Campaigners launch JR over conversion of primary school to academy

Campaigners have launched judicial review proceedings over the decision by Education Secretary Michael Gove to convert a primary school in London into an academy.

Hickman and Rose, the lawyers acting for the claimant, have sought an expedited timetable to permission.

Downhills Primary School in Haringey was put in special measures in February this year after an Ofsted report. The head teacher subsequently resigned.

Last month the Department for Education announced that Downhills would become a sponsored academy run by the Harris Foundation, an educational charity that already runs a number of academies.

Four grounds are being put forward for the judicial review. Hickman and Rose partner Beth Handley said these were:

  1. The Secretary of State’s decision to sign the funding agreement with the Harris Federation was ultra vires because the section 5 AA consultation duty was breached – the Interim Executive Board failed to make a decision on the conclusion of the consultation, deferring to the Secretary of State.
  2. There had been procedural unfairness. "The consultation was cut short without allowing consultees to put forward a concrete proposal for how a restored normally constituted governing body would run the school."
  3. There was a breach of statutory duty. "The section 9 of the Education Act1996 requirement that pupils should be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents is a mandatory material consideration. In this case 94% of stakeholders said they did not want the school to convert."
  4. There was an unlawful failure to ask the right question. “The decision was based on the past and current performance of the school and the respective track records of the Harris Federation and the local authority but the Secretary of State failed to consider how a fresh normally constituted governing body could conduct the school."

An order is expected by around Thursday (26 July).

A spokesperson for the Department for Education told the BBC last week that the school had been underperforming for several years.

The Department said: "Ofsted's report in January found that the school was failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and that those responsible for leading, managing and governing the school were not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement.

"Harris, a not-for profit educational charity, will give the school the leadership and expertise it needs to improve."