Islington Tribune - News: Backdown over Academy

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Islington Tribune - by MARK BLUNDEN
Published: 27 April 2007

Backdown over Academy

ISLINGTON Council has climbed down from a costly and potentially embarrassing legal battle over a controversial new city academy.
Education chiefs were due to take the stand in June at the High Court over allegations that parents were “mislead” over the admissions criteria for an academy on the site of Islington Green School, in Prebend Street, Angel.
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) said it would exclude Hackney children, who live a few hundreds yards away across the border, in favour of Islington and City of London children.
They argued the admissions criteria were pushed through with Hackney parents who took part in a consultation being unaware that their children would be ineligible to attend the new academy.
The school, which has the City of London and City University as its £2 million sponsors, is due to reopen as an academy in September 2008.
But last night (Thursday), in a dramatic turnaround, the NUT and council issued a joint statement announcing the case was being dropped with the Town Hall paying the union’s costs.
Government guidelines now stipulate admissions should be based on distance from the school.
NUT spokesman Ken Muller said: “Kids living 150 yards away from the school are local children even if they are from Hackney.
“This just shows that Islington Council has mislead local parents.”
Schools chief Councillor Ursula Woolley said: “I’m glad this has been resolved quickly and their have been some very productive conversations with the NUT.
“Now we can get on with concentrating on the academy.”

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