Behind The Headlines: 2012 - A year of academies?
THIS week a joint application was made by five “like minded” headteachers in Northampton to convert their primary schools into academies.
Judging by the major changes in education policy of the last two years, it should come as no surprise that we have seen an application from such a large group of schools in the first month of 2012.
Since becoming the Chron’s education reporter at the start of 2010 I have written dozens of stories featuring the word “academy” in relation to schools in Northampton. These have included the “old style” academies introduced by the Labour government where a sponsor was chosen to take over the running of a school which was deemed to be failing under local education authority control.
Recent examples in Northampton include the former Unity College becoming Malcolm Arnold Academy sponsored by the David Ross Foundation in September 2010 and Weston Favell School which became Weston Favell Academy sponsored by the Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust last September.
But after the new Government came into power, a new type of academy status was introduced by Education Secretary Michael Gove.
Following the election, Mr Gove wrote to all publicly-funded schools judged “outstanding” by Ofsted asking them to become academies.
The shift in policy was passed into law in July 2010 in the form of the Academies Act which was described by one education commentator at the time as “one of the most radical overhauls of schools in England for a generation”.
The response to the Education Secretary’s request was positive with 70 per cent of “outstanding” secondary schools, including Northampton School for Boys, expressing an interest within three weeks.
Throughout the next few months more schools in the Northampton area also became interested in taking academy status with the Government widening the application criteria to include schools judged “good” by Ofsted with “outstanding” features.
It was also made clear that if a school did not match the expected requirements to apply, but was in a trust partnership with one that did, it was still eligible to become an academy.
This rule was used to allow Sponne School, which is in a foundation trust with Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary School, to gain academy status in March 2011 despite the fact it is only rated “satisfactory” by Ofsted.
Following 10 more applications from schools with “outstanding” features in 2011, including Caroline Chisholm School, Moulton School and Campion School, there are currently 13 schools in Northamptonshire that have converted to academies.
The majority of the new academies in the county are secondary schools but there have also been 14 applications for academy status by primary schools in Northamptonshire which are pending Department for Education approval.
This week it emerged that headteachers of Abington Vale, Lings, Headlands, Ecton Brook and Weston Favell C of E primary schools had agreed to form an “academy structure” which involves setting up a new trust to oversee the running of all five schools.
This particular bid is interesting in a number of ways, the first of which is the diverse nature of the five schools.
The bid was made possible by the Ofsted “outstanding” ratings of Abington Vale and Weston Favell’s “good with outstanding features”.
Headlands and Ecton Brook are rated “satisfactory” while Lings is currently in special measures and, although now improving under new headteacher Leigh Wolmarans, would have been one of the last schools in Northampton Michael Gove had in mind for the new-style academy status.
However, the headteachers see their diversity as a strength with Abington Vale headteacher Mark Currell stating they share the “same ethos, passion, vision and drive to provide the very best for all children”.
Mr Currell said he thought that the academy structure of schools was the best way of replacing the local authority support services.
With the huge cutbacks at County Hall decimating the school improvement team, education chiefs have publicly stated they will no longer provide the services needed to provide the safety net for schools.
The key question headteachers are now asking themselves is “where can I now find the support services needed to help improve my school?”
The headteachers of Abington Vale, Headlands, Ecton Brook, Weston Favell C of E and Lings primary schools believe the answer lies in grouping together.
In a climate when public money is extremely scarce, the £25,000 grant to cover the cost of each school converting to academy status will certainly play a part in a headteacher’s decision to go ahead with the switch.
But opposition to the change can often be expressed by staff at the school worried about any changes that may occur when they move from being employed by the county council to a new academy trust.
This has been seen at The Duston School where the local branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) arranged a protest after union secretary Pat Markey expressed fears he might lose time to complete union work under the terms of his new contract if the school became an academy.
No matter what option headteachers decide to take, it seems the days of schools being under local authority control are numbered.
Some schools in the county, particularly secondary schools, have decided it is best to go down the academy route alone, while others such as Cedar Road Primary School in Northampton have voluntarily chosen to be taken over by an outside sponsor, in this case the David Ross Foundation.
The trickle of academy applications is now starting to turn into a steady drip. Last year, neighbouring local authority, Lincolnshire County Council, advised all its schools to become academies as it could no longer afford to run the ones who hadn’t converted.
The Education Secretary believes converting to academy status will lead to a rise in education standards in all schools.
However, the removal of the local education authority safety net has left all headteachers with important, far-reaching decisions about the future direction of their schools.
The big unanswered question is, what happens if an academy status school goes wrong?
I sincerely hope I don’t have to report on that potentially disastrous situation happening in any of the schools in Northamptonshire.
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Shalom
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 02:59 PMThe war against LEA's, shows no sign of being called off. But, just why has government got it in for them ? It is apparent , with these primary schools federating together, that heads WANT the sort of support that LEA's offer! Talk about reinventing the wheel !
GrahamBurns
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 09:38 AMWhen a PFI school converts to an academy, the Council will continue to be part of the PFI Agreement and will be funded by the DfE to assist in making the unitary charge payments. The Academy will make the same financial contribution for its FM services to the Council as it does when a maintained school. So far nationally there have been over 20 PFI schools which have become academies, and many more are waiting in the wings. The process has been slow, but following recent changes in the Education Act 2011, the process should now be quicker. The process of PFI conversion will add about another 3 months to the conversion process
mouk
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:12 PMThe big unanswered question is, What happens with bthe PFI schools and their funding as part of the academy bid?
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