![]() ![]() Parents have discussed their grievances with the Eltham MP, Clive Efford. But since the trust formed in 2016 the original trio has expanded to seven schools – including two in Gillingham, Kent – with an eighth on the way in the new town of Ebbsfleet next year. Maritime Academy Trust has its roots in a partnership between Brooklands and Millennium Primary School in Greenwich, which began in 2013, with Timbercroft school in Plumstead joining a year later. The group says it was promised there would be no major decisions made without parent governors at the school, and believes there are serious failings in accountability, transparency and oversight at the trust. You can’t really centralise putting plasters on grazes and listening to everyone’s woes and all the subtle things they do to nurture the children, none of which appear in the kind of data that is used to justify budget cuts.” They are the heart and soul of the place – loved by children and parents alike. One parent, Vince Raison, told 853: “I can’t tell you how fundamental the women whose jobs are at risk are. ![]() ‘You can’t centralise putting plasters on grazes’ It added: “The common theme fuelling these concerns appears to be a failure of trust in terms of capability, competence and accountability, in the context of rapid expansion, which puts schools such as Brooklands at a huge and avoidable disadvantage.” The school was one of the first members of the Maritime academy chain “We wish to make very clear how vital and irreplaceable these roles at risk truly are, and we therefore request that the trust reconsider entirely this course of action and retain the roles with no changes in pay or conditions.” In a school with a small number of staff, high staff attrition, and new headteacher, this concern is very real and unwelcome. Parents were told that the school has had to make cuts because it was having to pay for staff wage rises but without getting an increase in government funding.Ī letter from the Brooklands Parents Action Group – which represents 160 parents at the school – to the trust’s chief executive, Nick Osborne, says: “Our overwhelming, primary concern at the moment is the risk to the roles of two members of staff at the school. In addition, the dedicated member of staff who deals with children with special educational needs has left without being replaced. Parents say they are worried about how their children are performing under the stewardship of the trust, which began as a two-school academy for Greenwich borough in 2013.Ĩ53 understands that the office staff have been told to accept a 30% pay cut or face redundancy. The decision came after the school’s parent governors either resigned or were removed from their roles. Two office staff at Brooklands primary school are understood to be at risk of losing their jobs after Maritime Academy Trust, which runs seven schools in south-east London and Kent, announced plans to centralise its back office functions. Parents at a Blackheath primary school are accusing its academy chain of “a failure of competence” after it announced plans to cut staff who they say are vital to their children’s wellbeing. Parents are unhappy about cutbacks at Brooklands Primary School ![]()
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