My DC have recently started at a primary school which we have been pleased with so far. I think the headteacher is good and aspirational for the pupils. She's been there a couple of years.
I received notification last week of their intention to join an academy trust which is being set up by a local (excellent, large) private school. The school already benefits from links to this school and they use their sport facilities and grounds regularly. My children love his.
The school says that it will have even more access to their facilities, as well as CPD for their staff and outreach from their specialist teachers. They reassure that the uniform, curriculum, school name & values will not change and they believe they will have more money. They are proposing that with the government intention to try and get all state schools to become academies, they would like to choose their own that they think would work for them rather than be pushed at a later date.
In principal I think this all sounds positive but I know that many feel negative towards academies. What are the possible downsides? They have a parent meeting in a few weeks where we can ask questions so I would like to make sure I ask anything relevant. I like the idea that the trust is set up by a local independent school and they are only inviting schools within a small radius of the school in order to keep it a local trust.