PARENTS fighting against their ‘happy’ school being forced to become an academy were disappointed a key meeting with their local MP was cancelled.

Parents at Gladstone Park Primary School in Sherrick Green Road, Willesden, are fighting the Department for Education’s (DfE) decision to force it to become a sponsored academy following an Ofsted report at the end of last year in which it was deemed ‘inadequate’.

Members of the Parent Action Group of Gladstone Park arranged to meet constituency MP Sarah Teather on Tuesday last week to discuss their concerns, but were disappointed the Lib Dem MP for Brent Central cancelled the meeting after she discovered it would be a public meeting.

Sarah Cox, who is part of the action group and whose grandson, Sean Bradley, is at the school, said: “Ms Teather emailed to cancel the meeting, claiming that she had only agreed to meet with the action group.”

In the email sent to the action group Ms Teather reponded: “It only came to my notice yesterday morning that the small private meeting had been advertised as a public meeting, inviting not just parents from the school but all manner of other local and national campaign groups and the press. This is not what I agreed to, and I strongly do not believe such a meeting to be in the best interests of the school at this stage.”

Ms Teather is trying to rearrange a meeting with the Parent’s Action Group.

Ward councillor Krupesh Hirani (Labour) received a reponse to a letter sent to the secretary of state for education Michael Gove, which said: “Ofsted has found that Gladstone Park Primary School has serious weaknesses, especially in Years 3 to 5. I have set out my clear expectation that the normal route to secure improvement in these circumstances will be conversion to an academy, with the support of a strong sponsor.” Mr Gove said officials will work closely with the school and council on this matter in the weeks to come.

Aslam Choudry, a Labour councillor on Brent Council and school governor said: “All four of my children went to the school as well as my grandchildren, and I have nothing but praise for it.”

Ms Cox added: “It’s a very, very happy school.”

Mr Choudry said that the issues raised by Ofsted had been addressed and improvements were being made.

The school declined to comment.