A BECKENHAM school has expressed an interest in becoming an academy.

Parents of pupils at Cator Park School in Lennard Road have been issued with a letter to say they will be consulted before a final decision is made.

In the letter from headteacher Meryl Davies and governors chairman Jenni Mogridge, it said: “From what we know at present, we consider that it may be in the long term interest of this school to convert to an academy sooner rather than later but we need to undertake detailed work to confirm that this is so.”

It also states governors are giving serious consideration to an invitation to join the Harris Federation of Academies.

In September parents living in the area set up the campaign group Harris Into Beckenham.

Both they and Harris wanted the federation to take control of Kesley Park Sports College in Manor Way, Beckenham.

But a decision on Kelsey will not be made until consultation on the school’s future finishes on December 6.

Harris has nine academies across south London including three in Croydon which receive around 600 applications from families in Bromley each year.

A spokeswoman said many of these have to be turned down as the schools are oversubscribed.

Bromley Council’s portfolio holder for children and young people Councillor Ernest Noad said: “As a foundation school, the decision to convert to an academy or to join the Harris group of schools lies wholly with the governing body of Cator Park School.

“We fully support the intent shown by Cator Park School to undertake full consultation with parents as part of their decision making on its future, whether academy status is appropriate or its potential partnership with the Harris Federation.”

ACADEMIES - WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

It seems there isn’t a day that goes by without mention of schools becoming academies.

As with ‘the big society’ and ‘deficit reduction’, ‘academies’ is yet another one of the government’s buzz words.

But what are academies?

Academies are publicly funded independent schools, free from council and government control.

They can set their own pay for staff, control their curriculum and change term lengths.

Education secretary Michael Gove loves the idea so much, he has invited all schools to register an interest.

Mr Gove this week announced plans which could see underachieving schools become academies.