teachers staged a protest in Tavistock on Saturday, claiming West Devon parents should be told about plans they believed would 'privatise' Tavistock College. Members of the National Union of Teachers handed out leaflets to passers-by which listed 'ten things they don't tell you about trust schools'. But the college's principal hit back at the claims, saying the NUT seemed to be unclear about the approach being explored by the school. Tavistock College is one of six secondary schools in Devon which have put in bids as pathfinders for trust status. Dave Clinch, secretary of the Devon NUT, said the protest went 'extremely well'. He said: 'Generally it went very favourably, from the point of view that people weren't aware of what was going on and when they were told about the fact that parents might not get the chance to vote on the issue, they were quite alarmed. We also had a lot of people signing our petition.' Mr Clinch said the NUT's major concern was that it believed under trust status, Tavistock College could no longer be a true community school but under the control of people with private interests, who would then be able to influence the curriculum. 'That could be a faith group or a business, whereas now, if a business has a relationship with a school it's because they are involved by teachers who decide what the curriculum is. 'It's also a major attack on the idea of comprehensive education, not just because admissions policies could change but also because of the way schools could be segregated so they could be seen as being good or bad.' Mr Clinch said the NUT was 'very worried' that Tavistock College was investigating the idea of trust status and said parents had a right to have their say over the school's future. The NUT claims trust schools will not be democratically accountable, questions the fact they are able to set their own admissions policy and would have a detrimental effect on the pay and conditions of its teachers. It says allowing trust schools to own their land and buildings could lead to sports fields being sold off and claims private organisations involved in the trust could have a detrimental effect on the provision of education. Colin Eves, college principal, said the college has already published information about its investigations into trust status in its newspaper and an article had appeared in the Times in September. Mr Eves said: 'The NUT seems to be unclear about the approach we are exploring. 'The governing body has already taken the view that, should we become a trust school, the trust would only appoint a minority of governors. Parents would still need to make up one third of the governing body. 'The six Devon schools only agreed to explore the opportunities trust status may offer, providing they were able to remain community comprehensive schools and continue with existing admissions arrangements. We are clear that anything that might change this would be unacceptable to all.' He said because the majority of governors would still be elected by parents, staff or Devon County Council, trust schools would not have freedom to change pay and conditions of their teachers. Mr Eves also said Tavistock College would 'never' consider selling off playing fields. 'The governors have been working hard on a long-term improvement plan for the campus — on the contrary, the opportunity to increase it would be welcome.' Mr Eves said parents would have the opportunity to have their say if the college reached a point where a firm proposal was put forward. If this happened, there would be two stages of consultation, in February and March and in the summer. He said: 'The college has a responsibility to consider all options to improve opportunities for students. 'We have been working with Westden, we are also working with Plymouth City College and Marjons to strengthen the input from further and higher education. 'The last potential partner is the Japanese Embassy, to build on our flagship Japanese provision. 'I would be surprised if anyone were unhappy about strengthening our links with these organisations.' Mr Eves said if Tavistock College became a trust school, it would make 'absolutely no difference' to the curriculum: 'Why should we not look into something that may be of benefit to the school?' he said. 'We know there are things that could be better and this could be a way of making things better, but no decisions have been made about this yet.'
