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.

Except that labour are against it this.

Evil, but 'unknown and unqualified' aren't quite the same thing.

If in effect we are saying supply teaching agencies are taking anyone in from the street, checking their DBS is clear and farming them out to schools as teachers, I agree that's a problem, BUT, just about all schools use agency supply teachers from time to time and as the teacher shortage becomes still more intense that's not going to change.

I absolutely agree with the points re photocopying and displays however.

Staff in LAs have to be paid for too and some are to be blunt criminally incompetent. I worked in a school where two teachers' DBS checks weren't back in time for the September and where someone from HR chortled in a disciplinary meeting (not mine, I hasten to add) and admitted 'I don't really know the law.'

LA maintained schools have the veneer of accountability but that's what it is: a veneer. All that has happened is that it has been stripped away. There is undoubtedly a particular theme of 2010-s schools - of new shiny buildings, uniform featuring tweed skirts for girls and huge open spaces in the centre of the school. Some of it I don't like, some of it I'm indifferent to. But I don't think there was a golden age of teaching and if there was, it certainly didn't exist in the local authority.

I know that "Unknown and unqualified" aren't the same thing

Perhaps I should have said "both unknown and unqualified", which, in this case they are. New to the kids (unsettling in itself) and ALSO unqualified - as in never undertaken teacher training. In one case, failed to be accepted for teacher training, in the other case, never bothered to try.

But I don't think there was a golden age of teaching and if there was, it certainly didn't exist in the local authority. Given that LAs have existed for 100 years, if there was a golden age, it certainly did exist under LAs.

I qualified in 1997. It has never been as bad as this.

pipbin Labour brought in Academies!

Plenty of private schools use "unqualified" teachers quite happily

Do you truly believe the DfE would allow academy chains contracts to run schools without ensuring every single child has a school place?

Will it actually make any difference to the children if the school is run by Microsoft? I've been a parent at a school run by Cognita and it made absolutely no difference except there were funds to provide equipment and maintain buildings, to the benefit of the children.

And don't forget this has been pushed through with no consultation. The writing was on the wall long ago and was even clearer when pay portability was abolished and heads were able to find all sorts of spurious reasons to refuse pay progression despite targets being achieved.

Homebythesea - yes it was the brainchild of the labour government which I think shocks most people!

Maybe someone should start one of those petitions to get it debated in parliament.

this is - I think you're wrong there

This is a purely ideological move, there is no money to be saved, and clearly little or no argument around improving education standards, inequalities, experience.

This is purely about opening up further markets for profit-making; another step forward to dismantling of state, and - whooppee brucie bonus of further pulling apart of local authorities.

Labour did bring in academies but that's really by the by.

If what we really want is to improve things for teachers and for children then where is happens is secondary to how.

If we are saying - academies can bring in unqualified staff - yes, they can. So can LA schools. Academies don't have to adhere to teachers P & C - neither do LA schools. They might have to disguise what they are doing and jump through a few hoops, but they can. Academies can discriminate against SEN pupils: again, so can LA schools. Having a local authority manage you doesn't exempt you from being able to do exactly as you like, and don't think the union can or will help.

I believe in improving things but realistically keeping schools under the control of local authorities will not make a blind bit of difference to this. I wish it did.

Academies as envisaged by labour was a completely different policy.
There is already a shortage of primary places local to me caused by the policy of all new schools having to be free schools or academies. There will not be a space for every pupil.

I think a mass walk out - parent and teachers united - would get the message across better than another petition.

it was the brainchild of the labour government which I think shocks most people!

It doesn't shock me. Academies were the perfect solution for Labour's political elite who had to send their children to state schools but wanted the feel of a private school. They perfectly sum up the political age for me.

Public money into private hands was/is the Conservatives agenda, their intention has been to 'shrink' the state by 60%. Sadly this isn't a surprise to me. First health and social care, welfare provision and now education.

how will putting schools in the control of profit-making organisations improve things then just?

I don't think it will improve things Han but i don't think it will cause things to deteriorate further either - as j said, I think it will make no real difference at all.

Now what I don't understand is why these organisations want to run academies.
They have to be not for profit, I believe, so why would you bother?
Unless of course you were a stationery company for example that could force the school into buying your products, or a fast food company that could enforce the advertising of your products in the school ........

Try working in one. For the kids in the academy I teach in, things have deteriorated. This is due to poor management. We do not have governors - we have a management board, all put in place by the academy trust. Staff had no input to the appointment of the current headteacher - not even the rest of the SLT were involved in the interview process. The executive head was foisted on us. Parents are not represented on governors any more, neither are staff.

try working in kne

I do

I've also worked in awful LA schools. As I've said its not an academy/LA school issue so much as a poor teaching conditions issue.

Pipbin, if you're paying your top people in excess of £200,000, who cares if you're not making a profit for the company.

I am utterly incensed. How dare they? Surely the main problem is that both state Education and Health are public services, not profit-making businesses. The Gov clearly wants to squeeze profit out of anything they can lay their grubby immoral hands on. Surely the owners of these academy chains will expect to see a return on their investment?? How? These are children, not products to be messed with, tested and thrown out if they don't pass muster. It's morally incredibly dubious.

After the utter debacle of the new Nat Curriculum, the total shambles that is this year's assessments and the total disregard for anyone's opinion other than their own, this Gov clearly are not fit for purpose. That's without the junior drs, dismantling of the NHS, targeted attacks on support for the weak and vulnerable. They are utterly disgusting. And I for one will be first in line to join a picket line. Fuckers.

I have recently worked in two academies. One was everything we fear
Massive P&C issues/unqualified teachers - Totally unqualified (but lovely) TAs being given teaching groups (not small breakout classes or stepping in when staff were ill but being wholey responsible for teaching History, music, Art etc for the academic year). These were young enthusiastic graduates fresh out of uni being paid £12k with no training, mentoring or qualifications at the end of it. Neither they nor the kids did well.
Terrible SEN provison - pupils moved on to reduced provision, reduced timetables and at worst parents being pressured to home educate (when the b***d doing it knew the parents themselves were illiterate) because adequate provision wasn't being made and the pupils were failing.
Money clearly lining pockets or at best poorly managed. We had state of the art apple Mac suites and a laptop for every pupil provided by the brilliant business manager (not a teacher) but when he moved on it became clear there was no budget for upkeep and maintainence. Everything seem geared for what looked good in the moment not want was needed for 5 years of good education.
Dodgy qualifications - this one the government did address - we were the school that had kids doing/being drilled by p.e. Teacher in btec nutrition, btec p.e., btec health and safety, btec leisure and tourism, btec etc from year 9 so that when they got to year 11 they had lots of pieces of paper gained from sitting infront of a computer during a p.e lesson which they had retaken and retaken until they passed.

It was the focus of the academy chain on their own image and headlines rather than the pupils which was scary.
However I now work in an academy which is a special school. The extra power and autonomy over our budget is brilliant. We are able to fund things like a full time nurse, occupational therapy etc and employ teachers in a range of specialisms not all of whom have a teaching qualifications e.g. the horticulture teacher, swimming teacher, outdoor education specialist etc.... Being an academy works very well.

It's the back door feel to this policy that worries me. Also the comparisons (on here) to private schools. I think we need to be honest private school fees have increased dramatically in the last decade. In the 90s it was possible for parents earning 40k-50k a year (not to be sniffed at I know) to send their child to private school. Now you would need upwards of 90k. The pupils, expectations and challenges are completely different - it is not a compatible system to LEA and academies.

A staff, child and parent protest is required. I doubt it will not do much other than be a footnote in history.

As far as I am aware there is (in theory) nothing to stop say a teachers union setting up a multi academy trust and signing up schools to their MAT voluntarily before any compulsory sign up. I am quite surprised that none of the unions have considered setting up their own MAT and making it a requirement of their MAT that all teachers are qualified. It could also set its own curriculum and set pay and conditions.

We heard this 7 weeks ago, DS secondary school sent home a letter about it and was advertised on their Facebook page. All schools in England. :(

Lots of local talk about which schools are going to federate with others to make academisation work in small groups.