Education

Park Lane Primary School in School Road and Moorlands Primary School in Church End Lane would share an executive headteacher under the plan
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Parents divided over primary school federation

By Mike Pyle
May 30, 2012

Parents at two Tilehurst primary schools which plan to form a federation are split over fears one will be dragged down.

Park Lane Primary School in School Road and Moorlands Primary School in Church End Lane would share Park Lane headteacher Nicola Browne, who has been acting head at both schools since the start of the school year after Moorlands head Sudhana Singh was signed-off with stress and later resigned.

At a meeting for Park Lane parents last Thursday, many raised concerns about their school getting ‘drawn into another school’s problems’, while mums and dads at Moorlands who gathered on Monday night said they would be glad of the stability.

Each school would have a permanent head of school supported by deputy heads, with Mrs Browne serving as executive headteacher.

Mrs Browne told the Park Lane meeting the plans would make “no difference” to day-to-day life at either school, adding: “This is not an amalgamation. The only person working across both schools will be me and that’s the same as I’ve done this year.

“Will schools lose their identity? The answer is no. They will keep their names, their identities, their uniforms and everyone that works at Park Lane will remain contracted to Park Lane.”

But Mike Wall, chairman of governors, said: “We may look like we want this to happen and it’s because we see advantages, but we’re not sold on it. From my point of view, my daughter came to Park Lane School 30 years ago – I love this school so I do have its best interests at heart.”

Many parents fear the move would be detrimental to Park Lane.

One mum said: “I’m supportive of a good school helping struggling ones, but I don’t want to see Park Lane getting drawn into Moorlands’ problems.”

At the Moorlands meeting, one mum, who has two children at the school and hopes to have another join next year, said: “I just want some stability for the staff, for the pupils, for the parents. It feels like we’ve been on a rollercoaster for far too long and there has been stability over the last year.

“Things have been calmer and I want that to carry on.”

Another said: “Since you’ve [Mrs Browne] come on board I have seen an absolute improvement in this school and if this is what you have done then I’m quite happy for it to carry on.”

On why she wanted to take on the role of executive headteacher, Mrs Browne said she had an “emotional attachment to Moorlands and the children” and she was “committed to raising standards”.

She added: “I expect to be the public face – you will see me on the school gates, you will see me at the disco. I am going to do this hands-on.”

The six-week consultation ends on July 8. The schools’ governing bodies will discuss the feedback before meeting separately to make their decisions. Letters will be sent to parents the week beginning Monday, July 16, revealing the decision.

If the schools do federate it will not become official until after Christmas.

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As someone who went to Moorlands, I feel a concern for the place. To see it having problems is upsetting & I long for the days that saw the likes of Mrs Fiddler & the amazing Mr Dare. The concerns of the Park Lane parents is understanding but they have to understand that in this life, there has to be some give & take. Yes, they are concerned but for what reason. They will have someone as head, as will Moorlands. Ms Browne will only be assisting Moorlands regain their position as a great local school. Surely the Park Lane parents can see Moorlands requires help. If the roles were reversed, they would be screaming for help, as are Moorlands parents. I would have thought that Park Lane parents would have been a little more understanding. If Moorlands does bad, the only ones that suffer will be the children. Regardless of me being from Moorlands, the idea of children doing bad is a horrible one. As parents, the Park Lane parents can not ignore that one child has the right to an top notch education as much as the next. The only reason that Park Lane is doing good, is because they have good staff. If however, that muppet Sulivan was in charge still, the story may be different. Moorlands did not do so well because they had a certifiable nut in charge. As a person, Ms Singh may someone you can call a great friend. As a headmistress, she was terrible at her job. Some have verbally attacked her because of her ethnicity, comments I abhor. The only reason I do not like her is because we are now at the stage that we find our selves in. With any luck, Ms Browne will put right everything & things can return to normal. In the meantime, (Park Lane parents) study the word 'empathy' as I think it is a word that some of you are lacking.