bible says he did it - to be discussed.
In fact, the government is prepared to turn a blind eye to the flouting of the rules, when it is rich, "respectable" Christians flouting them. Tony Blair is a big fan of 'faith' schools.
In addition to Emmanuel CTC in Gateshead, the ESF also runs the King's Academy in Middlesbrough, and will run the new Trinity College, due to open in Doncaster in September 2005. John Burn, chair of Trinity College, explains that his students "will be exposed each day to biblical truth. Each day we will have an act of Christian worship, exposure to the Word of God and an opportunity for people to participate in prayer".
It came as a surprise to staff and parents at Northcliffe to find out that the school was planned for closure, as it had been improving lately. There is suspicion that the council, once it knew that Vardy was interested, decided it would be better for Northcliffe to fail.
Headteacher David Martin said in April, when he first heard about Doncaster council and Vardy's plans: "As headteacher of Northcliffe I am very concerned at any proposals to close the school. If it is being implied that we are not doing our jobs right, then I very strongly resent that." Doncaster NUT secretary John Coward says: "I have had contact from some teachers at Northcliffe. They are very dubious about it and I think there will be some resistance from teachers for it."
A campaign has been launched in the community and among school staff against the Christian takeover, with public meetings and leafleting, and parents have set up the Conisbrough and Denaby Parents' Action Group. Chairwoman Kay Wilkinson says: "If you ask anyone, of course they would like a new school. It's the level of control if the Vardy Foundation take over If I wanted my children to be taught any sort of faith I would send them to a faith school. Will we have a choice? Will we be able to say 'no, you are not going to teach that to my children'?"
- To be put in touch with the campaign, contact the AWL office, 020 7207 3997.
