Failing schools becoming academies

[ChillySundays]

I am not in education but have been reading the newspaper articles about forcing schools to become academies,

What I was wondering is that could there in theory be schools that even with a leadership team who for want of a better phrase are the 'dog's bs' are still going fail. Are some schools beyond help no matter what?

In my opinion no, as long as there's enough money. But in the state sector there never will be enough to pay outstanding teachers a premium to compensate for working in a very challenging setting. Or for smaller classes so there's enough support for the very vulnerable children who need it. Or counselling to help them deal with the issues at home which are preventing them from learning. Etc etc etc And turning round a school properly is a long term process. With the current football club approach of sack the leader if it's not all resolved within a year, there are very very few Heads who are prepared to put their career and health and family and sanity on the line. It takes a very special kind of person (leader or teacher) to work in a very challenging school with the lack of resources and support that exists in most state schools today.

So basically it is a load of crap that turning a school into an academy is an automatic route to getting out of the 'failing' category. Although the Department of Education seem to think it is the be all and end all