academies

[therontheron]

Can anyone explain a little about these new academies? At first, I thought they were brand new schools set up by interested groups that got government funding but were outside LEA control. Generally, I had the impression that they were about prioritising academic subjects and would be a little like the old grammars.

But now I keep reading threads where its discussed how a school gets a 4 from OFSTED and then gets encouraged/ forced into converting into an academy. However, won't they still have more or less the same leadership, teachers, children and parents. So what will realistically will change and won't the word "academy" just come to mean school to avoid sending your child to?

Or have I got it all wrong twice?

There are three types of new academies:

• the new "free schools" are brand new academies set up from scratch

• schools performing well can convert to academies. It is their choice and they don't need a sponsor. Indeed, they are encouraged not to have a sponsor

• schools performing badly may be forced to convert to sponsored academies, i.e. there will be an external sponsor. On conversion the sponsor will be focussed on turning the school round. This may involve replacing the head and others involved in leadership roles. These are similar to the academies set up under the last government most of which are now performing well

^^
this.

But they can employ anyone to teach, not just teachers.