Academy trust gives up - what does the future hold?

[GnomeDePlume]

The academy trust for my DD's school has thrown up it's hands and given up. Essentially all 12 schools in its control have been thrown back on the government.

It is the first time an academy trust has done this so not really looking for advice.

Not sure what this will mean for DD as she is in her final year of sixth form. Hopefully the school will continue to plod on with some sort of emergency measures.

My real sympathy is for the students and parents in earlier years. My DD's school is the only one in the town. No option to go elsewhere.

The school has been in and out of SM throughout the time we have been associated with it. I have lost count of the number of Heads the school has had. For a while there was no Head at all.

Now the academy trust has given up on it and 11 other schools.

At least academy trusts can vote with their feet and throw in the towel, making a fuss about poor government funding. Local Authorities just had to carry on regardless (or at least they did as a structure - the individuals working within the structure still scarpered when things worked out badly).

If more academy trusts end up in the same position, the Government will have no choice but to increase funding for schools which, after all, is what people have been clamouring for. (Either that or they will just hand them all over to the church ... oh, wait, they're planning to do that anyway).

abolition of religious ...... selection

Would the church (CofE and Catholic in particular) be required to hand over their assets to the state? Because I can't see that happening.

All the while the church owns the buildings (and in some cases the land) where education takes place, they have to be given a say in how it is delivered. Remove their stake in the delivery, and the church could, quite reasonably, IMO, withdraw the use of their assets for state education purposes.

In some areas, that would result in the loss of half the primary provision. Who picks up the bill for buying/building all those new schools?

The link does not in any way support your suggestion that the government is planning to hand all schools over to the church.

castiron
The Church owns a lot less than many people on MN think

All the while the church owns the buildings (and in some cases the land) where education takes place

It doesn't own the buildings for its free schools (aka new academies) which is why many people think they should have less influence over them than they do with VA schools.

Anyway, that's a digression.

The link does not in any way support your suggestion that the government is planning to hand all schools over to the church

Sorry if it was a bit subtle. The OP asked what the future holds. When governments rely on charity to run schools it tends to be charities with an agenda, whether that be some sort of "innovative/kooky" educational model or the promotion of a pet subject, frequently religion.

The link represented the direction of travel for free schools in particular. There are also plenty examples of converter academies being handed over to the church.

They certainly aren't going to hand them over to the local authority, that's for sure.

Having lived in an LA that was 'failing' for decades the idea that they provided services for for free is quite strange. Every time I saw figures for maintenance, support or anything, the LA would charge the school 3* what it could be purchased for in the private sector. And because of contractual obligations schools had to go through the LA.

So I like the idea of MATs and when I see a few failing I like to think they will get sorted unlike failing LAs. It does seem like progress.

The Church owns a lot less than many people on MN think

It is usually a foundation or a trust rather than the church itself. But for the majority of VA and VC schools the land and buildings are owned by a foundation or trust.

It doesn't own the buildings for its free schools

That, as an absolute statement, is not correct. Some free schools own their buildings. Others lease them, either from an LA for a peppercorn rent or on a normal commercial lease. There are other options but those are the most common ones. It would be more accurate to say that the churches don't own the buildings for all their free schools.

Thanks Prh, you are precise and correct with language as always. However, the point I was making to Castiron still stands - the funding model for free schools and academies is very different to that of voluntary aided schools, which historically had much more financial input from the church. If a former LA-run failed academy is handed over to a church-led academy trust, the church does not "own" the building or fund the school. If the gvt procures a building for a church-led free school, the church does not "own" the building. The new and expanding breed of church schools is being funded by the Government

Fresh8008 I agree with you. But it will only "get sorted" if a high quality trust steps in, and (non agenda-driven) trusts will only step up to that challenge if they know they will be properly funded. The gvt has created a financial rod for its own back with the academy model so now it needs to make it work in a climate where experienced education professionals are walking away and/or complaining vociferously about the funding crisis.

The cycle continues, I logged onto the school's web site to discover that the school has a new head. The previous one lasted a matter of a few months.

Whoever 'owns' the school its fundamental problems lie in its poor management. Under funding undoubtedly plays its part. But this school is now a poisoned chalice.

It is possible for the academically able students to do well at this school. Both my DDs came out of year 11 with good GCSEs. However I feel they did this despite rather than because of the school. My less academic DS did far less well, being quiet and well behaved he slipped below the radar. A better school would have supported him more.