Head at Townley

[Silverspire]

Hi Parents,

From reading this forum it seems that Mr Deehan has been instrumental in bringing Townley to where it is now. As Townley will be creating a MAT with Erith School, Mr Deehan will become the Executive Head of both schools and a new head will be appointed for Townley.

My children currently attend a primary school where the head was appointed as Executive Head 3 years ago and since then the school has taken a downwards turn. My daughter is starting Townley this September and I am worried the same thing could happen.

Maybe I'm just a born worrying, but the entire 11+ journey was a stressful one. My daughter achieved high results in the Newstead, Bexley and Dartford test. Townley was her choice and I respected her choice as she put in all the hard work. But now I can't stop thinking how this change will impact Townley.

Silverspire

[bluesea]

Hi Silverspire,
Well done to your DD for securing a place at Townley. I can appreciate your worries but look at it differently. Mr Deehan has a great reputation and will not be leaving the school. He will still be very involved with Townley and will not let it slip from the position he has worked hard for. I'm sorry for the failure of your primary MAT but lots of secondary schools are being made to join MATs by the Dept of Education and the Townley MAT will only contain 2 schools. Deehan's option was either to become Exec Head or remain the Townley Head under a new Exec Head. All schools are struggling with reduced government funding and need to take tough decisions. Membership of MATs can help with economies of scale and purchasing, although I'm not a great fan of them, especially the massive ones. Compare this with Newstead, which I have experience of. They are joining a MAT with another 50+ schools (!), have had three heads over five years, with the present one still only interim. They have massive historical finance problems, even before the new cuts come in, still have sixth form vacancies and some good teachers are now leaving. Their GCSE results are still good but a lot of pupils have outside tutors to maintain their grades. I won't tutor my DD but her friends spend hours with home tutors, all on top of a heavy homework load. I don't have experience of the Bexley schools and whether they are in MATs but frankly if my DD had her time again I would choose Townley today.

Enjoy the summer knowing your daughter has a great school to join in September and get involved with all the parent activities and support at Townley as all these schools need as much support as we can give them.

Best wishes.

[Silverspire]

Thank you bluesea for your reassuring insight！

I will take the relax approach knowing my daughter will be joining a good school in September and support the school in whichever way I can.