Every school to be an academy?

[CamboricumMinor]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35814215

Apparently this is expected in tomorrow's budget. I'm sure this isn't going to be a good move for school staff but what about the children? I'm not convinced at all.

Interesting piece here by SEN head teacher on his fears for Academisation www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/white-paper-how-send-achilles-heel-mass-academisation

Not close minded. Just thinking that these proposals may enable schools to change the way they operate in a positive way, taking examples from ALL types of schools which I'm not sure happens under the current system

This is what really irritates me about a lot of politicians. They state what they believe as fact without reading all the evidence, just cherry-picking the parts they agree with. Last night, on Question Time, Nicky Morgan said that becoming an Academy would improve a school without saying what she was basing her statement on.

So that's pretty much unanimous from the teachers & that mass academisation will make an already at crisis point system much worse, & a couple of posters who vaguely think it won't make any difference or 'may enable schools to make (unspecified) positive changes'.

Well, that's a glowing endorsement then. Take our money! What are we waiting for?

Thank fuck my children & I are out of it.

There's to be a march about this in London, on Wednesday 23rd March at 5pm. Organised by the NUT.

dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4576772/NUT_academies-demo-23March2016-A4-BW%20(1).pdf

I don't think a march will make the slightest difference. They simply don't care.

I posted this on the petition thread but didn't get an answer, can anyone help?

'This is worrying as it seems a short timespan to change all schools even if this was desirable (which I don't think it is). Are they proposing ALL schools change anyway? What about free schools? New ones are still opening up. What about grammars? I presume they are not removing the grammar system from the home counties which is packed with tory voters?'

mama Free schools are already a type of academy and the new proposals serve to make the distinction between free school and MAT greater.

There is no reason why the Grammar system cannot be academised and I suspect that MATs will begin to develop which specialise in selective education, just as there are MATs that specialise in faith schools, or particular subject specialisms already.

I have always been perplexed by why this government has introduced continued to measures without measuring what difference is made to outcomes before throwing something else on top.

So now we have to put up with more change and disruption to our children's education and all for very little benefit based on past evidence.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/124747

Sorry if this has already been posted.

Thanks pretty - so this could also mean a back door way of opening new grammars?

We are in the catchment (in varying degrees) for the local comp and 2 academies. Looking at all the admission criteria I can see how easily some kids would end up with nowhere to go.

this could also mean a back door way of opening new grammars?

I'm not sure it is - the rules for 'new' schools are different from those for conversion schools - Id need to have a wade through the small print!

It still needs someone to collect together all the applications, make sure they go out to schools, make sure the schools don't get information they aren't allowed to see (such as where they were placed in the list of preferences), collect the ordered lists of applicants from schools and make sure each applicant gets an offer from their highest preference with a place available. The schools can't do that so, unless the government sets up an independent agency to handle co-ordinated admissions (highly unlikely) this stays with the LA. That is why LAs continue to receive funding to carry out this function even if all schools in their area become academies.

By why on earth should it stay with LAs? As I've said, it makes sense if they run their own schools and still have a lot of involvement with the running of schools. It makes no sense if they don't, any more than if they were required to control admissions to local private nursing homes or hotels. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why councils should have to provide a service for independent schools. If it is so logical, why are they not already doing organising admissions for private schools? And what is a council supposed to do if there aren't enough school places in the area - they won't have the power to order bulge classes as they do currently; or if there are children which none of the local academies will accept?

And it's no answer to suggest that they should do this because they receive funding. Given the way in which council funding has relentlessly been cut, any funding received for organising admissions would be a drop in the ocean. Furthermore, if they're not using staff who have an education department role all year round, they would either have to employ part time staff for the job or divert staff from other council departments, neither of which is likely to be in any way cost-effective.

And what about appeals? Virtually all the academies in my LA use it for appeals, using LA panel members and staff and premises. The LA co-ordinates appeals to ensure there are enough chairs and panel members available.

Admissions could become a buy-in service for academies, just like HR, payroll, and training is in some LA areas now.

But if there is no coordination over admissions, how does one ensure that all children get a place somewhere? Who picks up that statutory duty, and more importantly, how do they fulfil it?

But, yet again, it is currently cost-effective for LAs to offer the running of admission appeals as a service to academies because they already organise them for their own schools and therefore recruit panel members and pay for their training and employ and train clerks. They also generally recruit panel members from school governing bodies which won't exist in the anything like the same form. It would be much less cost-effective for them to offer a service which relates to a function that has nothing whatsoever to do with the LA and where their available expertise and experience will drop overnight as their staff will leave or be deployed elsewhere.

Mistigri, logically the DfE should organise co-ordination of admissions. Whether it's them or the LA, it's the good old taxpayer who will pick up the tab for the benefit of the private organisations running academies.

Yes, some form of centralisation will probably be necessary, at county, regional or national level. I don't think this will necessarily be good for parents.

Where I live, high school admissions are administered regionally, but there is very little choice in the system, so the allocation of places can very largely be done by computers, on a points system. And every student has an automatic place in their catchment school. It's relatively efficient, in financial and organisational terms, but impersonal and only works because the vast majority of students effectively have no choice of school.

Back to the governor question - my concern about this is that the proposal is not just about whether there should be parent governors, though I'm suspicious about the reason why. Changes are also liable to dispense with any governors not controlled by the school or organisation running it (eg a chain or MAT). Governing bodies are meant to provide challenge.

My kids' school is just round the corner from one of the most infamous forced academy conversion primary schools. The government has already said parents can't have any say in academisation decisions, that there's no need to consult. They named the school formerly known as Downhills, as an example of what future cases should avoid (parents campaigning against the academy and the Harris chain which took it over.

I was looking at that school website the other day for something else entirely, but came across the governing body page. The headteacher (who should be there), several senior chain staff, 4 sponsor governors (ie chosen by Harris), 1 parent governor. So all but one person is employed by/and or there to represent the chain. So should challenge be needed, how is that going to happen.

I'm not claiming special skills, but I think I'm able and willing to contribute by participating in various decision making panels, eg for senior staff recruitment, appeals and disciplinaries. I'm not working at the moment so I can be available for such meetings in school hours (and beyond with support from an afterschool club until my dp gets home from work). We've had cases of appeals against an earlier decision meaning that a panel of completely different people from an earlier panel are needed. We also have some brilliant local authority and community governors who have experience of teaching, managing early years at several levels, schools improvement, and who are very committed and put in hours of voluntary work. I've been a governor for 2.5 years, have learned a lot in the last year and think I'm more useful now than I was. I don't think the government model of "professional" governors who might be paid and who are chosen by an academy chain would be nearly as effective at making decisions, dealing with problems and providing both support and challenge.

Eeek sorry for long post!

so all but one person is employed by/and or there to represent the chain. So should challenge be needed, how is that going to happen.

Interestingly, it's a similar governance model to Foundation schools (most of which are Voluntary aided church schools).
The balance of the GB has to be majoritively made up of 'foundation' governors - those nominated by the church (or other foundation).
There have been some VA schools that have failed badly as as result, but the reputation of church schools generally is positive, despite the apparent lack of challenge and scrutiny at a Strategic Level.

Let's all tell Nicky what we think :

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/guest_posts/2595153-Guest-post-Nicky-Morgan-Why-academisation-is-best-for-our-schools?pg=1&order=

In case anyone gets their hopes up (you know, the government actually consulting and listening to the electorate) about about anything changing, the Education and Adoption Act is, as I said earlier and on the other thread, is now at Royal Assent stage. Been through commons and lords, just needs a stamp and that's it. Schools are now madly trying to join a MAT if their choice rather than getting swallowed by a chain.

They backtracked on PIP, they won't on Education too.

Has it been through lords already?
Fuck