So what happens when a school becomes an academy

[funtimefrank]

In the process of submitting secondary applications.

We have one super successful academy which on paper looks great. Great facilities, great gcse results. Zero disruption policy and lots of extra curricular stuff.

One bog standard rural comp. needs improvement ofstead. But small, good pastoral support and good sports facilities.

Rumour has it school 2 is likely to become an academy in the next couple of years but I'm not sure what this would mean. School A was crappy 5 years ago pre academy status so would this mean school b is likely to improve with some money chucked around it?

Thing is school A slightly gives me the creeps (lots about 'exceptional' and 'Russell Group' and very little about being happy on the virtual open day). But I feel I should apply because it's great academically (dds are fairly but not stunningly bright).

If the transition to an academy means school b will pick up maybe it's worth more consideration.

Speaking from bitter experience, it all goes to shit.
Everything that isn't maths, English or science is cut back to the bone. Teachers who don't do the preferred subject or whose face doesn't fit (are experienced so cost more) are pushed out ( at ours it was noticeably the women too!) and the rules get more and more petty, and the punishments more and more stringent all the time. Pastoral care falls by the wayside.
I cannot wait for the day my youngest leaves!
The same trust took over the only viable alternative school we could have moved out dc to, so we are stuck, but the difference between when DD was there and my DSs at the Academy is heartbreaking.

Much depends on the Academy chain - is it the same as the other school?

Much more branding - new name, new logo, new motto.
Possibly new headteacher. This may be for better or worse.

New (expensive) uniform.
Removal of the requirement for teachers to be qualified.

(Most other changes you wouldn't necessarily notice, like changed make up of the governing body, different funding streams.)

The process of becoming an academy is often a distraction itself. Also teachers will be leaving and there will be changes in SLT and new uniform.

Our local schools all formed an Academy Trust. Very little changed. No extra funding as not part of a fancy Academy chain. More collaborative working between the schools, some economies of scale. Many parents probably aren’t even aware that the school is part of an Academy Trust!

Another vote for all goes to the bin. IME they go down immediately... but can recover in 2 or 3 years.

From what I have seen, you will see the downside if you are in the stronger school of the academy group, but can see an improvement if you are in the weakest one.

Oh yes, they always smarten you the uniform to make themselves look more “respectable” at the expense of families that are already struggling to cover the expense of trousers and a pair of sweatshirts.

Awful, in my experience.

If you have any chance to avoid an academy I'd do it based on my experience. Doubly so if the child has any additional needs. Our local secondary became an academy when DS1 was in year 9 and utterly failed him. The rigid rules and consequences just didn't meet the needs of a pupil with ASD. I'm not talking about allowing him to do as he liked, more minor things like sensory issues with clothes and his issues around executive functioning ( no electronic devices meant he couldn't use alarms or planning apps to help and he struggled to use a paper diary.) They weren't willing/able to listen to any concerns I had, the shutters just came down and it was a "computer says no" type response every time. And staff morale was rock bottom (quite a few left and ended up as colleagues at the college where I worked at the time). But they had a sparkly new scheme of decoration and uniform . I was unable to get DS1 to an alternative school but now I have a car and DS2 is already going out of catchment as the same chain took over the juniors too and I wouldn't send him there. It was another school or find a way to home educate. If the second school also becomes an academy you have a dilemma and probably word of mouth is your best bet if you know who will be running it. Google may throw out some reviews.

Gulp.

I suspect it would be the same chain as school A as they already share a 6th form.

Having done a bit more research last night I suspect we'll have to suck it up and go to school B anyway as A is over subscribed and we are closer to B.

I know people with kids at B who are happy enough and DDs want to go to B (not least because academy A makes them wear a kilt ).

No point in avoiding, by the time your child leaves I expect most if not all schools will be an academy.

If it is the same chain then school B may adopt the kilt too!

Not all academy chains are the same. In my experience, nothing really noticeably changed for the everyday running of the school, teaching staff same, uniform same, etc, but in the hierarchy of the chain, people who were previously in SLT roles were given fancy-schmancy titles "executive ceo" "director of such and such" and with it, probably given nice salaries, which, unfortunately, lead to a slight level of underfunding for everyone else...
Inevitably, most schools will be expected to either join an academy trust or one will be provided to them by the government. Difficult to avoid an academy nowadays. In my area, every single secondary school is part of a trust.

Not recognising the scenarios on here at all.
In the case of DC's school there was very little change on a day to day basis and several positive benefits in terms of closer links with other schools in the academy chain/ sharing of resources etc.

Every single secondary school in my town is an academy; I didn't even realise that non academy secondaries still existed!

It definitely depends on the chain and how carefully/ how much control the school has had in picking one that fits with its ethos and what the families need.
My school has become an academy. As a SLT we looked carefully at each chain and chose one that fitted our beliefs but we were lucky to have been in the position of being able to choose. Many schools aren’t.

Our trust is very onboard with our focus on social, emotional and mental health. The chain just down the road ate very results focussed.
Ours is quite hands off and let’s us make many of the day to day decisions. At the other, every school does exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. E.g 9:30 is mental maths time in every class, in every one if their schools.

In my experience not a good thing. They become army camps with teachers patrolling the grounds with walkie talkies at break time.

All the secondary schools round me are academies. We saw no change in ours when it chose to convert.
I think there would be a difference if taken over by Oasis or Harris or another 'big' chain.

Also speaking from bitter experience....every downside already mentioned X 100.
Most other changes you wouldn’t notice, like changed make up of the governing body
But if you are in a position to (or bother to find out), you can look forward to the new board of trustees, as they are known, miraculously being made up of either new or current members of staff who will toe whatever line the head wants them to and be totally averse to the ‘critical friend’ role, someone with links to the shop supplying the inevitable expensive new uniform, someone who is an accountant and can conveniently offer expensive accountancy services to the new MAT/Academy, someone who can offer expensive legal services because they’re a solicitor, someone who is (despite having no background in education whatsoever) just embarking on a new Educational Services company that can charge you for their costly advice and you can also look forward to them all passing a new edict removing the positions reserved previously for parent governors. Yes, this happened.

I went to a bog standard comp that became an academy and now I work there.

Lots of changes but the behaviour and results are incredible since I was a student there. Lots of emphasis on safeguarding so staff roaming with walkie-talkies to deal with things, no more disruption for students because of 1 who can't behave, investment in the school and dedicated subject teachers. Yes the uniform is different (and more expensive), yes there seems to be lots of petty rules regarding said uniform but it's raised standards across the board which has benefited students and the local community alike.