AN UPDATE ON UBAT SCHOOLS

I handed your feedback on local schools directly to the Schools Minister and the Regional Schools Commissioner.

Yesterday the shortlist of 6 academy chains being considered to take over our local schools (currently run by UBAT, the University of Brighton Academies Trust) has been announced.

Those 6 trusts are Mulberry, the Diocese of Chichester Trust, Pioneer Academy Trust, Hurst Education Trust, Reach2 and Sussex Education Trust. Over the coming months parents and pupils will hear more about these Trusts and have the chance to feed in their views and experiences. 

My message to new academy trusts is clear: work with the local community and we can improve our local schools and opportunities for young people.

It is scandalous that 63% of our young people leave school without the basic qualifications in English and Maths GCSE, and last week the Sutton Trust found that our area is in the bottom ten nationally for social mobility.

With new education leadership coming into the town, we now have a once in a generation opportunity to work together to improve our schools for the better.

This can be a fresh start for our local schools and as our Member of Parliament I am determined to work with local parents, schools and young people to make sure that every child here can get the best possible start in life.  

I have been standing up for our local community at every stage of this process. From day one, I have said that parents, pupils and school staff must have a voice in this process to determine who runs our local schools. Around 100 of you attended my public meeting on this and your feedback was handed in directly to the Department for Education officials in charge of the process. 

I have been raising your concerns with East Sussex County Council, in Parliament and with Education Ministers.

Lastly, a note on Ark. It will be rightly seen as a victory for our community that Ark has not been handed control over more of our local schools. I have fed your experiences and concerns directly to the Regional Schools Commissioner who will be taking these up with Ark’s leadership. In this process, these experiences have been heard, and Ark must now work with the community not against it, and be more responsive to the serious concerns raised.

There will be further updates after today and I’ll be getting clarity on any questions you may have. If you are a UBAT parent or carer then sign up for my latest UBAT updates here.