Andy Park is a well respected and well liked head. Chorlton High like Oakwood and Wilbraham before them have a great pedigree. Make the right choice Andy and your governing body - RESIST and be brave enough to say NO.

Converting to an academy is no panacea to cure the ills of Mr Gove. School’s that rush to convert will be damaging the morale of the school staff and will be unsettling to the school community. The jury is still out as to whether these conversions in general will improve education standards overall and once a school converts there will be no going back.

Be aware that talk of consultation in all academy conversions mostly misleading. In many conversions stakeholders will be consulted but after the academy order has been made. In essence consultation can be futile.

If Chorlton were to consult with all of its parents and ninety nine were against conversion it would still be up to the Governing Body to overrule. Forced conversion is not a democratic process.

Lastly I hope that the school has gathered the views of all of the staff on the issue of conversion to academy status in a secret, independently overseen, transparent ballot on the question of support or opposition to the proposal to convert to an academy.

Karen Bell