The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has handed over a valuable new school site in Mortlake to Aspirations Academy Trust with no public consultation or competition.

We ask the Richmond Borough Council to consult local parents about who should run the new school, and hold an open competition between potential providers.

The new school site is worth tens of millions in monetary terms. For local parents is an invaluable opportunity to increase the choice and quality of state secondary school education in the Borough.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and local parents need to be involved in the process.

The Borough Council gave the site to Aspirations Academy Trust at the suggestion of the UK Department for Education. Aspirations Academy Trust had previously been promised a school site in Tower Hamlets, but this fell through. To resolve this problem, the school has been shifted to Mortlake – with no public consultation.

The Aspirations Academy Trust is associated with the Quaglia Institute. It applies the "aspirations research" of Florida-based Dr Russell Quaglia to UK secondary school education. Serious concerns were raised about the Trust by an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Observer in 2016.

The Aspirations Academy Trust may not be the provider that local parents want.

We request a transparent process to make sure that any new school in Richmond is run by a provider that parents want, in a way that is suitable to the area.

Note to media: If you would like to contact us, please email: mortlakeschoolpetition@gmail.com

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