HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition against plans to take Smithills School out of local authority control.

Teachers’ unions and those representing other staff in schools are fighting plans to transform Smithills School into an academy — a publicly funded independent school free from local authority control and run by ConcertEd, a team of educational consultants.

They are angry they have banned from making one final representation to the governing body before a decision is made at the end of this week.

Andrea Egan from Unison said: “We collected the signatures in a limited period of time, and people did not know that Smithills School could become an academy.

“We want the school to extend the consultation period.”

Phil Travis from Unison added: “People were shocked when they heard that Smithills School was to become an academy.

“When we told them, they wanted to sign the petition.”

Julia Simpkins, secretary of the Bolton National Union of Teachers, said: “We want people to make an informed decision about the plans, some don’t know about the proposals or don’t understand what they mean.

“Not allowing us to make representation at the governors meeting indicates what they think of the consultation and that they have already made up their minds.”

Union are concerned that flexibility in the curriculum could lead to the introduction of qualifications which “look good on paper but have no real value”.

They are also worried about admissions policies and that essential support services will be “bought in”.

Martin McLoughlin, who has grandchildren at the school and was one of more than 400 people to sign the petition, said: “If the governing body doesn’t think it can improve the school it should step down, not bring an outside sponsor in.”

Cllr John Walsh, who sits on the governing body, insisted that admissions policies would not change and that the school currently buys in essential services from the local authority, which is would continue to do so.

He said: “There would be a focus on core subjects, and the flexibility in the curriculum allows us to meet the interests of the pupils.

“The unions have presented to the full meeting of governors.”