What options are left once Norwich’s last local authority secondary school turns academy?

A few months ago, the Department for Education ordered the Hewett School to shape up and academise. The proposed change came back in November following the decision from Ofsted to put the school into special measure. It still isn’t entirely clear whether the decision is final, but with a new headteacher in place and an independent firm hired to carry out a consultation about the plans, the wheels are definitely in motion. Should the plans to academise the school go through, it would mean that there would no longer by any secondary schools in Norwich operating under the local authority.

Lynsey White is a creative writing teacher at the Hewett, and her daughter Lucy was hoping to stick around when she starts her sixth form in September. Now, though, she’s not so sure. For the Norfolk Storytelling Project, Dave Hannant and Holly J. McDede wandered around Norfolk and Suffolk trying to understand what choices parents have when it comes to their children’s education.