Academies Enterprise Trust (AET)

[riddlesgalore]

This multiple academy trust (AET) is it seems interested in taking over the local secondary school that my children attend. They say they have a good track record of school inmprovement in other areas - is this true? Does anyone have any information?

Warwick, I can't answer the majority of that. No new head. Yes to new governors, but we'd had an IEB whilst in SM so that would have happened anyway. No idea about the rest - as I say, the impact on me as a classroom teacher has been minimal.

Academies Enterprise trust has received warning letters from DFE re the performance of some of their academies. Is the DFE finally getting to grips with chain sponsors who have been letting their students and parents down over many years. Should academy chains such as the AET be subjected to Ofsted inspections in the same way that LA's are, would their failings have been spotted earlier saving many hundreds of students from suffering a poor education.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24868614

AET is advertising for a commercial partner in a joint venture to procure all non-teaching staff and services, in which it will have a majority stake. It gives headteachers much less autonomy than in maintained schools and could be profit-making. See:

news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/01/31/england-39-s-biggest-academy-chain-to-bring-in-private-sector-to-run-schools.aspx

www.unison.org.uk/news/unprecedented-school-privatisation-would-put-profits-before-pupils

Now that e-act have had 10 academies removed from their control, maybe the DFE will finally tackle the largest chain (AET).

Warwick - you keep coming back to this thread. What's your issue with AET?

Eviltwins - I think that given their poor educational performance, the fact that the DFE have been critical of them awarding service and project contracts to their own directors, trust members and other staff and the manner in which they now appear to be trying to take even more control way from academy head teachers, that is self explanatory. Academy chains need to be Ofsted inspected in order to encourage transparency and accountability. I could ask why you defend them, but will not as that is your right.

It's just that I haven't seen you getting up in arms about E-Act, Harris, Oasis or any of the other chains.

I "defend" then because I work in one of their academies. Not by choice, I suppose, because I worked at the school before it was taken over by AET. Please remember that all schools live and die by reputation. Not all AET academies are academically poor and dubiously managed. Constant criticism, where it is not necessarily warranted, can cause damage. My school is doing very well now, and as I have said before on this thread, I have seen nothing detrimental since AET came in. They are more up-front about changes than the LA ever were.

Eviltwins - I get the impression that nothing has changed at your school since the AET took over, the question then is why did they become involved if your academy is only just another source of revenue for them. I criticise AET mainly because it is on record that they have awarded contracts to suppliers connected to individuals who are past and present employees, directors or trust members. This practise although legal is in the eyes of many unsavoury, particularly as the end result isn't any noticeable increase in performance over that achieved by other schools/academies not run by chains. I don't think the intention of state education is wealth making for individuals. I'm sure that you wouldn't maintain that management and staff at your school weren't capable of achieving the same result without AET input as converter academies have proved.

Finally these issues are being looked into.

www.accountancylive.com/dfe-slammed-over-related-party-payments-academies

Finally the powers that be are recognising the self serving nature of the AET.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-notice-to-improve-academies-enterprise-trust

www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/not-good-enough-ofsted-attacks-academy-chain-9704784.html

If you value your child's welfare and education DO NOT send them to an AET school. Their modus operandi is to neglect any oversight until there is a major problem, upon which they send in shadowy figures from senior management to throw money around until the problem goes away and there is no danger of it getting into the press. Then they bugger off again and it is back to barely-managed neglect.

All the good teachers I have spoken to say they would never work at an AET school.