Back on track?

An 'all-through academy' for East Bristol was first mooted back in January. Now Bristol City Council's Primary Review has formally recommended that the City Adademy, Whitehall Primary School and the Limes Nursery explore this route. Why, you might ask, is the council so keen on an Academy which makes it onto the government's list of failing schools (These schools have been informed that if they don't hit government targets, they will be closed or turned into academies. Where this leaves the 26 academies on the list is anyone's guess.)

There are only two possible explanations:

1. The City Academy is indeed a failing school and the council's desire to hand over hundreds of tender minds to a school which is likely to face the wrecking ball is nothing short of scandalous.

or

2. The list, and indeed the whole concept, of 'failing schools' is a meaningless hype intended to give the impression of government action. The City Academy is far from being a failing school, but struggles to hit the government benchmarks in English and Maths because these are the hardest areas to improve. As literacy and numeracy are the backbone of the primary curriculum, an all-through Academy is unlikely to see dramatic improvement in this area either. Ergo, Bristol City Council is simply trying to get another time-consuming primary school off its hands.

Interestingly, despite the Academy's keen interest in taking over Whitehall Primary and the Limes, there does not seem to be any intention to allow the little 'uns to kick their heels in the breezy expanses of Packer's Field The school has just submitted a planning application for a vast athletics track which will dominate the westerly end of Packer's and effectively kibosh any expansion of the primary and nursery's woefully inadequate sites. (The Children's Centre based at the Limes is currently operating out of a Portacabin.)