Telford education chief under fire over failures
Telford & Wrekin Council's education chief has come under fire after five secondary schools were ruled to be failing in 12 months under his stewardship.
Councillor Paul Watling was accused of championing the Telford Co-operative Multi-Academy Trust (TCMAT), which ran four of the schools, before "jumping ship" by resigning as a TCMAT director at the first opportunity when things started to go wrong.
But the authority's ruling Labour group voted down a motion to "express deep concern and censure" about the cabinet's leadership and education policies.
A debate was held at a Telford & Wrekin Council meeting at Telford College of Arts and Technology (TCAT) last night.
The five schools – former TCMAT members Sutherland Co-Operative Academy, Wrockwardine Wood Arts Academy, Lakeside Academy, Phoenix Academy and local authority run Charlton School – were placed into special measures after receiving the worst possible "inadequate" rating from Ofsted inspectors.
Most have since been re-named and TCMAT has been dissolved. The academies are now under the leadership of the Community Academies Trust (CAT).
Bringing the motion, former education cabinet member Councillor Stephen Burrell said: "Four years ago education was riding on the crest of a wave – the picture is very different now. A large number of schools are in special measures and it raises serious questions of the people in charge. What has gone wrong in the last four years? TCMAT was set up – but the council remarkably failed to consult the people who were successfully running Madeley Academy and Abraham Darby Academy.
"There were 20 executive and non-executive directors, and none of them had a shred of experience. It didn't fail because of the standard of the teaching staff, or because of the students. It failed because of failures at the top and because of the decisions of the now dissolved TCMAT."
Councillor Watling said he was "disappointed" by the motion. He said: "The opposition is trying to score cheap political points rather than concentrating on supporting the future for these schools."
"We must look to the future and make sure we are supporting these schools and new leadership teams, instead of playing politics with our children's futures."
