your thoughts on the whole academy thing?

[ArfurBrain]

My child's secondary has just announced consultation into becoming one.

By my reckoning, this now means all the town's secondaries will be (potentially) academies.
I dare say many of my questions will be answered at the parents' evening. But the whole academy thing appears to be so rushed that I'm sure there are loads of issues which no-one really knows what will happen until they rear their heads, so to speak.

From a social point of view, what implications might this have on the town?
Admissions etc?

What will happen to those academies which have a less afluent parent pool?
SEN services?
Exclusions?
I mean if all the schools are no longer in LEA control, whose responsibliy is it to ensure each child gets a school place ?

And as I understand it, once a school has become an academy, it cannot go back to LEA control,
I sort of feel our children are being guinea pigs in a ratheruncontrolled educational experiment.
Would just like to know what MNetters feel.

Arfurbrain I agree, consultations too short and opposing views basically ignored....there must be a huge financial benefit given as a carrot for the governors, I believe becoming a teacher training base school (it probably has a technical term!) will create income - but will it affect overall teaching? I think short term it will be ok, but have major concerns for long term issues.

Darvitwendy

From information you hold, I would be interested in a list of pertinent questions I should put to the Governors should my school decide to convert and should they have parental consultation.

There is so much conflicting information, even on here. e.g. One saying a school had been shafted for future pension of an overpaid HT and another saying there is no deficit on teachers pensions (only on local authority employees).

Oh, and someone mentions about academies being in redundancy process - so is our school and thats not academy! Isn't that just a sign of the times and nothing to do with academy versus LEA controlled?

Teachers pension scheme is unfunded but not the school's support staff (our CC has advised) so the school / academy will be liable if a deficit accrues...

darvitwendy
If the support staff are in the county LGPS, yes, they are running at around a 16% deficit.

I don't know which county you are in, but this is a pretty representative information source
www3.hants.gov.uk/pensions/jargon.htm

Interesting link - thanks (and scary; are other governing bodies not taking account of this in their calculations?) I suspect many governing bodies are just 'leaping' without proper interrogation of facts (I and my steering group have probably put in about 50 hours so far between us).
I keep seeing references to 'there being more money for the school' on posts here. A VERY BIG word of caution, to all who think that.
Academies will have to procure all the services previously supplied by LA. Gove has made it as plain as plain that (and again I quote DfE website) "The Government is clear that becoming an academy should not bring about a financial advantage or disadvantage to a school."
Do not be deluded into thinking there will be more money

The school I teach in is becoming an academy. It has been presented as entirely being for more money, but I agree with wendy - I don't believe there will be any more money.

I also spoke to someone from the LEA last week who said that the LEA was ceasing to exist next year?!?!?! And they already had no Chief of Education and no deputy. I have no idea how this even possible when there are plent of none Academy schools still in the borough.

I worked in an academy - part of a group.

Some fantastically forward thinking (yet obvious) things like a big emphasis on sporting achievement which was def a good thing, particularly for kids who may have gone completely off the rails if it wasn't for loving sport. (forward thinking for a state school compared to lots of private school emphasis on sport).

Pulled the school out of the gutter. Was failing. SMT bought in to sort it out. Succeeded in many ways.

But:

Bit of a law unto itself. Didn't abide by Union guidelines to protect teachers. Teachers treated badly. High staff turnover but managed to attract some good staff by offering attractive salary packages and free healthcare.

Virtually no SEN provision. I would say categorically failed some very vulnerable children.

Results got better but because it was a bit like a factory. Didn't allow them to develop emotionally or in a supportive environment - lots of shouting encouraged by the Head . Shut up sit down do your work attitude trickled down from quite bullish Head.

So it depends entirely on who the management team is. Potential to be a great system I think but I really didn't like the lack of humanity about the place. Wouldn't be like that in every academy though.

I'm amazed so many of seem to have so much faith in the LEA.

Our school is considering becoming an academy - not because of the money - but because our LEA is so dire.

For example they are expanding schools that shouldn't be expanded, amalgamating huge infants and juniors, building sure start centres on our playing fields.

They have disbanded our music service, given a huge golden payout to the director of education - as we no longer need one of them, axed school improvement partners....

In fact they offer us virtually nothing anymore - but can come along at any time and steal more of our playing fields, change our admission numbers, or amalgamate our infant and junior school.

The only way we can protect our school is by becoming an academy.

DS's school is also caught up in Academy wrangling - with 3 competing bids, including Oasis, to operate the school as a Free School (which brings a whole fresh can of worms as the concept is so new and untested) ranging from primary only, secondary only or all through (it's all through at the moment).

The utter nightmare at the moment is that none of the bids account for what will happen to children already at the school - the likelihood being that they will be 'evicted' at the end of this summer term and a bright shiny new school be opened in September.

We've only a few days left now to influence the decision makers before they stitch up a deal reach an outcome.

If you have a second please, please sign the epetition at save2011.epetitions.net/ It could make all the difference.

Many thanks from a traumatised parent!

Indigo, I think whether you have faith in the LEA or not depends both on what your LEA is like and what the school is like.

Certainly I have found it a help when having problems with school (not dd's current one) to be able to quote LEA policy. Which is why I would be worried by control taken away from the LEA: if you are up against a difficult headteacher and a board of governors who find it hard to go against the head (as parent governors sometimes do), then where would you go?

i shall watch this thread with interest. my ds is at an infant school at the moment, and the junior school he will automatically 'feed into' is being taken over by a local secondary school academy because it doesn't have enough money.

i don't really understand much about academies so will read through this thread in a min.

Kez - academies have the freedom to alter pay and conditions and the governors are likely to be in the pocket of the heads.

he HT insisted in his contract when it went academy that his pension would be made up to full pension when he retired early. The school will be paying for years.

Why would governors be in the pocket of the heads?

I've been a governor on 2 schools. One HT I thought was dire, the other I think is excellent. But in neither case was I 'in their pocket'.

If the head is a bully it can be quite difficult for the governors to stand up against him/her. Head at previous school was very forceful, to say the least; both teachers and parent governors found it very difficult to go against him; as one of the governors told me "no, the board of governors don't object to anything he suggests, it doesn't really happen". Also, unless the individual parent who get made governors (coopted by already existing governors) have personal experience of SEN, or whatever the particular problem may be, they won't necessarily see it as important or worth making an enemy of the head for.

DS2's school is becoming an academy from September. Again, very few parents were in favour of it. SEN provision is a major concern

I don't think governors are often 'in the pockets' of the HT however, particularly with inexperienced governors, it often difficult a) to understand all the jargon, b) to know what you are supposed to be asking, c) to have the knowledge and confidence to challenge the professionals.
I have been a governor at 3 of my children's schools and I have, only recently, had the confidence (and the experience / knowledge) to challenge the HT from a position of authority.
I think some HT's can very easily sway opinion or control the decision making process. This was particularly true at the first school I was governor, where the governing body was only ever at 2/3 strength and no-one had great experience of governance.
To give governors sole decision making power and complete control over who to consult and to what extent, before deciding to become an academy, is (in my opinion) tantamount to negligence on the part of DfE.

emmanumber3 - I share your concerns about SEN. This week Sarah Teather (DfE) has said that "local authorities and other services will set out a local offer of all services available". LA's are under threat and there are so many areas where this process of rapid change has not been thoroughly thought through.
If your school is becoming an academy against the wishes of the parents, contact your local press and escalate the issue. I think this process of education reform (of which academies is but a part - don't get me started on tuition fees) is, at best, ill conceived.
Most importantly, from where I sit, it goes against the wishes of parents.
We parents need to be able to be heard. I worry we are too passive / cowed / busy to challenge those who are making decisions on our behalf.
I am also extremely worried about provision for excluded children if all / most schools in an area are out of LA control........

Our school has applied for academy status, following a rushed "consultation process" that was little more than a sales pitch from the senior staff (not the governors who are meant to be the ones offically "applying"), and essentially a done-deal, even before the governors' vote. Within a month the school has done this and alienated parents - the majority of whom either had no idea what was going on because the consultation process was so rushed and with scant information, or who were wholly against it. A public meeting organised independently attracted community members and parents of children at feeder schools who had not been consulted and all were against it. Virtually all the staff were not in favour but it was pushed through with the scare-story about the financial improvements it would bring (though very short-term - "small pockets of money" was the phrase) so that no governor felt they could vote against the senior management team.

cademy governors are selected, not elected. They need have only one, possibly two parent governors - so there is less parental involvement - and there is less staff involvement, a guaranteed place for only one staff governor.

A tiny group of people decided to remove this public body out of public ownership and control, without any proper consultation. If it "fails", it will be sorted out by some method of privatisation. It will be free to change work and pension conditions - in fact a report in the TES stated that schools who were willing to alter the terms and conditions of staff, their applications for academy status would be looked on more favourably. There will be no guarantee about SEN provision where children are unstatemented. There will be no transparency that ensures the pay-cheques of senior staff won't simply rise, esp. if they wield a lot of influence over a hand-selected governing body.

It is the privatisation of education, and as far as our school goes, has been done for a small expedient of "pockets of money" which the parents have no guarantee will go to educational provision rather than senior staff wages, or impressive status-building public relations things.

For the OP, I would recommend reading up a lot on academies - read the anti=academy webpage and also Plymouth area has a focus group against academies, but certainly read all the legislation too. The academies being created now are very different from the ones created in Labour's time, in that they don't have a Sponsor, and aren't happening in order to raise the standards of a failing school.

If you are concerned that parents are being rushed into a process, ask the school to delay their application for a while; or at least alert the local press, as in many of these situations, the schools don't even bother telling the local community what they are considering until it's a fait accompli. Tell your MP, hold a public meeting for all those who are concerned - not just parents of the school but other community members who might have had children at the school or served on the governing body, or who are young parents with up-coming children: it is appalling that so few people officially have to be informed that the process is going forward. And don't be surprised if the school presents their consultation as basically a "reassuring explanation of what will happen" regardless of parental objections and concerns. Senior staff at our local school were using the phrase "when we are an academy" even before the governing body had taken the vote. And the arguments were all "we have to do it now, before everyone else jumps in, and be the first; as everyone will eventually become academies, it will be beneficial to the school" (though it was not explained exactly how, and no financial breakdown of the short-term benefits was offered.

can some of you knowledgeable people help me compile a list of questions to ask - the parent's evening about it is on monda
y - we were only informed last week that the school were cosmnidering it.
I don't want to sound too negative - perhaps it will all be the best thing since sliced bread but... i see it as a very hurried privatisation of the state system.

I don't think it will be the best thing since sliced bread. I think the government wants to take away the national framework for pay and conditions for teachers and further reduce the power of the unions. As so few schools have fallen for the hype they are now forcing schools down that route through funding cuts, a cash bonus for conversion and scare stories about being 'left behind'.

Ask your school exactly how much their funding has been reduced by this year.

If the Government want Academies then, they will get them won't they? After all, they have the power to fund so badly until the school finances squeal and redundancies are so bad the school cannot function and educate properly.

The Government will the offer to fund Academies slightly better so the school can actually function and educate and conversion will be the only option - forget consulatation and what any parent, Governor or member of staff thinks or feels, it will be forced through by the Government underfunding schools who dare to dig their heels in.

In that case, there are no questions because there is no real option.

It happened this quickly at our local school and was frightening in its speed and lack of self-examination.

Ask about how the new governing body will be selected - make sure the other parents actually realise that parental involvement and influence will decrease.

Ask if the teachers have been balloted for their opinion - a secret ballot rather than letting their staff-governor rep know their feelings. How will the school guarantee that national pay and conditions for teachers will be maintained? (the current school team might reassure you they have "no plans to change anything" but this doesn't mean it won't change a couple of years down the line, if the financial situation demands a few teachers on the cheap)

Ask why the decision has to be rushed through in a few weeks? (once the process begins, it almost automatically presupposes a decision to go ahead).

If they imply the LEA is under threat itself, ask how cheaply they will be able to procure former LEA-resourced services but from private business (whose aim will be to make profit rather than subsidise educational resources).

Ask if provision will be fixed for continued governor training - since governors will be even more accountable.

Ask about the costs of the school taking on ownership of the school buildings etc, the legal costs, payroll costs, HR costs, insurance costs that will now devolve from the LEA onto the school. And how this matches to the increased top-slice of money they will get for being an academy, that normally goes to LEA funding for these things across the board.

Ask if the school are communicating their consideration of academy status to the local community who are stakeholders in the school's existence just as much as the current parents? Ask if they will also hold a public meeting as well as one for current parents?

Here is a selection of questions that are all based on a rational need to understand the process and avoids any political or emotional bias:-

1)"Personal liability will not accrue to governors if they carry out their duties, acting in good faith." (source DfE) ask governors who amongst them knows all 528 pages of the Governors Guide to the Law and what will happen if it transpires that they are not diligent. Are governors prepared to take on that personal risk?

2. How will the academy pay any pensions deficit that arises? Quote from Michael Gove "If a pension fund is managing a deficit, the deficit is transferred to the academy." Hants currently has a 16% deficit. (Thanks to TalkinPeace2 for this link
   www3.hants.gov.uk/pensions/jargon.htm)

3. Ask how much the Local Authority top slices (use this jargon it will sound like you are well informed! it is the money that the LA takes to cover HR support, funds for new boilers, roofs etc., support for SEN, the excluded, those with attendance issues and MUCH, MUCH MORE). This is the only 'additional' money you will get and you will have to buy in all the services provided by your LA. Do not be overawed if this is a big number some things are really expensive!

4. Who has undertaken a thorough analysis of how this money is currently spent? - You have a right to know about every penny of it (Freedom of Information Act)

5. How much will these services cost to source independently and how much money will be left over for the school?

6. Who will ensure you get good value for money (both now and in the future) and that all aspects of current provision are covered?

7. Ask to see quotes and forecasts for expenditure in each of these areas.

8. Who will be responsible at the new academy for buying in, analysing and ensuring good value for all these services?

9. How much will you have to pay this person and how will you ensure that that person is adequately knowledgeable in every field of purchase? This is a huge added responsibility and cannot just be tagged onto existing roles

10. Ask if the governors are fully aware that Michael Gove has said "The government is clear that becoming an academy will NOT bring about a financial advantage"?

11. Ask what freedoms the school thinks it will have under academy status. Michael Gove has said "Academies have freedom from LA control, for example, they can change length of term; school days; intake and admissions; pay and conditions for staff." That isn't a lot really!!

12. Ask who is going to be on the New Board of Trustees and who is going to be on the new Board of Governors. What is going to be the legal relationship between them?

13. The LEA has acknowledged that "An academy potentially increases the burden on volunteer school governors." (Lets face it, a random selection of amateurs making a decision now, for all children to come). What will happen to the school if new governors cannot be recruited?

14. Are governors aware that (Another quote from Gove) "Capital funding programmes for academies is entirely the responsibility of the academy"? Who is going to pay for your new IT suite or new roof or repainting the the classrooms or resurfacing your old playground....?

If you want more I can go on but I think this covers a range of issues. If your governors can't answer them all then they are not being duly diligent