Star Comment: Rebranded schools are not the answer
Over the coming months the big cheeses behind the academies in Telford which have been branded as failing institutions will need the confidence and support of parents as they strive to turn things around.
So what do they do? They decide to change the names without any consultation with the parents or the local community.
They can hardly pretend to be community schools if no value whatsoever is being put on the views of the community. It smacks of one of those high-handed, we-know-best decisions which alienate, rather than accommodate.
Phoenix Academy had an opportunity to change its name when it moved to its current site, and the old Phoenix School buildings were knocked down. It mulled things over, but on consideration the Phoenix name, which has been part of Dawley life since the 1960s, was retained. Nobody minded.
From September it becomes Telford Langley School, the idea being, says the Community Academies Trust, to signal a "fresh start". Anybody associated with Greek mythology will see the irony in ditching the name Phoenix – the mythical bird which is the very symbol of rebirth and rising from the ashes – in the name of making a "fresh start".
In fact the new name harks to the past, as it has echoes of the long defunct Langley School in those parts.
What we have here is a rebranding exercise, the logic of which is that Phoenix is a tainted and devalued brand. But is that really the case? The reaction indicates that for all the school's ups and downs, there remains a lot of goodwill for Phoenix. It is a recognised brand, and it continues to enjoy local support.
Meanwhile it looks like the Lakeside Academy at Stirchley will be The Telford Park School, and the merged Sutherland and Wrockwardine Wood schools will be The Telford Priory School. These changes will not be as controversial as the one in Dawley. Lakeside Academy is itself a relatively new name, and the merger is creating a new school on a new site, so a new name is natural.
There are plenty of precedents for firms, places and institutions seeking new identities. However, what has happened in these schools has not been an identity crisis, but a catalogue of educational failings. It is when those are addressed that these schools will truly rise again, like a . . . you guessed it.
