Elmswood School, Rushall and staff are on a peaceful picket line ( no chanting etc as requested by the school). The school plans to join a Trust and staff say that wont be good for the school or the staff.
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00:00So we're here in Walsall, Rushall, outside Elmwood School
00:04and staff, we've got a picket.
00:07So why are you picketing today guys?
00:09Actually introduce yourselves at the front here first guys.
00:11Dan Whittaker, School Rep.
00:14Sharon Guy, General Secretary for Walsall.
00:16Joel.
00:17I'm Matthew Vane, Regional Officer for National Education Union.
00:20So why are you here today guys? Why the picket?
00:22So we're here today because we care.
00:25Because we care about our pupils.
00:26As one of the parents said just this week,
00:29she knows that her child has several fathers and mothers in this place
00:36because we care so much.
00:38And we know that there's going to be a massive change for our pupils
00:42if this was to go through.
00:44So basically they're looking to become part of a trust.
00:49So what is it you're hoping to achieve by picketing then?
00:53I guess this is about you having your voice heard is it?
00:55We want to stop the academisation of this school
00:58and keep it as Elmwood.
01:00We want to keep it as a local authority school
01:02with its own governing body that is dedicated to its pupils
01:05and not being taken over by a very large corporate academy trust.
01:10So we're seeing this a lot with schools becoming part of trusts.
01:14So I guess to the layperson, a lot of us don't really understand.
01:17So what does it mean for the school if it is taken over by an academy trust?
01:22I think the staff really feel that the local authority serves the pupils here much better
01:26than an academy trust could.
01:28An academy trust doesn't necessarily follow national terms and conditions
01:32for teaching staff and TAs.
01:34So terms and conditions and working conditions could get worse under an academy trust.
01:39It's a good school.
01:41The parents love the school.
01:42The teachers love the school.
01:43If it ain't broke, why try and fix it?
01:46Yeah, it's a good phrase. I'll stick to it myself.
01:49We also think there will be potential funding cuts if it becomes part of an academy chain as well.
01:55We know that academies such as Matrix that are wanting to take this one over
01:59charge more for core services than the local authority do.
02:02We're looking at about a 2% funding cut per year over the medium term
02:08if it gets taken over.
02:10That's about £700 per pupil that would be lost.
02:14Why do we think the decision's being made that they want to join the trust?
02:18We think they've been given a lot of promises that they aren't guaranteed to actually take place
02:23if they join.
02:25But from a Matrix perspective, we think they want to get into the special educational needs market
02:29as they see it.
02:30It's not about the pupils.
02:32We think they want to get an extra school into their portfolio, as it were.
02:37It's really corporate empire building on the part of Matrix.
02:40Of course, special educational needs schools have more funding per pupil than other schools do.
02:45There's a clear financial incentive for an academy chain such as Matrix to take it over.
02:50I'll come back to you in the middle of this one.
02:53You actually teach here, don't you?
02:55I love what one of the parents said.
02:57It's like they've got seven mothers and fathers at the school.
03:00That's kind of a seal of approval as to how you've been looking after the kids.
03:04What are your concerns of how joining a trust will affect pupils?
03:09We want to remain Elmwood.
03:12The problem is, as Matthew's talked about, this additional funding that we've taken from us
03:18that will go to Matrix, that represents around £700 per pupil taken off opportunities
03:25that they should be receiving, instead of going into some big pot of money.
03:31Did the teachers have a say in the matter?
03:34I'm getting a sense that the fact there's a picket here that maybe I know the answer to this,
03:38but were you consulted on it? Were your thoughts considered, do you feel?
03:42No, what happened was, it happened in July, we went through with DfE.
03:47We weren't consulted until the October and since then we've been asking to have a voice.
03:52We've also been asking for a vote and that's been denied.
03:57I thought there was some building work going on when I pulled up.
04:00There's all these long orange fences along the school field there
04:04and I found your picket line just a bit further down than where I've dragged you over to now.
04:10It's not building work, is it? Just explain what this orange fence is about.
04:14It seems a bit ridiculous, you know.
04:16Well, I guess like the whole dispute really.
04:18We want to have more dialogue, we want to be sitting around the table with them
04:21trying to find a resolution to the issues that our staff and indeed the pupils have with this.
04:27But as you can see, instead what we're getting is literally more barriers being put in our way
04:33of resolving this dispute rather than actually coming back to the table
04:36and sitting down with us to discuss it.
04:38I guess when you come and you see a physical barrier that's been put up like that,
04:43it must be an extra little dagger to the heart really, a little bit disheartening
04:47that you're not being taken seriously and listened to.
04:50Is that how you felt when you saw that?
04:52I agree, yeah.
04:53Yeah, absolutely.
04:55Okay guys, well we wish you all the best.
04:57I mean, is there anything else you'd like to add as well?
05:00We don't at the moment believe that parents will be given the full facts about what academisation means
05:05and I think actually we're looking to work with the school to make sure that it is the real facts that are given to parents
05:11not what we believe are not actual genuine cases being said.
05:16We have got a meeting with the local authority this week
05:19and we hope that our members' concerns and indeed the parents of the pupils here,
05:24their concerns are heard loud and clear about this
05:27and we hope to find a resolution as soon as we can
05:29because I know that all of our members would rather be in work today
05:32than have to be on a picket line.
05:34But when it comes to standing up to their kids, just like they do every single day,
05:38they are passionate for standing up for the children that they teach
05:40and that's what they're doing today.
05:42Cool, and I guess we should add the school isn't closed today, it is still partially open, isn't it guys?
05:46Very partially.
05:47Well we wish you all the best guys and good luck with it.