A TRADE union will hold a meeting for school support staff to voice their concerns about academies, after two schools in the borough said they were interested in making the switch.

In a letter to members, the GMB union said the meeting on August 17 was to discuss academies' “lack of accountability, democratic transparency, staff pay, conditions of service and pensions.”

Valentines High School in Ilford and the Chadwell Heath Foundation School have both expressed an interest in becoming academies.

The coalition government recently announced that all schools can now apply to become academies, which would free them from local authority control and give them more power over spending and their curriculum.

Academy status, which was introduced by the previous Labour government, was previously only available to schools which has been given an 'outstanding' rating by Ofsted.

The union has also written to heads of the schools concerned to try to ensure that support staff would have the same contracts with the new academies as they now do with their schools.

Sandra Vincent, GMB organiser in Redbridge, said: “Initially the government had withheld the names of the schools which had expressed an interest in academy status but following GMB pressure we now know which these are.

“In all the schools which may be made academies GMB has taken immediate action to ensure that GMB members who work as school support staff will not suffer jobs, pay, hours, conditions or pension cuts as a result of their head teacher moving the school to be an academy.

“It is absolutely clear that support staff, parents and governors seem to have been left out of the discussions when considering the future of their schools.

“We have personally requested full consultation takes place so that everyone involved can make an informed decision about what this could mean for them in the long term.

“Equally as important is the potential damage this could do to the educational standards in schools as any new academy will be given the option to withdraw from adhering to the national curriculum.

“School support staff will do the same excellent job that they have always done regardless of whether or not their school is called an academy however, setting up a competitive culture within our educational system is divisive and will inevitably create a two tier educational system.

“The biggest losers will be our hard working school support staff, teachers and the educational needs of our children which must always be our priority."

The meeting will be held at Ilford Library in Clements Road from 2pm to 4pm.