Government drops challenge to injunction in Chadwell Heath ‘academy’ row
Sarah Scrace, Warren school chair of govenors with sixth form students at the school - Credit: Archant
The government has dropped its legal challenge to a court injunction delaying its plans to turn a school into an academy.
In January, the Warren School in Whalebone Lane North, Chadwell Heath, was granted a High Court injunction stopping the government setting up a board to oversee the change of status.
The court also granted a judicial review into the government’s issuing of an Academy Order to force the changes on the school.
This week the Department for Education (DfE) announced it would drop its appeal against the injunction so the judicial review could go ahead and settle the school’s future.
A spokesman said: “We want to resolve this matter as soon as possible so pupils at the Warren finally get the education they deserve.
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“Our decision to withdraw the appeal and apply for the judicial review to be heard as soon as possible will mean the school’s future will be decided much more quickly.”
He added: “For at least a decade, the council has failed to provide anything like an acceptable standard of education at this school.
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“We make no apology for tackling this kind of sustained failure.”
The Warren School received a letter from education secretary Michael Gove on January 6 saying the school would be taken out of council hands and turned into an academy.
The government had hoped to set up an Interim Executive Board (IEB) to oversea the conversion of the school but was stopped when the judicial review was granted.
The school’s court battle is backed by Barking and Dagenham Council, which agrees the proposed changes would “disrupt the progress being made” in working with Robert Clack School to improve standards.
A council spokesman said parent consultations are underway to measure this progress.
