Feel like academies taking over the city.

[mam29]

Im all for choice-really I am.

Bristol has one of the early academies introduced by labour a tough inner city comp in mixed ethnic area.

Since then especially last 3years if feels every ones turning into academies.

But this last 2years its now spread to primaries.

bristol has huge shortage of primary places.
but from what I can see so far the new academies not always set up in areas of need or they just converted not so good primaries with same sit, buildings and intake.Maybe with slightly posher name.

There are some good academies but they were good lea schools or independant before being converted.

The majority were sink schools no one wanted to go too, some rebuilt as shiny beacons of hope, posher uniforms , posher names.

But knowing reputation of school before
where it is
and seeing not so good exam results still.

I still don't want my kids to go to them.

2schools working together as academies just few miles down road achieving vastly different result as ones in more affluent area.

www.thisisbristol.co.uk/school-ndash-lots-changes/story-16825727-detail/story.html

Local rag usual crap story of ho every things turning to academies and how great is is.

wondering if there be any la schools left.

bristol mainly split into 2la

bristol-poor performing la in uk, serious schools shortage.
south gloustershire-people travel from bristol to go schools here but less funding per pupil than bristol.

The city also borders north somerset and bath and north east somerset so many bristol la kids bus out if they can.

We have a serious shortages of primary palaces which fear in few years time will lead to shortages in secondry.

we have a large and thriving independant sector think 2nd biggest outside London.

Travel-is a nightmare around Bristol.

Im just baffled why a school cant be good and be under la control?
Or that people seem to be drawn towards shiny new super primaries and image.

surly class sizes, teaching staff and resources count for something.

is its just rebranding or will academies raise standards

its seems to be we have about 5-8 ell performing oversubscribed secondrys then all the rest are just huge waste of money and forgotton.

we currently have 1 free school senior with applications for 2more.

whats difference in free school and an academy?

existing parents -when school coverts I take it they then have to go out and buy a whole new set of uniform.

Personally such is the reputation of Bristol that I wouldn't want to move there. As unlike most areas it is the whole area that has such a reputation, then as an outsider I would think it must be the LA that is the problem. But it is hardto change an LA, so the government has opted to set schools free.

Not that I'm a fan necessarily of free schools or academies. Free schools should also be able to provide more school places quickly.

I have a vague idea that the problems with education in Bristol started with the abolition of grammar schools. A lot of the grammar schools simply became independent schools taking the middle class parents with them. The remaining state schools suffered from poorer intake and the independent sector grew and grew as advantaged parents refused to send their kids to the state schools. So they got worse, and the situation became self-perpetuating. Many parents who would otherwise send their kids to state schools go private in Bristol, stretching the finances to do so (hence the recession leading to some of the independent schools being forced to become academies).

For the rest, state schools that don't get results are forced to become sponsored academies and Bristol schools don't get the results. Any remaining schools look at the way the wind is blowing and jump ship too, while there are still financial incentives.

Not enough good head teachers in Bristol? I really don't see why a good head teacher wouldn't be capable of producing a good school with or without a local authority, but a bad head teacher definitely needs lots of support... Turning schools into academies does not increase the supply of good head teachers. If even teachers and head teachers would rather work in schools outside of Bristol, or in the huge selection of private schools on offer...
Too many people opting out of schools in Bristol, rather than fighting to improve them?
Too many people wanting to set up schools to suit themselves, not the needs of the local community?
Too much of a rich/poor divide, with those who can avoiding those who can't and those who don't care like the plague?
The academy system appears to be designed around the philosophy that you get what you "deserve" and if you don't have the time, confidence, money or power to get what you want, then you don't deserve it and will be assumed not to have wanted it or cared about it, anyway...

I can see why a school would decide to become an academy to be free of LA control if the LA has a poor reputation and their experience of them has been bad.

What it will feel like to be under central government control instead remains to be seen.

So many posters talk about schools as if they are separate entities from the children who go to them or the communities they serve.

They blame the teachers, they blame the LEA. The fact is a school is the people who make it up - the children, the families, the community. The teachers are a small part of that. A school is therefore only as ?good" as the children who attend it. Its ethos and culture is determined by those who go there.

Changing names, changing status to "academy" does not change the school. It will still have the same kids in it. Where I live it is very similar. Many of the old sink schools have changed names and become academies but they are still serving the same catchment. Even the primary school I took my DS out of has become an academy. I am not under any illusion that it has changed overnight as a result of this.

It is current government policy to make all schools academies. Its new clothes for an old system. Nothing changes.

No, that's wrong. A school is not the children who frequent it. A school is a curriculum, the infrastructure to support that curriculum and its teachers and their skills.

The pupil body is just that - separate.

Who gets the results? The kids sitting the exams, no one else. If the kids are disadvantaged, then so is the school in the results stakes. There is only so much a school can make up for.

I live on outskirts so not under bristol la m we have range of decent secondry schools but the ones that active best sat,s have tight catchment area and oversubscribed.

Up until few years ago most would not have even considered academy format as was just sink schools, new building another name.

But then colston girls, bristol cathedral turned into state academies they oversubscribed.

Closer to home city technology campus has turned into john cabot academy.

The ridings -again well performing school is now huge academy twinned with nearby sate school thats doing badly yet they same federation, varying results and huge pupil numbers.

Up until recently we never had primary academies. now theres a few. latest are schools on rough estates I know a parent who,s kids go there and hear the horror stories still wouldent send mine there.

I like idea of choice.

but we cant afford private

at moment 3/5 prefered choices are now over subsribed academies with banding of postcodes 10%ability and entrance exams.

Im just not sure if forceing every school to become academies run by private companies is the answer.

Then theres free schools massive unknown.

bristol cathedral hoping to open a free primary.
Theres a group trying to open free steiner school.

educatiion seems so unequal and tricky here.

The evening post education section loves to contininually compare the worst schools with the indepndants and academies the differences are vast in terms or exams and educational outcome.

so why can a head and teaching team improve a school themselves. why are las deemed so incapable?

by time we apply eldest due to start 2017 wonder how many la schools be left?

best performing state schools are faith coe and rc here and very selective and hard to get into.

dd is baptised coe but coe senior requires 3years church attendance and even rc parents appealing to get into st bedes. dd goes to rc primary but that wont help her gain a place.

I live in Bristol and have a child at a Bristol school and think you are misunderstanding the situation. My impression is that you are applying for a primary school place soon and live on the Bristol/South Glos border.
Bristol and South Glos have an arrangement that you can apply to schools in both LEAs but you send the form to the LEA where you live (and pay Council tax). For primary (and secondary schools) you have 3 preferences. You apply for all primary schools on the same form and primary academies have the same admissions requirements as community schools i.e. no entry tests, lotteries etc.

"at moment 3/5 prefered choices are now over subsribed academies with banding of postcodes 10%ability and entrance exams." You only have 3 preferences for secondary schools - the lottery + postcode allocation was approved by the previous government and means that people from a wide area can access these schools. So probably only one or two of your choices would be these schools and the others your catchment school or a faith school (if you qualify).