HEADTEACHER Autumn 1 UPDATE The only magazine for all UK primary school headteachers
Local authority set to recommend academy status
As schools return after the summer break many will be faced with a decision – should we jump to academy status or wait to be pushed? And what happens if it is the local authority doing the pushing?
Lincolnshire County Council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee is in the process of recommending that the local authority encourages all schools to join a single trust – CfBT. The CfBT Education Trust is a charitable, worldwide organisation which has already been working with the county council to provide school improvement services. Why is Lincolnshire recommend-
ing this action for their schools? The council states that it is concerned about its future ability to support smaller schools in the county. Coun- cillor Patricia Bradwell, executive councillor for children’s services, says: “We have to be prepared for more and more schools becoming academies, in line with the nation- al agenda. It is important that we provide clarity to enable schools to identify what is best for them and their communities.” CfBT has been recommended as
the only current provider who is committed to taking on all schools to provide services, including those who stay with the local authority. Schools could choose either to convert to academy status or just to join the Trust.
All change: Will the new term mean big changes in Lincolnshire? Not everyone agrees with this
recommendation. For some, it represents a sell out and is politically driven. The Guardian (01/08/2011) has followed the opposition to this move led by Sarah Dodds and the “Save our Schools” group. Their anxiety centres around the pressure placed upon schools to seek privately managed support and the monopoly which CfBT seems to have as the only potential sponsor. As schools wait to see what
others are doing, do primary schools feel they are able to make a real choice that is in their
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fundraising article with an account of how the money helped his school realise the dream of a new music, dance and drama room.
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best interests or are they being pressurised into a view by the actions of others? Kevin Bullock, headteacher
at Fordham Primary School in Cambridgeshire, suggests: “It’s a lot to do with the relationship that individual schools and clus- ters of schools have with their local authority (LA).” For him, headteacher of a school with three successive “outstandings” in a strong and supportive local authority, there are no clear advan- tages to a move. “It’s not broken
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In these changing times, the choices
headteachers now face can seem daunting. Anne Evans, chief executive of HTI, looks at the different options available.
The Teacher Learning Academy has supported
thousands of teachers in their CPD. Now the closure of the GTCE has been confirmed and the TLA sold, we look at what its future holds.
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Allergies are affecting more and more pupils
these days. Maria Anguita looks at how schools can make a difference to these children’s lives.
We continue our look at literacy with a focus
on the vital importance of developing children’s writing skills.
Regulars: 2–4 News 6–8 Products/resources 39 Books 40 Diary of a head
September 2011
www.headteacher-update.com
HEADLINES Features
The government has talked up its
no-nonsense approach to behaviour. We ask what this is likely to mean for those pupils who find themselves excluded.
Tom Donohoe follows up his recent
Photo: Lucie Carlier
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