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Journalist hits out over academies’ lack of accountability

Tom BelgerA regional daily journalist has questioned the accountability of the Government’s flagship academies programme after being unable to get a comment on the closure of a school’s sixth form.

The Liverpool Echo’s Tom Belger was redirected from Halewood Academy to the local authority, a ‘regional schools commissioner’ and the Department for Education before finally being emailed a statement by the school’s principal – two weeks after he initially broke the story.

The Echo had been emailed by a sixth form student at the school, who was concerned he would have to complete or restart his studies elsewhere.

The sixth form’s closure would leave the area run by Knowsley Council with no A-Level provision.

In a piece for the Echo, Tom wrote: “I immediately called the school, hoping to speak to a senior member of staff about the proposed closure.

“A receptionist said no one was available, and told me to visit the school’s website. I was surprised the school did not want to further explain such a huge decision, but I made do with the statement online.”

Tom, pictured above left, then called Knowsley Council, but was told the authority would not comment because academies are responsible to central Government.

After trying the school again unsuccessfully for a follow-up, Tom contacted the office of the regional schools commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire, which is responsible for overseeing academies on the government’s behalf.

However, he was told the redirect his enquiry to the Department for Education.

Tom added: “Which was a little bizarre, because central government had already rejected a petition from Halewood parents because – you guessed it – ‘the Government and Parliament aren’t responsible’.

“The Halewood principal eventually contacted me more than two weeks after the announcement, but merely emailed a statement that largely repeated what was on the school’s website.

“The only thing stopping me laughing at how difficult it is to find someone to hold to account is the fact children’s futures are at stake. If journalists struggle to get answers to their questions, is it as hard for parents to do the same?

“And with plans to make all schools academies, it raises a troubling question – will every school become this hard to hold to account?”

10 comments

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  • March 29, 2016 at 11:11 am
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    Cuts both ways. If you can’t get anyone at the academy to take responsibility, write the story anyway. Talk to parents, pupils, the local MP, whoever you can who has an opinion. The academy will soon get fed up with being pilloried not only for its decisions but for its refusal to talk about them. It’s all you can do, confronted with this sort of officious intransigence. And that’s what we’re here for, after all.

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  • March 29, 2016 at 2:11 pm
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    Just seems so sad that he has to be told how to deal with being given the run-around. At one time it would have been second-nature in such circumstances to track down some parents (and NOT over the phone!) and write the story along the lines “angry parents are demanding answers.” Perhaps that’s why some us us old-timers are now considered fossils.

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  • March 29, 2016 at 6:37 pm
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    ‘LongInTheTooth’ – I think you’re missing the point entirely. The whole piece was quite clearly written to illustrate the point that if a professional journalist can’t get answers – how can a member of the public be expected to?
    If you had read the article – and several others produced by the journalist in question – you’d realise he had done his job properly.
    If you can’t even deduce that, perhaps you’re best off out of the industry.

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  • March 29, 2016 at 9:31 pm
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    “Fossils” maybe but you’re rather missing the point. It’s the scandalous lack of accountability here that’s the issue – and the Govt plan to make all schools a academies.

    One other thing when I was a letters editor, anonymous submissions went straight in the bin

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  • March 29, 2016 at 9:36 pm
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    “Fossils* maybe but you rather miss the point. The issue here is the scandalous lack of accountability – and the Govt plan to make all schools academies.

    One other thing, when I was a letters editor, all anonymous submissions went straight in the bin.

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  • March 30, 2016 at 9:37 am
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    I don’t need bleeding heart lectures about how “tough” it is these days to dig out facts from official bodies. Surprise, surprise but that situation has existed since newspapers were invented. The answer has always been to sniff out the real story by any means other than relying on an officlal press handout. The reader is not interested in “sorry, we can’t tell you the details because nobody will tell us.” Try that excuse on some of the news editors I encountered and your backside would have been roasted so fiercely you would have been selling it as pork scratchings.
    As for “scandalous lack of accountability” I’m not here for a political argument. I merely point out that handouts and a phone do not a journalist make.
    That’s “fossil” talk for stop wimping.

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  • March 31, 2016 at 12:32 pm
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    ‘Longinthetooth’ – yet again you miss the point entirely.
    Clearly the ‘good old days’ of getting a good telling off from your news editor have left you selectively deaf as the message of the article, and that of the comments beneath this article have fallen on deaf ears.
    Again – the journalist was not saying ‘sorry we can’t get the facts’ as eventually he did force them out of the official body and from various contacts – he is merely commenting on how hard it is likely to be for parents.

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  • March 31, 2016 at 5:51 pm
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    Self-indulgent nonsense. Just do the story and not seek applause. Administration obstacles are the name of the game when dealing with public officials and any journo worth their salt knows how to handle the situation without expecting a pat on the back. Readers are not interested in a journo’s problems. They just want the story.

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  • April 18, 2016 at 12:26 pm
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    I believe you have remarked some very interesting details , thanks for the post.

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