Parents rage as hit squad enters failing faith school

A hit squad has been sent in to rescue a ground-breaking London faith school amid furious protests by parents.

The John Loughborough School in Haringey, founded by Seventh-day Adventists, was the first school from outside the traditional Christian denominations to get state subsidy under a policy later used by Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus to create their own taxpayer-funded faith schools.

But parents are furious that Haringey council has - with the Government's backing - sent in its own appointees to take over from headteacher June Alexis at a time of mounting concern that the school is in "meltdown".

The council has refused to confirm or deny claims that Dr Alexis has been suspended.

Her supporters have pinned banners to the school's railings declaring: "Hands off our school! Stop the victimisation now! We love our head Dr Alexis and will have no other."

The school is facing the prospect of a damning report from Ofsted after the education watchdog warned Dr Alexis last year that pupils' standards of achievement and behaviour were not good enough. Ofsted served a formal "notice to improve" on John Loughborough a year ago and the Evening Standard understands that senior inspectors have visited the school in recent weeks to see if it is making progress.

Ofsted's latest report is expected to be published in the next few weeks but the council decided to act before that and installed an interim executive board to take charge of the school at the end of last year.

A Haringey spokesman said: "Results for young people at John Loughborough School have been declining over recent years and this year it was the worst performing school in London. That could not be allowed to continue.

"The interests of pupils are, of course, of paramount importance. With the agreement of the Department for Children, Schools and Families, we have set up an interim executive board, [which] includes a number of experienced governors and nominees from the current governing body and the Seventhday Adventist community. This move is to improve leadership, standards achieved by the students and the quality of provision at the school so that the young people can enjoy better longer-term opportunities."

Haringey said it hoped the interim executive board would be able to withdraw and hand back self-government powers to the school by next January.

John Loughborough was private before it became the first Christian faith school from outside the Anglican and Catholic churches to receive state funding following the Government's decision in 1998 to expand the number and type of publicly subsidised faith schools.

The then education secretary David Blunkett had already approved the transfer of Islamia Primary in Brent to the public sector as Britain's first state Islamic school.

Most of John Loughborough's 300 pupils are black but less than half are practising Seventh-day Adventists.

Pastor Fergus Owusu-Boateng, of the Seventh-day Adventist Church based at the school, refused to discuss the situation. Dr Alexis could not be contacted for comment.