Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School shuts as 70 staff walk out (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School shuts as 70 staff walk out
1:50pm Friday 13th July 2012 in Rossendale
By Chris Adams
A SECONDARY school was forced to close yesterday after teachers went on strike over plans to become an academy.
About 70 staff belonging to two teaching unions, the NUT and NASUWT, staged a one-day walk-out at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School.
They cited concerns that educational standards could be threatened and they could be pressured into signing new contracts if the school is taken out of local authority control.
In a letter to parents, the headteacher of the high-performing school, Alan Porteous, said that disruption caused by the industrial action meant the safety of pupils could not be guaranteed.
He said: “Given the significant number of staff who are members of these two unions, the potential disruption to learning could be considerable and I do not feel that I am in a position to guarantee the safety of lower school pupils.
“I have therefore taken the decision to close the school to students.”
In a statement on behalf of the governing body, David King, chairman of governors, said: “The interests of the school, its current and future students and staff are best protected by conversion to an academy.
“The governors recognise the legitimate concerns of the teaching staff and in discussions with them and in the governance structure of the proposed academy have tried to address those concerns including a willingness to continue to recognise the teaching unions.”
Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said parents, teachers and the local community were ‘united in their opposition’ to the conversion of the Waterfoot school to an academy.
He said: “Any change of this significance should be about raising standards. There’s no evidence that converting schools to academies raises standards.
“Academy status risks the current high performance of the school.”
John Girdley, the union’s national executive member for Lancashire, said: “The employer has not done anything to convince the vast majority of staff of the need for conversion. This is a dash for cash by governors.”
The school was expected to be open as normal today.
Comments(8)
pmdv
says...
8:46pm Fri 13 Jul 12
pwitch
says...
2:25pm Sat 14 Jul 12
Good for the teachers and I hope this action has some good effect after they have put their jobs on the line for doing a good teaching job for their pupils all these years.
Graham Hartley
says...
1:52pm Sun 15 Jul 12
pmdv wrote:Yes; a = log y/log x in any base.
Because neither "log 0" nor "ln 0" exists!!!
Suppose 'a' is a complex number. This is an interesting case because the logarithm of a complex number has infinitely many values.
The Roomster
says...
2:10pm Sun 15 Jul 12
pwitch wrote:There is usually only one reason why the private sector gets involved in running schools, or any other public service, and that is to suck money out of the system and into shareholders pockets. Even more scary is the number of rich cranks who use the Free School or Acadamey route to impose religous claptrap on children. As with the G4S debacle, when things go wrong (and they invariably will), it's the taxpayer who gets landed with the bill
I am pleased that the teachers have decided they do not agree with the idea of academy status, and disgusted that the governors led by Mr King think it is a good idea. What is his thinking behind this idea? Is it the new Head who is likely to get a big pay-rise if he gets academy status? Why fix something which is not broken. I have spoken to quite a few people on the alumni list and they are mostly shocked by the idea of this change, and one of them told me that academy status is not the cash cow it may have been in the past, and the money is no longer there to 'improve' the funding for these schools.
Good for the teachers and I hope this action has some good effect after they have put their jobs on the line for doing a good teaching job for their pupils all these years.
As for the Headteacher and Chair of Governors, they are either extremely short sighted or are on some sort of ego trip where they are looking for extra power without accountabilty - whatever you think about the local authority, and despite the local management of schools initiative the schools are ultimately under the control of the electorate
Graham Hartley
says...
10:20pm Sun 15 Jul 12
Graham Hartley wrote:For an interesting study of complex analysis, particularly of an approach from reals I offer 'Complex Analysis', Stewart and Tall, first published by CUP 1983. I expect that this text is among those in the BRGS library, for at least the reason that its subtitle is 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Plane'.
pmdv wrote:Yes; a = log y/log x in any base.
Because neither "log 0" nor "ln 0" exists!!!
Suppose 'a' is a complex number. This is an interesting case because the logarithm of a complex number has infinitely many values.
That text and also 'Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences' Mary L Boas are among those I recommend for all-day and late-night study.
Sagacious 1
says...
10:23am Mon 16 Jul 12
The governing body seem to think they can operate as a cartel and ignore any opinion, If I could guess the Governing Body’s Mission Statement it would be: ‘See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil’
I for one would support a vote to sack and replace them with local people who have integrity which is sadly missing at the moment.
her from here
says...
4:30pm Mon 16 Jul 12
pwitch wrote:Well said
I am pleased that the teachers have decided they do not agree with the idea of academy status, and disgusted that the governors led by Mr King think it is a good idea. What is his thinking behind this idea? Is it the new Head who is likely to get a big pay-rise if he gets academy status? Why fix something which is not broken. I have spoken to quite a few people on the alumni list and they are mostly shocked by the idea of this change, and one of them told me that academy status is not the cash cow it may have been in the past, and the money is no longer there to 'improve' the funding for these schools.
Good for the teachers and I hope this action has some good effect after they have put their jobs on the line for doing a good teaching job for their pupils all these years.
Graham Hartley says...
2:45pm Fri 13 Jul 12
Show how logarithms can be used to solve for a
xª = y
where x and y are constants.
Neither x nor y may have the value zero. Why?