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Answer:

First and foremost, the Senior Leadership Team, IEB and the Governing Body at both schools will not tolerate any type of abusive behaviour in their schools whatsoever. Very clear and robust action was taken against the poor behaviour during the recent visit, and sanctions were put in place to manage this. Every single family involved came in to meet senior staff and the Executive Headteacher and every single family was apologetic on behalf of their child and supportive of the school’s actions.

Although the behaviour emanated from a group of Year 9 boys, strong and clear messages were communicated to the entire school community. Both schools are well aware of the different demographics of the two school communities.

Therefore, we are all united and absolutely clear that the underlying principles in any potential joint venture or activity moving forward, should be tolerance, respect and cooperation. An organisation called a ‘New Direction’ who have worked in Tower Hamlets Schools previously are developing a programme of activities for pupils to help build relationships between the two schools. Raine’s and Oaklands Schools have set up a joint group to oversee the progress and arrange for any further transition support if required.

Answer:

The LA was working with the school and various methods of support were provided. Below is a list of the key support:

  1. External support from Teaching Schools and specialist consultants
  2. External review of key aspects of the school i.e. Maths and Behaviour management 
  3. Peer to Peer Support
  4. Support from Pupil Admissions 
  5. Support with developing the school building to attract more pupils

Legally, the running of the school is the responsibility of the governing body. In 2017-18 a ‘collegiate’ package of support was agreed for Raine’s school, however the school leadership did not fully engage with the support and this did not have the desired outcome. For the academic year 2018-19, the LA agreed with the Diocese there needed to be an executive headteacher in the school who would make full use of the support available. As the governing body had not taken the steps they needed to in order to improve the school in previous years, the LA identified that formal intervention was required and an Interim Executive Board (IEB) was put in place to ensure the governance also improved.

The IEB and school leaders have invested significant time, effort and determination to improve the performance at Raine’s. The changes brought about in the school were noted as positive in the Ofsted monitoring visit undertaken in December 2018. However, at this time parents had already made their choice of secondary school place. Only 29 pupils applied to Raine’s as their first preference for entry to Year 7 in September 2019.

Answer:
It was initially agreed for Paul Woods to support the school on an interim basis. Paul Woods had approached the LA in December 2018 about returning to lead his own school, Sir John Cass, on a full time basis and confirmed to the LA that he would not be staying beyond Easter 2019. The LA would have preferred him to continue, but we are mindful that Mr Woods’ first responsibility is to his own school. The LA then considered other local schools with leadership capacity to support a school which required improvement and subsequently approached Oaklands.
Answer:

Rapid progress was made in the autumn term. Behaviour had improved notably and teaching became more effective. This was recognised by Ofsted at a monitoring visit in December and further improvements have been made since. However, from the start the IEB was clear that even if the school improved significantly, its future would still be at risk.

This is because the school's long-term decline had resulted in a continually decreasing number of pupils on roll. (Currently there are 372 students in Years 7 to 11, making the school less than half full). This in turn had led to the school being in considerable and increasing debt.

Answer:
No. The LA approached the leadership team at Oaklands after Mr Paul Woods indicated he wanted to return to Sir John Cass to provide the required leadership for the school. Raine’s needed a school improvement partner and as a high performing local school, Oaklands was well placed to support. Mr Paul Woods left in Easter and Patrice Canavan became Executive from the first day of the summer term as a direct replacement with same brief.
Answer:
The LA applied to the Secretary of State to put an IEB in place to improve the governance of the school following the correct statutory procedure. The DfE agreed the members suggested by the LA, but not the nomination made by the Foundation Trust. The IEB was established on 29 October 2018.
Answer:
See question 13 and question 23.
Answer:
The previous governing body had considered academisation however this was not taken forward. An application to convert  to an academy  must be made by a school’s governing body; but the final decision is in the hands of the DfE
Answer:

There are several other faith schools in LBTH and neighbouring boroughs and parents are at liberty to seek a place at any of these schools.  If a place is initially refused they have a statutory right to ask an independent appeal committee to grant a place on the grounds that it is justified by the special circumstances even if the school is technically full.

The LDBS has made arrangements with The Urswick School in Hackney that any pupil at Raine’s who meets the Church admissions requirements for the Urswick School will go to the top of the waiting list. 

Answer:

This was unfortunate. LA officers did work on carefully managing the communications so that the school community would be the first to be informed of proposals. The council’s Cabinet decision making process and work plan is agreed well in advance.

Following on from the feasibility study and proposed recommendation the Cabinet’s work plan had to be updated to include a possible decision on Raine’s closure in the future. This was an administrative process. The work plan was available on Tower Hamlet’s website and was subsequently leaked on social media.

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