London school in academy row fails inspection

A London school at the centre of a row over attempts to "force" it to become an academy has been placed in special measures by Ofsted. The head teacher of Downhills primary in Haringey has resigned and governors say they will not challenge the result of a recent inspection. The education secretary Michael Gove wanted the school to become an academy because he said it was failing pupils. But parents and supporters of the school campaigned against the plan. In a statement the governors said they would be writing to Mr Gove to arrange a meeting to discuss the future of the school. The governors, who do not intend to stand down, say they want to "engage in a constructive dialogue over any proposed changes to the administration of the school". They said they were disappointed with the outcome of the inspection, but continued to believe that "any restructuring of the school should not be imposed from above unless and until there has been a full consultation with parents, staff and the local community". Local reports said pupils said a tearful goodbye to the resigning head, Leslie Church, as he left the school on Friday afternoon. Protest meeting Mr Gove had asked Ofsted to carry out the latest inspection after parents protested against his plans to make the school an academy. Downhills is part of a group of "under performing" schools which the government wants to become academies. The Department for Education said the inspection would "provide an independent assessment of the school's position". Downhills has become a focus for protests against the expansion in academies - with campaigners arguing against plans to remove the school from local authority control and to turn it into an academy run by another sponsor. Hundreds of parents and supporters attended a protest meeting last month at the school in Tottenham, including local MP and former pupil David Lammy. But the education department has argued that it has a responsibility to intervene if standards are not good enough - and has stuck to proposals to force under achieving primary schools to become academies. Campaigners had also threatened legal action to prevent the forced conversion of the school. Education Secretary Michael Govern in turn had accused opponents of academies as being "happy with failure".