A government minister is "holding a pistol to the heads" of a primary school's governing body when they vote on the proposed academy sponsor later today.

The governors of Twydall Primary School, Gillingham, are due to vote on whether or not to become an academy under the Thinking Schools Academy Trust (TSAT) this evening.

But parents and members of the Labour group believe that the governors are being threatened with removal if they do not vote yes.

Paul Clark, Labour's Parliamentary Candidate for Gillingham and Rainham said: “The whole way that this process has been handled stinks. The feeling amongst parents is that they have been seen as ‘a nuisance’ at best and as an ‘unnecessary evil’ at the worst.

"To cap it all, the Minister has written to hold a pistol to the heads of the governing body telling them to vote yes on a one candidate only ballot paper or else."

Lord John Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, wrote to the governors earlier this week informing them the Secretary of State is "minded to make an academy order... and then constitute the governing body as an interim executive board (IEB)".

According to the letter, the Secretary of State, is considering the action because of the "lack of progress on academy status" and a "lack of urgency" in taking action to improve the school.

He said if the governors still wish to become an academy, then he "would expect the governing body to pass a resolution in favour of becoming a sponsored academy with TSAT".

The letter was published along with the results of a consultation with parents and the wider community on the future of Twydall Primary School, in which the majority of respondents said no to TSAT taking over the school.

A spokesman from Parents Against Twydall Takeover said they were thrilled with the overwhelming response but had concerns.

She said: "The document shows that the governing body have been rushed through the consultation and put under undue pressure, not leaving time to fully respond to all issues raised.

"They have not been able to complete an Equality Impact Assessment and unable to validate responses from TSAT, the Local Authority and have been unduly threatened with an IEB if they do not vote yes.

"This highly unjustified and unethical, and a public enquiry should be raised".

A total of 436 written responses were received by the school's governing body of which 383 said no, they did not agree that Twydall Primary School should become an academy and join TSAT.

Of the respondents, 15 said yes and 32 said they were not sure.

Only half said they had enough information to understand whether TSAT's ethos on education and development is right for the pupils now and in the future.

More than 300 also said they had concerns about the school leaving the management of Medway Council and coming under the management of TSAT.

Glyn Griffiths, ward councillor for Twydall, called Lord Nash's letter a disgrace and said it made a "mockery of the whole of the consultation process".

He said: "I fully understand why the parents have concerns, they don't want second best for their children."

Concerned parents have been protesting against the move as they do not believe the trust is right for the school, which is one of the few primary schools in Medway which has provision for a large number of special needs pupils.

Parents are worried that TSAT does not have proven experience in this area and want the decision to be fair, transparent and to give them a choice in the future of their children’s education.

They also believe the vote to become an academy was "rigged" after it was discovered that governors on the board has undisclosed interests or connections to TSAT. Two governors have since stood down.

In the foreword to the consultation the governing body said they were "overwhelmed and delighted" by the number of people who took part but due to the "tight deadlines" they were given by the Department for Education, they were "unable to do justice" to the responses.

They also noted that they were unable to conduct an Equality Impact Assessment, which based on the replies, they felt was "essential" to informing their decision. An equality impact assessment is designed to ensure that a policy, project or scheme does not discriminate against any disadvantaged or vulnerable people.

The move to turn the school into an academy came after it was placed in special measures by Ofsted in May 2014. The inspection was unscheduled and came after allegations of a “serious incident”. Following protests from staff and parents, Ofsted deleted references to the incident.

The school in Twydall Lane, merged with the infants school in September 2011.
With 555 pupils aged between three and 11, Twydall is a larger than average primary schools.

If the move goes ahead Twydall will join Rochester Grammar School, Chatham Grammar School for Boys, All Faiths Children's Academy, Gordon Infant and Junior School and New Horizons Children's Academy in the Thinking Schools Academy Trust.

A Medway Council spokesman said: “We have been told by Lord Nash, the Schools Minister, that he has written to the school ahead of a governor vote. We as the local authority are only interested in seeing improvement brought into this school for the good of its children and this is what we shall state in our response to the minister.”