BASINGSTOKE MP Maria Miller has said she is backing a secondary school’s controversial bid to become an academy.

As reported in The Gazette, the governing board at Everest Community College has agreed, in principle, to submit a bid for academy status.

A consultation is now taking place with parents ahead of a final decision being taken by the governing board before the end of the month.

Mrs Miller, who has spoken to headteacher Julie Rose about the issue, told The Gazette: “Every single young person in Basingstoke should have the opportunity to go to an excellent school, and if the governing body at Everest feel that academy status can help drive up standards then that move should be supported by everybody.

“Academy status is proven to drive up the standards. What is important is that headteachers should have the opportunity to be able to take on the academy status if they feel that is going to have an impact and drive up standards, and I would support any school that was trying to provide a better education for pupils.”

Today, parents of pupils at Everest Community College, in Oxford Way, Popley, will have their first opportunity to question the governing board about the controversial academy status plans, which are strongly opposed by local Labour borough councillors.

Ms Rose, who has offered to meet the councillors, has now published a document on the school’s website, outlining the details of what will happen if the school does become an academy in September.

In the document, she warns parents that the school could be given “notice to improve” in its next Ofsted inspection, which is due soon.

The school was last inspected in February 2008 and given a satisfactory grade. But in the document, Ms Rose said there is a possibility the school will be graded as inadequate, because of the 2010 poor exam attainment figures, in which just 17 per cent of pupils achieved five GCSEs between A* and C, including English and maths.

Ms Rose believes “radical change” is needed to break the cycle of underperformance, which is why the governors are considering converting to an academy. This would mean a trust would then be responsible for the school, rather than Hampshire County Council, the local education authority.

Ms Rose said the governing board considered four options before agreeing, in principle, for the school to become an academy. These were: remaining as a local authority school; considering academy status but delaying; waiting to be directed by the Department for Education; or making an informed decision now.

Ms Rose said that there is a “distinct possibility” that Everest will eventually be forced to become an academy any way, because of its current National Challenge status and attainment figures.

The document states that Everest has been invited to join the Academy Enterprise Trust (AET), which aims to provide opportunities for young people to become world-class learners.

Parents can be involved with the consultation process by filling in a form, stating whether they are in favour of academy status, or are not sure about it.

They can also attend the open evening tomorrow between 4.30pm and 6.30pm – at which representatives from the Department for Education and AET are due to be present – or further drop-in sessions at the school next Monday between 3pm and 5pm and on March 23 between 5.30pm and 7pm.

Governors will then have just a few days to co-ordinate the responses before making a final decision regarding whether to submit an academy status bid to the Education Secretary before the end of the month.

l You can read the full consultation document on Everest Community College’s website at www.everest. hants.sch.uk. And you can read the list of questions that local Labour councillors believe need to be answered by Everest’s governing board by going to our website at basingstoke gazette.co.uk.