Race row as Tory town tells Gove super-head: We don't want your inner-city pupils here

Top-performing Durand Academy in Stockwell wants to open boarding school in Stedham, West Sussex



But neighbours aghast and say ethnic minority students will cause problems

They fear influx of weapons and think local forest will be turned into a 'sexual volcano'



But education secretary Michael Gove hits back and slams them for blocking 'inspirational' project

Education Secretary Michael Gove last night stepped into a bitter race row raging over an inner-city school’s plan to open its own boarding school in an affluent rural area.

The top-performing Durand Academy in Stockwell, near Brixton, South London, wants to transport 600 youngsters to a site with stunning views over the South Downs every Monday morning for lessons and bring them back on Friday evenings, free of charge.

It says the scheme will provide them with ‘an Eton-style experience’ and help keep pupils safe from drugs and knife crime.

Row: A disused school in the town of Stedham, West Sussex, is earmarked to be filled with boarders from London's Durand Academy, causing fury among residents who fear an influx of ethnic pupils will cause social problems

Apple of his eye: The academy, in Stockwell, is one of the best in London and is a favourite of education secretary Michael Gove

But the plan has been fiercely criticised by people living near the site – a disused boarding school in the quiet village of Stedham, West Sussex. They have raised concerns about the number of black and Asian students and claimed that youngsters would need to be searched daily for drugs and weapons.

They have also accused Durand’s ‘super-head’ Greg Martin – who has been described as a ‘hero’ by Mr Gove – of ‘spoiling a tranquil place’ by ‘bringing Brixton to the countryside’.

But last night Mr Gove's spokesman hit back and attacked those ‘trying to obstruct an inspirational project’.

His intervention came after a local Tory county councillor expressed fears about the number of ethnic minority students who would attend the school.

John Cherry, 73, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Ninety-seven per cent of pupils will be black or Asian. It depends what type of Asian. If they’re Chinese they’ll rise to the top. If they’re Indian they’ll rise to the top. If they’re Pakistani they won’t.

‘There are certain nationalities where hard work is highly valued. There are certain nationalities where they are uncertain what this hard work is all about.

‘If the children are not allowed out of the site then it will make them want to escape into the forest – it will be a sexual volcano.

‘Has anyone asked whether these children want to be plucked from their natural surroundings? They have never done boarding before, so they won’t know how it works.

Shock: Durand Academy chief Greg Martin has described the attitude of residents as 'shocking' but has vowed to press on with the scheme

‘The trauma of taking the children out of their natural surroundings is going to be considerable.’

He added: ‘Stockwell is a coloured area – I have no problem with that. To be honest, I would far rather Durand took over a secondary school in London rather than shoving everybody here.’

Anne Reynolds, chairman of a steering group which has been set up in the area to fight the plans, also questioned whether inner-city children would feel comfortable in such a rural environment.

She said: ‘It might raise tensions in their community. Their peers might say, “Why have you been chosen to go to a special, smart school in West Sussex but I haven’t?”

‘The whole thing is a massive experiment and I think it will be disastrous. There’s no evidence it will increase their attainment levels. When you’re a teenager, isn’t it too late to start appreciating the countryside? I don’t know if it’s the right environment.’

At a public meeting in the nearby village of Milland, where actor Hugh Bonneville has a home, one unnamed resident said: ‘You must be wary because you are talking about students who will have to be searched daily for weapons and knives.’ Chichester MP Andrew Tyrie is also ‘extremely unhappy’ with the way the project has been handled and has written to Mr Gove asking him to rethink the idea.

Mr Martin, Durand’s director of education, last night described some of the comments from residents as ‘shocking’ but vowed to press on with the scheme. It is hoped the boarding school will open next year.

He said: I’ve heard a few comments made about pupils escaping and I said I’m not building a prison.

‘It’s sad but it makes us want to fight harder for it, and when this councillor sees the hard work and commitment from ethnic minorities I’m sure he will change his tune.

‘At the moment, so many children are leaving our school well educated only to be utterly failed by the secondary system.

‘We want to get pupils away from hanging around the streets of Brixton and Stockwell, where we have stabbings and a constant threat of trouble. It will be very hard to maintain a negative view when you see students working hard and contributing. You will soon realise these are frankly nothing more than baseless prejudices.’

A spokesman for Mr Gove said: ‘Durand has a superb record of helping some of our most disadvantaged pupils achieve brilliant results thanks to a rigorous curriculum, great teaching and sky-high expectations for all pupils.

‘Durand’s boarding school is a bold experiment and a chance to give inner-city youngsters a truly world-class education.’

And leading black Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng urged locals to drop their opposition to the plan. Mr Kwarteng, whose parents came to Britain from Ghana and who was educated at Eton, said: ‘This school is a very good idea.





‘Obviously, the locals will have some concerns about it, but we have to give these children the chance to get a good education and a well-run boarding school in the English countryside is a perfect way to do that.

Opposition: Local Tory councillor John Cherry is aghast at Durand's plans to move to West Sussex

‘If the school is a success, as I am sure it will be, it will be a great credit to the pupils, teachers and the local community itself. When that happens everyone will wonder what all the fuss was about.’

Durand is a primary school that has been rated as outstanding by schools watchdog Ofsted. But staff and governors are so concerned about standards at local secondary schools that they used the proceeds from Durand’s leisure and student accommodation business to buy St Cuthman’s School, a Grade II listed building, for £3.4 million in 2010. They want to open it as a boarding school for pupils aged 13 to 19.

Mr Martin has said the idea stemmed from a desire to keep youngsters away from the ‘stabbings and constant threat of trouble’ in South London.

It secured a £17 million handout from the Government to help finance the project.

As an academy, Durand is outside local authority control, meaning it runs its own budgets and can even change the length of terms and the school day.

St Cuthman’s, which occupies 20 acres in an area of outstanding natural beauty, used to be run by the local county council for children with special needs but closed in 2004 and has remained empty since.