More than 150 parents, kids and members of the community gathered to protest against a multi-academy trust taking over the school.
Byron Court Primary School in North Wembley is currently set to become an academy under Harris Federation after it dropped from an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating to ‘inadequate’ following an inspection last year.
Since then, 1,136 people have signed a petition to ‘Save Byron Court’ from “forced academisation”.
Parents fear that becoming an academy would limit children’s education and impact SEND students, while the Brent National Education Union (NEU) fears that staff could be forced out and funding to classrooms will be affected.
On Thursday (March 21) morning, parents, children, councillors and Brent North MP Barry Gardiner attended a protest outside the school.
The Save Byron Court campaign group said: “We reject Harris Federation taking over our school, we demand to have a proper say in our school's future, and we're not giving up whatever you decide today.”
The petition states: “There is no guarantee that any of the improvements or stability needed will be made, on the contrary, academisation could well bring plenty of new problems, particularly the loss of well-loved and valued teaching & support staff who could be forced out.”
To sign the petition, visit https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/save-byron-court-primary-school-stop-the-academisation
Harris Federation was contacted for comment.
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