24 July 2009

Jack Straw's son among dozen school governors removed by Lambeth

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Jack Straw's son among dozen school governors removed by Lambeth

Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent
24.07.09

Cabinet minister Jack Straw's son Will is one of a board of governors who have been dismissed at a London school.

Will Straw, a former pupil at Henry Fawcett Primary School in Kennington, was one of 12 governors removed by Lambeth council. The town hall has had ongoing concerns over financial management and the standards of teaching at the school. Headteacher James Walker is also understood to have been suspended.

Will Straw today said he had had little to do with governing the school in the past two years as he has been living in America, studying for a masters degree in New York and working for a think-tank in Washington. He returned to Britain a few months ago. He said: "It's frustrating following this sad period from 3,000 miles away."

Children's Secretary Ed Balls had to approve the decision to replace the governors with an interim executive board. Councillor Paul McGlone, Lambeth's cabinet member for education, said: "Officers found that the standard of education was falling year on year. The governors didn't respond appropriately and we exercised our legal right to replace them."

Vauxhall Labour MP Kate Hoey defended Mr Walker, who had been back at the school in Bowling Green Road for just eight months after being ill. She said: "I feel that he has not been treated in a way that would generally be considered to be justified and when the governors supported him, they got rid of them."

An Ofsted report in 2006 praised the headteacher for "good leadership" but judged the 350-pupil school's effectiveness to be only "satisfactory".

Lambeth council could not confirm this morning whether Mr Walker had been suspended. A spokesman said: "We had major concerns regarding the governance of Henry Fawcett School. We have established an interim executive board who are taking steps to ensure pupils receive the high standard of education they deserve."

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