THE teachers’ strike at Peacehaven Community School yesterday is yet another reminder of the concerns surrounding the introduction of academies.

Protesters set up a picket line outside the school demanding an end to conversion of their council-run school into an academy run by Swale, a private company.

In many ways, it is easy to understand their worries.

The idea a place so crucial to the lives and futures of our children could focus on something other than their wellbeing, namely profit, because after all that it what companies do, can be worrying.

And while there are many examples of academies that have done well, indeed Swale’s own Eastbourne Academy received a “Good” Ofsted rating two years ago, it is important to remember the academy system is still a fairly new one, having only been introduced by the Government in 2010.

For better or for worse, academies are granted more freedom from government oversight than their council-run counterparts. They can decide which teachers to hire and which pupils to admit, all without council influence.

They also do not have to stick to the national curriculum that state schools must teach, meaning they can technically teach whatever.

And since they are not run by elected councils like state schools are, there is no way we can vote out the people in control of our children’s education if we feel they are not doing a good job.

Whether the academy takeover of Peacehaven Community School is successful is anyone’s guess. But it will take a lot to convince worried parents their children’s futures are safe with a company-run academy.