To be shocked at the dispatches programme tonight about the abuse of funds by academies

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Just watched this on channel 4 tonight. Any teachers watched it and can comment?one of our local schools is shortly to become an academy and we have a child with special
Needs. Scary stuff and hard to believe they are getting away with it

I didn't know about this programme. Can't wait to catch up on it!

Oohh will catch up. Who was on it?

It's one of many reasons that I don't support turning schools into academies.

Teachers have been saying this for a long time.. Unfortunately those who tend to be more clued up (ie have the experience to know what things used to be like)... And they tend to be the ones who get pushed out.

Not seen the programme but I can tell you about an academy near here. Famous case, was in the national press.

Head master and the chief exec between them spent a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of pounds on all sorts of stuff. A jacuzzi for the headmasters garden was one item, a luxury large house in France which was meant to be a base for school trips but mainly seems to have been used as a private holiday home, wages for the headmasters son to have a job as some sort of staff member,,,,,he had a conviction for child sex images, lots of CDs, DVDs bought from Amazon for the headmaster.

I know people with kids at this school and while this was going on children were sharing textbooks as there wasn't enough money for sufficient books!

It went to court but somehow he was found not guilty. He admitted buying various stuff he shouldn't have but said it was a mistake, wrong credit card picked up, etc! Very sorry.

this is the case

Daily mail warning.

£60million was spent on improving the four schools in the federation!!

Financial director had no qualifications!

Chief exec was getting paid £200,000 a year plus all the dodgy personal purchasing on top.

The information isn't available for maintained schools- it is for academies.

Many of the historic cases of academy spending scandals were actually the same when they were maintained schools- the issues were only picked up by the EFA when they became academies.

Not saying this is at the case here as I haven't seen it seen the programme.

I'm not surprised. Lots of people within education have been trying to flag this up but nobody wanted to listen.

My BIL was Head of Year and subject at an academy. They made him redundant and hired a graduate teacher to cut the cost spent on his salary.

Not all academies though. We are an academy but not part of a massive chain. Very different story. Dd's school is part of the oasis chain but they have completely turned the school round and are really adhering to their philosophy of improving the area as well.

My friend's sister messaged me two weeks ago about an issue she had with the school decision to change how they do things in the Early Years. We got talking and she told me that there are no resources; literally! They are having to fund a lot of what they do themselves. Teachers do it all the time anyways (see something in a shop and imagine how lovely it would be in the classroom, smiley little faces and how easy it would make teaching etc, etc). But my friend was quite explicit with the lack of resources as well as telling me that she has no choice (except to quit) to even move around other associate schools within the chain even if it means a travel time of more than an hour each way. Teachers are 'deployed where necessary'.

But not all academies are like this. I know of one county where a seaside town primary school set up their own academy to stop the big companies from cashing in. Very successfully led by the HT too.
Also another seaside town further up the coast has a couple of schools ran by an academy. Both were RI (one Special Measures) for a long while so didn't really have much of an option (both also have high number of social deprivation, movement of pupils due to seasonal employment and 'looked after children'). However, one of them has changed their uniform and that is about it! Only the name of the school gives the clue that it is an academy.

Still, I wouldn't want to work for one. Too much distrust, no accountability for financial irregularities, funding issues and also the growing alarm that they will become selective as it is only the COUNCIL who are legally obliged to ensure children are educated. If all schools did become and academy (under Conservatives they WILL - schools ultimately fail on the stupidest of things) parents will find themselves having to bow down to schoo 'big-wigs' and those with SEN, low attainers and behavioural problems will fins themselves fighting for an education.
Sorry! Pessimistic but it is how I see things in the next 10 years.

Whoa!! A little bit of balance needed! There are absolutely SHOCKING abuse of public sector money uncovered in SOME academies - there are just as many in local authority schools. Having worked in both, it's actually more likely that academies will be caught as the EFA auditing procedures are far more stringent than the Dfe of LAs or LAs of their individual schools. In my area, last year an LA school paid for all staff to go to the races on an INSET day as "staff wellbeing" - the school wasn't sanctioned by the LA when they found out - just 'advised.' LA advisors are permanently organizing conferences in the most expensive hotels in the area and their staff staying over even though they live in the town - I could go on.
Yes there are corrupt HTs and academy board members in academy schools/chains and they need to be found out & prosecuted but let's be realistic here - these people were fleecing the system when it was LA controlled too. Bad apples in every sector.

OP you are right to be concerned about pupils with SEND.Academies are notorious for excluding vulnerable pupils

news.sky.com/story/academies-illegally-excluding-vulnerable-pupils-10340315

Again teachers having been trying to highlight this but have been dismissed. As PP has said, schools cannot/should not be run as businesses.

My Dd's school were asked in tribunal what had happened to the funding they recieved for her and the representative from the school couldnt answer! We never found out what had happened to that money and we de registered her before the school was given any more!

Havent watched the program but will tomorrow!

YABU to be shocked, as the various bits of info have been out there in newspapers etc for at least 2 or 3 years, however YADNBU to be furious and disgusted by the whole thing. It sucks. There is lots of info about various bits of the NHS on a similar line too, but no one seems to be wanting to take much notice of those either.

I met someone maybe in her early 30s recently who was working as an advisory head of department, one of two, across an academy chain, each school within which had its own head of department. Her timetable, by her own admission, was pretty light. So much so that she was able to take on both a team leader role and an examiner role for different exam boards. I was on my knees with workload as a head of English in a state school. Why there is now an extra layer of advisory HODs swanning round without teaching timetables is beyond me.

One of the major scandals currently developing is the number of academy chains which share SENCOs across several schools. It's those schools where it's near-impossible to get an EHC Plan, because there is no-one putting any sensible interventions in place so the schools can't prove that they've tried everything and failed. It's also those schools that have high proportions of exclusions amongst children with SEN, because unsurprisingly children with SEN whose needs aren't met are very easily manipulated to produce an excuse for excluding them. The system stinks.

YANBU I was shocked too. It was never about improving results and always about the government washing their hands of responsibility!

The effect on children with special needs is very worrying and totally immoral.

I've been harping on about this for years, but no one seems to listen. Schools are not a business, they should not need all the expensive office staff a business needs they need teachers to teach.

OP 'Can mumsnet not do something about this? It is outrageous that they are getting away with this.'

Not even the teaching unions seem to be able to do anything about this...

To the p9ster asking if mn can do anything, that boat sailed under cover darkness long ago. The education and adoption bill passed last year, basically says any academy deemed coasting can be forced to join a trust. Some schools jumped first and joined MATs (our school) despite assurances that we'd still be autonomous, we are already seeing changes being imposed. Las will control nothing. It's terrifying.

The government are hell bent on privatising schools and it seems impossible to stop.
Ever seen who has to be consulted if a school wants to convert to an academy?
Clue, not parents, teachers or students. I can't remember if governors were on the list or not.
Michael Rosen and the anti-academies alliance have been trying to raise awareness for ages.
I suspect the recent changes to SATS will all be part of the plan.

It was never about improving results

"When analysed against a range of Government indicators on attainment, a majority of the [academy] chains analysed still underperform the mainstream average on attainment for their disadvantaged pupils. "

From the Sutton Trust report on academy chains.

www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Chain-Effects-2015.pdf