Struggling Cavendish School set to become part of controversial academies group?

The school, in Warners End Road, Hemel Hempstead, is expected to be taken over by Future Academies, an organisation which already runs five schools in London.

Parents were due to attend a meeting about the scheme tonight.

Speaking before the meeting, a spokesman said: “The governors of The Cavendish School were required following Ofsted in May 2017 to consider becoming a sponsored academy.

“We are delighted to be working with Future Academies, a high-performing multi academy trust in London.

“We are confident that joining the trust will secure a bright future for the school, the students and the local community.”

The Cavendish was rated Inadequate in its last Ofsted report, having been Requires Improvement in its previous inspection in 2015.

However the Future Academies group has also been controversial in the past. It was founded by then-Conservative minister Lord Nash, and there were concerns about a potential conflict of interest.

Further trouble came at the the new Pimlico Primary School where Lord Nash was co-chairman of the governors who appointed an unqualified teacher as headteacher ahead of its opening in September 2013. However she only lasted four weeks in the job.

And in 2016 there were more concerns when Lord Nash allowed his daughter to teach at one of the schools and to help draw up a new curriculum. Jo Nash was not a qualified teacher.