Guest post: Nicky Morgan - "Why academisation is best for our schools"

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As parents, we all want the best for our children. We want to make sure they have access to the best opportunities and to help them grow up into well-rounded adults. Making sure that our children have a high quality education is a key part of that.

I want to outline exactly what academisation means and why I truly believe this is the best way forward for our schools. Our children only have one shot at receiving the best education and I am committed to ensuring this happens as swiftly as possible.

We need to put our trust into the hands of the people that know best how to run our schools - the teachers - and the academy system does just that. tells you more about what an academy is. It gives schools greater autonomy to make the decisions that are right for their community and pupils. After all, we have the finest generation of teachers ever and being part of an academy helps put the power back in their hands.

The most recent results show that the percentage of pupils achieving the expected level in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2 in primary academies has risen by 4%, from 67% in 2014 to 71% in 2015. Additionally, when it comes to secondary, it's a similar story with converter academies which are performing 7.2% above the national average, with 64.3% of pupils achieving five good GCSEs.

However, a dynamic school system where all schools are academies is just one part of a much wider plan to improve our education system which I set out yesterday in our white paper.

It is every parent's right to know their child is in an excellent school no matter where in the country they live. I am confident that this move will guarantee a higher school standard with each academy held to account for the performance of their pupils.

Ultimately, I am committed to making it easier for you as a parent to play an even more active role in your child's education. In essence, I want to put young people and parents first – something that might sound obvious, but the truth is that for too long parents have been an afterthought in our education system. We want you as parents to have a much stronger voice in what happens to your child during their school years, because we know that you want the very best for your child.

So how are we doing that? Firstly, I am well aware that the education system can appear complex to many parents. I am dedicated to changing this once and for all, and putting the control firmly back in your hands. As a result of this, I plan to introduce a new, online Parents Portal from as early as next year. This portal will enable parents' access to key information and allow you to support your child's learning.

Alongside this, we have changed the curriculum and the way that students will be assessed. This will help to raise standards and make sure that your child leaves school with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. It is imperative that every child fulfils their potential, and this includes stretching the most able pupils.

More young people will also study the EBacc - a combination of maths, English, two sciences, a humanity and a language - up to the age of 16. And the exams and qualifications young people are awarded will set a new international gold standard that is respected by employers, helping them to succeed in our increasingly global world.

I am a firm believer that an exceptional education transforms children's futures and everything outlined in this White Paper is committed to ensuring that parents and pupils come first. Our goal must always be to ensure every single child leaves school with the best education and the opportunity to excel in adult life. I believe that together, we can achieve that goal.

The bill is being opposed nearly universally by teachers who seem so afraid of it that they don't even seem to want to touch with a barge pole. Teachers and academics should have the major input in any bill like this. Where are they in it?

I've already signed it, Bridget, and was pleased to do so.

As for my job; I provide strategic training and development to professionals within the sector - across all types of school.

I think most of us on the thread have signed your petition Bridget - thank you for starting it.

Not sure if this has been linked to on the thread yet? antiacademies.org.uk/

Already signed both, and the one doing the rounds on parent governors.

I have a massive amount of respect for teachers but very little for politicians using education as a political football, making changes based on ideology rather than evidence.

I hope the petitions lead to a decent debate in the HoC. If it ends in undemocratic individuals filibustering it out of the House, I shall personally go and form myself a one person protest outside and shout the things that got deleted in my previous post on here.

See, public is not stupid. If the opinion of those experts is unpopular with the electorate, it is time for a national debate to develop a consensus. And to help people understand. Afterall, if you can't explain your plan (if it's based on solid data) to parents, how do you expect them to agree with it?

Hmm, I see what you are a saying - although my experience at a local level contradicts this. Politicians bowing to the electorate who were rejecting contentious change even though they understood that the expert advice said it was needed to drive standards higher.

Recent decisions in some areas of the country have exposed that the electorate are unwilling to accept that standards need to improve for their DCs - they are happy with things the way they are, even though they know that outcomes are significantly worse than the national average.

Those are the LAs who should not be entrusted with the education of our DCs, IMO.

derxa do you think I've lied about my job?

Hello all

Just to let you know that we've invited Nicky Morgan on for a webchat on this topic, and we've also let her team know that there are calls for supporting data on the thread.

We'll let you know when we've an update.

Pretty
Could you please elaborate the proposed changes and why the parents were opposing them? If you fear for outing yourself, you could try and pick a close example may be. But please help me what you are trying to say. its hard for me to see parents generally opposing something that experts are proposing unless it some kind of cultural or religious issue in which case your argument is very weak already because what we are talking about here is a change at an unprecedented level and not something that in lives a certain area or community etc. The scales are massively different here and stakes are far higher.

Pretty
DREXA is probably wondering your right to defend these changes considering you seem like you belong to the set of professionals who will be at the receiving end of the huge amounts of money from the tax payer if these plans go through. In our eyes, you can't give an unbiased opinion probably in this matter.

Thanks KateMNHQ

Thank you Kate, will be interesting to see if/how she responds.

valentine think along the lines of closure of a school in order to eliminate major over-capacity that was putting pressure on the budgets of every school in the area and causing standards to drop across the board. (Please don't out me if you recognise the area).

And as for making my millions - I wish. There are far more of the little people than fat cats. Lets just say the increase in personal tax allowance means I won't pay tax again next year

derxa do you think I've lied about my job? No It's the opposite. You're an educational trainer and heavily invested in the latest government fads.
I'm not blaming you - you have to earn a crust- but don't pretend that you're unbiased.

Pretty
No I can't recognise the area so you are safe there. I don't despise you any millions of thousands so long as you earn them and so long as they were needed to be spent to improve the schools you are/were involved with.
I can sort of see your point in this case but again we need to have a look at the data that brought you to this conclusion. For example how much the standard across schools was being affected and what kind of massive under subscription was involved and for what reasons. Most importantly, what was the opinion of staff and administration of all the schools involved?
Moreover, this example is not much compared to what we are talking about here. The changes proposed by Nicky Morgan's bosses are so radical and (sorry for repeating words) the stakes are so much different and high.

When you are asked for 'evidence' you are finding it where you can and where you can't you are admitting you can't - which is far more than the government seem to be doing!!

Not entirely. I'm still waiting for a response to my query about Pretty's assertion that schools have separate complaints policies for SEND complaints.

Pretty - sorry for delay in responding to your comment about Hants spending time and money arguing against mass conversion.

There's no need to put in an FoI request for the cost. Hants' actions can be balanced by those of Lincolnshire County Council in 2011 when it spent time and money discussing and voting for a recommendation that all its schools become academies preferably with CfBT which had run Lincs School Improvement Services since about 2002. Letter were sent to schools; meetings held etc.

Lincs had cause to regret their decision. In February 2013, West Grantham Academies Trust decided without consultation to close one of its small secondary academies. The Council belatedly realised such arbitrary decisions would make it impossible to manage school place supply. The academy was only saved because another multi-academy trust was willing to take it over. You can read about it here www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2013/02/council-angry-at-academy-trusts-decision-to-close-secondary-school/%23comment-65734

Since then, Lincs preferred sponsor, CfBT is struggling. It was one of the multi-academy trusts criticised by Sir Michael Wilshaw recently. It's already dropped one of its Lincs academies (Queen Eleanor School, Stamford - Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust got £302k of taxpayers' money to take it over) and is about to dump another (Sir John Gleed, Spalding, Inadequate twice).

Such is the brave new world of academies.

Abuelita
Whoa !

MNHQ
Anybody chasing the education minister yet? 😇

Valentine, look at KateMN's message upthread.

Elementary
Yes yes I know. Just trying to keep up the pressure.

Sorry KateMNHQ 😈

BridgetChapman - I've already signed your petition, & thanks for starting it .

It took less than these proposals for me to take myself & my 3dc off to an international school elsewhere on the globe; they've confirmed I was right to do so, & whilst this is the situation I will not be returning to the UK.

I know a couple of dozen British colleagues who are moving on from our school this summer. Only one is returning to the UK to teach, & she's doing so reluctantly & prompted by family reasons.

On the whole we're watching with appalled fascination & counting our blessings .

DisappointedIdealist writes this on his website:

'Anyone who believes that schools should have a large degree of autonomy, and should be rooted in – and accountable to – their local communities, with checks and balances to prevent corruption or neglect, should be very scared. Indeed, anyone who believes that schooling is a key public service which is far too important to be privatised, should be fighting this with every ounce of their being.'

'If you love your children’s school, if you believe in public education, fight this. Or, like a school entering a MAT [Multi-Academy Trust] , state schooling in this country will simply cease to exist without most people realising it’s happened until there’s nothing they can do.'

It's a long article - but well worth reading it through. disidealist.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/the-mysterious-case-of-the-disappearing-schools-how-state-schools-will-be-privatised-without-anyone-noticing/

Bridget - 'appalled fascination' is absolutely correct. I've watched in 'appalled fascination' since I discovered Michael Gove deliberately ignoring a warning from the OECD not to use data which the OECD had once published in good faith but later found to be flawed. The OECD said the figures could NOT be used for comparison. But Gove went ahead anyway and based his entire 'reform' programme on the false claim that the UK (or more precisely, England) was plummeting down international league tables.

The UK Statistics Authority eventually criticised Gove for his misuse of the data but by then it was too late. The claim had been repeated so often it's now become 'truth'. The Government now say England has 'stagnated' in international tests. But there are other tests which paint a more positive picture. We don't hear about those. More information here www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2016/03/morgan-waffles-in-white-paper-foreword-describes-acting-first-thinking-later-as-bold-reforms

I see how Councillor Peter Edgar, an elected member of Hampshire County Council, giving a short interview to the Hampshire Chronicle (probably by phone) cost very much at all? Ten minutes of his time - he gets £29,802 pa - so what, a couple of quid?

If he's instructing officers, it'll presumably be to maintain the status quo for the present.