When the proposal to transform King’s Manor Community College into an academy first appeared on the radar earlier this year, there was an expectation that the local authority would circulate details of the proposal to all interested parties and organise meetings and forums where participants could find out more about what was involved and be part of a genuine consultation.

In fact, this was promised by the consultants Mouchel in their glossy brochure Inspiring Generations to Succeed. However, nothing happened, save for a terse announcement in May that the sponsor, the Woodard Corporation, had discontinued its involvement.

Now, with another sponsor involved, King’s Manor is on course for academy status once more. However, there has still been no attempt to brief parents, either at King’s Manor, or the schools which are starting to organise the transition of their pupils to King’s Manor.

Requests for more information via letter and email met with little response, so a group of parents in the Shoreham and Southwick area got together to organise a public meeting to which all relevant people were invited. This included those in favour and those critical of the proposal.

One by one those in favour of the proposal sent their apologies.

A well-attended meeting took place, but without a member of West Sussex County Council’s education department present, much to the disappointment of the organisers.

After the local elections in May, Tim Loughton MP, assured the electorate that his party would be more attentive and responsive to their concerns. The schooling arrangements for children comes high in the list of concerns. It’s time that message was relayed to local education authority officials.

SJ Guy, Shoreham and Southwick, Parents Group, Southview Road, Southwick