To ask your views/experiences of Academy schools (Primary)

[INeedSomeSun]

I am a school governor and our school is going through the consultation period for Academy status.

I am a new governor so missed the initial info when the proposal was put forward, although I have read all the documents to catch-up.

The main advantages are ability to control the finances & curriculum.
Staff are concerned about their future pensions and contracts.

It is a big responsibility and I want to be confident that I am making the right decision. The 'expert' is focussing on the benefits and I know that MNetters will tell me the truth!

So parents, teachers, staff at Academy schools what are the benefits & disadvantages? What questions should I ask at the next meeting?

Btw our school is outstanding and the head has applied for Academy status

Academy status allows the school governors/ head/ investors to control everything. Staff, wages, contracts, curriculum, resources, spending. They are part of the government's quest to privatise the education system.
Not good. Teachers have little protection/ few rights.

fewer rights.

It becomes even more of a statistical box ticking exercise.

It is much easier to get rid of useless teachers.

Academies do not have to follow the curriculum

It is much easier to get rid of useless teachers.
It is also much easier for unscrupulous headteachers to rule with an iron fist and bully teachers. Do as they say or go.

The 'expert' is focussing on the benefits
Is 'the expert' the Headteacher by any chance?
It will be his/her little empire if Academy status is granted.
He/ she will be able to join forces with all sorts of private investors, he/she will not need to abide by local authority regulations. Staff are not protected by the local authority conditions of service. Not to mention the curriculum/ finances.
A lot of control in one person's hands (and his /her team of governors?) How much say do the governors have in anything at present?

My children go to a primary Academy. For my NT ds1 and dd, it's been fantastic. Great resources, nice environment, I really like how they're exploring the curriculum.

For my SEN ds2, however, it's been pretty awful. They have one 'special class' in the whole school (reception to Y6, two classes per year) and that's just for the Y3 children who needed to repeat some Y2 work. My son was in that class last year but since he's met all his targets with the extra support they gave him, they've plonked him back in a mainstream class. He's not ready for mainstream class yet, but they will not put up the money to have a class or at least some age-appropriate SEN provision for each year. I've gathered from talking to other parents that children with SEN in older years have been gradually shuffled off to other schools 'in order to protect their high achieving SATS scores' .

the school where my DS3 was at nursery went academy in the first wave and it changed overnight - name, uniform (and insisted even nursery children had to wear it) and I didn't like the atmosphere. The primary school where all 3 DSs go went academy a couple of years later and it all passed through very quietly. There were no obvious changes at first and I have to say the only changes I have seem is the change in music - in stead of using the LEA music services, they have employed their own music teachers which has been great but I do feel a bit sad for the LEA services as they are nearly going down the pan (although to be fair, there were probably going to do that anyway due to govt cuts)