Primary school wanting to become an academy - good idea or not?

[Grockle]

I should know about this but I don't... DS's school have sent home lots of propaganda information about why they should become an academy and they want parent's opinions. What are the pros and cons?

I know they'll be responsible for their own budget and staff will be employed by the school rather than the LA. But what does it mean for DS?

Anyone?

Read "School Wars" by Melissa Benn if you want the alternative viewpoint.

Every school will be different.

The main change is that an Academy ceases to be a school in the LEA. That means it is not entitled to, and will not receive, any support from the LEA, unless it chooses to buy it, which it might do.

Following on from that the Academy gets more money, to spend as it wishes.
This money is (in principle) the money that would have been spent by the LEA on support for the school. Working out the details is not straightforward and the amount of extra money academies will get is not yet clear.

My own view, on purely pragmatic grounds is that a school should not convert to being an academy unless it can demonstrate a clear benefit, and that for most schools this would be difficult.

Others object strongly to academies for other reasons, and I am sure one of them will be along in a minute (!)

www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=35c6d77c83e12bdb237388d474ae7660&eu=DCAUIIZd2ZEBJAwdMTMngg#!/groups/276114265773841/
That's the facebook page of 'Save Downhills School'

antiacademies.org.uk/
and that's about their campaign

Downhills Primary, along with other improving primaries in Haringey, are under threat of being forced to become a sponsored academy against the wishes of the governing body, staff, parents and local community.

This is a different situation to the OP - parents at these schools don't have the luxury of anyone being interested in their opinions.

That's true Rosebud, but how long til they're all forced?

Thank you - I will look at the link and the book. The school have been very vague about the benefits, other than there will be some. They are currently an outstanding school and just state that they'll only be able to remain outstanding if they manage their own budget. They say they will still get support from the LA for SEN (which is irrelevant for DS but still important to the school as a whole, I think)

'Outstanding' schools that chose to convert and remain doing well are, I imagine, free from the clutches of the academy chains for the moment.

The most important thing about the school is the Headteacher.

If you like and trust the HT, then whether or not the school is an academy is irrelevant.

And the converse is also true - if you don't like or trust the HT whether or not the school is an academy is also irrelevant.

There was an interesting thread here a couple of days ago about an Academy that was put into Special Measures. Normally when that happens the LA would swoop in and there would be all sorts of extra monitoring and intervention, and possibly money - but when it's an Academy, what would happen? Who guards the guards? It's workable as long as the school remains Good or Outstanding, but when or if things slip, and if the Leadership Team and the Governing Body aren't doing their jobs effectively, who's there to manage the change? I don't know the answer.

The thread is still going; it's here..

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/1401212-DS-school-in-special-measures

You are not alone in not knowing the answer although, given that academies are going into special measures and will continue to do so at a rate of knots with the new Ofsted framework (oh, and the newer one that was announced 2 weeks after the older new one came in, of course!), I hope that someone in the DfE has some answers very soon.

The headteacher is ok - a bit scary & known for being a bit of a dragon. I know staff are wary of her and she rules with an iron rod but she seems to do a good job and the school is generally a happy place.

It's very difficult to know what will happen especially as Hassled mentioned about Osted changing the frameworks and expectations. Not a good time in education.

My school converted to an academy and nothing really changed except the letterhead. So far anyway. Who knows what the future holds. And that's the problem, because academies are new, untested. They could change a lot if they wanted to. Even if you trust the current head, they won't be there forever.

I think it depends on whether you trust the Governors and believe they can do a good job. If they become an Academy they may sack the Head straight away anyway! (or not, if the Head is in support of the Academy status, and the Governors support the Head).

An Academy can run it's own Admissions and set criteria. Some have blatently set criteria which enable them to massage the catchment and manipulate the intake, and use this as a method to raise achievement statistics. (some do this by naming feeder schools, or admissions by lottery, or naming a geographical catchment, or introducing up to 15% of the intake on scholarships, for example). Have a look at a few local authorties schools on the Department for Education website where you can see the proportion of Free School meals for each school - many academies, foundation schools, faith schools and free schools have a lower ratio of FSM than other schools in the area - all these schools are able to set their own admissions criteria.

Academies can exclude kids at will, and set their own contractual terms for teachers..

You may or may not agree with or support these factors, but the Governors should be able to tell you exactly what they plan as an Academy, so that you can work out whether you support the idea or not.

Ask specific questions such as what would the admissions criteria be, would the policy on discipline and exclusion remain the same. Get all the answers to this minuted in a meeting between parents and governors.