Northwold Primary School academy decision due after application to Michael Gove

Academy bid: Northwold Primary School. Photograph: Josh Loeb

Northwold Primary School is awaiting a decision from Education Secretary Michael Gove after submitting a bid to become an academy.

If the application is rubber stamped by the Department for Education the Clapton school would become the first primary school in Hackney to gain academy status.

Governors held consultations with parents following a secret ballot of staff last year.

The school hopes to become an academy by the start of the next academic year.

Headteacher Alison Kriel said: “We know that there is a general election coming up and all political parties have said they are going to keep the academies programme in place.”

But she said she feared that in future there will be “fewer and fewer opportunities for schools to decide for themselves what kind of academy they want to be”, adding: “That’s why we decided we want to be proactive and decide for ourselves.”

Ms Kriel said that if Northwold Primary is successful in its academy bid this could open the door to the school forming a “non-hierarchical” federation with others nearby.

Teachers’ unions have described academies as a form of back-door privatisation that undermines the state sector.

Ms Kriel said: “Everybody is entitled to their point of view, but it is an agenda that has already been put out there.

“You can chose to fight against it or chose where to place yourself in order to be in a positive place.”

Northwold Primary will remain a two form entry school and its name and the school uniform would remain the same, she said.

Councillor Rita Krishna, Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services said: “If Northwold School becomes an academy they will nevertheless still be a Hackney school.

“We will continue to support them; the most important thing is that we secure, collectively, the best start in life for children in Hackney.”