A city grammar’s plan to convert to an academy is facing a furious backlash from parents, KentOnline can reveal.

Last week we reported how Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School had already won approval for the change from the Department for Education.

Governors deny the issue is a done deal but say converting is “the best way of continuing the highest standards while maintaining our school’s ethos and philosophy”.

Angered parents have launched an online petition against the move, which has more than 750 signatures.

Graham English, father of a Year 12 student at the school, told the Gazette: “It feels to me that the majority of the leadership team, and too many of the governing body, have shown a casual disregard for the best interests of the pupils, parents and staff, and also of the long-term life of the school itself.

“This profound lack of depth in their thinking and analysis points to a failure of ambition and of moral and cultural cowardice.”

In a letter to parents posted on the school’s website, chairman of governors Dr Ash Rehal says an advantage of the move would be direct funding from government rather than Kent County Council.

This would allow the school greater freedom to spend in a way that would best benefit its students, he claims.

Dr Rehal adds that the school needs to partner with others and proposes leading a multi-academy trust (MAT), continuing
its work with the Spires
Academy in Sturry.

A number of parents have joined a closed Facebook group to discuss the issue, with some suggesting the move would only benefit the struggling Spires Academy.

Many are calling on the school to allow parents to vote on the issue.

Richard Davis, whose daughter is in Year 7, said: “The fear we have is that it’s privatisation of the school.

“It’s the transfer of a local authority school to a private company.

“There will be zero accountability. The local authority is at least answerable to the people of Canterbury.”

In a statement from governors, the school stood by the reasons for the move given on its website.

“These tend to be some of the reasons why 80% of secondary schools in Kent are now academies, with 90% of grammar schools becoming academies,” it said.

They denied burying news of the plan, saying parents were informed by email on December 8 last year that governors had voted unanimously to apply.

Once the government order was granted, parents were informed on March 15 of a consultation process seeking parents’ views, running from March 21 to May 16, they said.

“Consultations are precisely that, and they do not include a vote as the governing body has the responsibility for arriving at a decision for the best interests of the school,” said the statement.

“We are aware of a public petition which has been opened by a parent who is totally against academisation, but this is open to all members of the public from across the country, and the governors are most particularly interested in the views of their own parents and stakeholders of the school.”

Head teacher Jane Robinson was unavailable for comment.