To feel elated about the u turn on academies plan.. Ha!!

[Valentine2]

Finally!! Thanks a lot Mumsnet (MNHQ and members alike) for listening to us and thanks a lot for giving us a platform. I am happy. And thanks to everyone who put in efforts at that thread. Xxx

[Pico2]

I think most schools will heed the warning and make the conversion soon so that they can choose the form of academisation. Otherwise the process will be outside the governing body's control as it relies on the local authority and all of their schools. You'd have to have enormous faith in your local authority and other local schools staying on the right side of ofsted, not to plan now to become an academy. And if you want to get into a desirable MAT then you need to get in before they close their doors as some may have decided their optimum size.

[GingerIvy]

Yes, I know. Sorry for the picture of "the smug one."

[GingerIvy]

Note the wording on this. CHANGE THE PATH. Not CHANGE THE GOAL. Same goal, just going about it a different way. This is not a U turn.

[GingerIvy]

starryOne That's exactly what I thought. They'll use lower SATS scores to show the schools are all failing and demand they convert.

[Tanith]

Isn't George Osborne going to cop any flak at all? So much of his budget is being scrapped
I think it's an appalling demonstration of incompetence that he seemingly couldn't get anything right!

[rollonthesummer]

and for my next trick

[starry0ne]

I am left wondering too if the huge step in SATS is going to be used to prove schools are failing and that they need to be converted to academies..

[BoGrainger]

The turnaround was because of the non-support of the Tory backbenchers. Nothing to do with whether it was a good thing for education or not let's not kid ourselves,

[TwoLeftSocks]

I'm glad the blanket conversation won't be happening, however, that's going to be fairly catch-all-eventually legislation. At least it won't be everyone all at once though so schools/whole authorities might just get the support they need to do it properly.

I suspect they've already got a list, and I suspect our LA is fairly high up on it. All depends now on that they decide counts as failing.

[GingerIvy]

It just means that they'll force them to do so by other means. This isn't a turnaround, it's a side step.

[MuttonCadet]

The LA in Sheffield is so depleted that it simply unable to support schools, I expect this is the case for a lot of LAs.

[Lollylovesbones]

Read the small print. Any LEAs that are found to be 'wanting' will have all its schools forcibly converted.

I rather suspect lots of LEAs will be failing very soon...

Nothing's changed-they're just doing it via the back door.

Sadly I suspect this is true

[sheepcantdance]

This was posted on a up to date teaching FB page earlier today. Don't count chickens.

[meditrina]

"I just wish at least some of the people who have voted Tories last election are not regretting it."

In Scotland, the Tories came second in nearly every constituency at the general election, and now have come a mixture of first and second. So yes, people continue to vote Tory and will no doubt continue to do so. The Tory vote elsewhere did pretty much normally for elections during the term of a government.

There is nothing whatsoever regrettable in voting for the party of your choice, and no amount of bewailing and emotive language on line is changing RL behaviour.

Though perhaps MN wouldn't be MN if there weren't gratuitous anti-Tory comments (I mean the ones that crop up on totally random threads) and astroturfing so much of the time

[AuntieStella]

I think they've discovered, only after the announcement, that not all schools have the same legal ownership.

It might not even be legally possible to force a VA school to do anything it doesn't volunteer to do.

[Hassled]

As rollonthesummer said, read the small print. They can still force conversion if the local authority is failing, regardless of how good the actual school is.

[BG2015]

Great news!

[Valentine2]

so how dangerous can it be? For example, is there any place where we could find the stats on the failing schools so we kind of have an idea about the possible numbers? Yes it's a shitty situation regarding NHS. I just wish at least some of the people who have voted Tories last election are not regretting it.

[niddy]

Relieved! Delighted in fact!
Appreciate too it isn't the end though. As an NHS worker I'm all too aware of their ability to 'force failure' one way or another to 'justify' change, not for the greater good of non paying service users, or indeed privately funded patients (whose chemotherapy costs for instance are capped, although this won't ever be acknowledged publicly).
They seem to have a ruthless agenda to feed fat cats sadly at the cost of the majority of genuine people working with integrity.

[sunnydayinmay]

I am worried about the backdoor approach, but at least its not a straight blanket conversion. Probably along the lunes of, any LA with not better than average results is failing etc etc

[bigbuttons]

it was never going to happen anyway.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

What about schools that have already made the decision to become an academy?

[gingergenie]

Yay!!!
All we have do is to get them to pull the year 6 SATS, scrap universal credits and the new personal independence payments and we're on a winner!!!

[wibblywobbler]

One of my friends posted on FB that it isn't a full u-turn. That schools in Labour controlled councils may still be forced to become academies

[rollonthesummer]

Read the small print. Any LEAs that are found to be 'wanting' will have all its schools forcibly converted.


I rather suspect lots of LEAs will be failing very soon...

Nothing's changed-they're just doing it via the back door.