PARENTS campaigning against a school being taken out of council control fear they will be left with no say in their childrens' education.

Chapel End Junior School and Chapel End Infants in Walthamstow looks set to apply for academy status after the Junior school was placed under special measures in January this year, it is claimed.

The school's Interim Education Board (IEB) is now hoping education trust Reach 2 will become the school sponsor.

But parents have launched a campaign against the move, claiming it will remove accountability.

John Lewis, whose two daughters attend the Junior school, is a member of the Chapel End Anti-Academy Campaign.

He said: "We're very concerned about turning the school into an academy. There are genuine fears about what that will mean for our children's education.

"We don't have a democratically-elected governing body any more so parents are being left in the dark and will have very little say in what happens to the school.

"The school doesn't seem like a failing school, we're very happy with it."

Mr Lewis, 42, of Aveling Park Road, said he feared tighter budget controls could see experienced teachers leave in favour of cheaper newly qualified ones and said there is secrecy about the move.

"It's difficult to get information about Reach 2," he added. "There's no website. It's a bit of a mystery."

Reach 2 already runs Hillyfield Academy in Higham Hill Road, Walthamstow, which became an academy in January last year.

If Chapel End schools do convert, it will join the five primary school academies and three secondary school academies already in the borough.

Another two primaries have applied for academy status, as have two secondaries.

National Union of Teachers (NUT) representative Steve White said he is expecting to ballot teachers at the school over a strike action.

"If I was a parent I'd be very worried about the school's academy bid," he added. "Teachers aren't happy at all."

The Guardian is awaiting comment from the school.

The campaign group is due to hold a public meeting on the issue between 7pm and 9pm, at Quaker Meeting House in Jewel Road, Walthamstow, on Tuesday, September 18.

The government insists the academy system raises standards through greater investment and budgetary freedom, while critics believe they create a two-tier education system.

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