Review
The
Academies Show: 2012
I
n April, the Department for Education (DfE) announced that the majority of secondary schools in England are now academies, or are currently in the process of becoming academies, with many primary schools set to follow suit. As of May 2012, there are 1,807 academies open throughout the country. The facts are simple: the rise of the academy programme is occurring rapidly. On 16 May, representatives from academies throughout the UK, as well as educators from schools currently undergoing the conversion process and those simply considering the move, gathered at London’s Olympia for the Academies Show: 2012.
The 2,700 strong crowd descended upon the venue, joining experts from DfE, academy leaders and education suppliers to discuss academy status and share advice between schools from across the country.
Contemplating conversion
Schools Commissioner for England, Dr Elizabeth Sidwell CBE, opened the event with her keynote speech that echoed the DfE’s remarks from April, as well as drawing from her own experience within schools and highlighting the gap in achievement between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their contemporaries. Speaking of conversion to academy status, Sidwell said: “(Conversion) is not just about the structural change, it’s about the people, the collaboration, the freedom.” The Academies Show, now running for its second year, welcomed heads, governors, bursars and other school leaders with the intention of addressing some of the current
misunderstandings surrounding academy status, as well as to introduce key academy decision
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www.education-today.co.uk June 2012
makers to the latest and most innovative products available in the education market. Visitors to the event sponsored by Zurich Municipal were given the opportunity to attend a number of focused seminars and lecture sessions hosted by relevant field experts, designed to cover all aspects of running an effective academy. The seminars were well attended with many attendees’ queuing in advance to ensure good seats!
Classrooms of the future
Rachel Jones, Head of Education at technology distributor Steljes, assessed the potential that academies have to modernise the education system, as they operate with the freedom and
autonomy to raise standards and introduce new ideas. Her seminar entitled “Innovation in an Austere Climate” affirmed the significant role that technology has to play in the future of academies, as the institutions contribute to improving the quality of teaching that students receive. She told the audience: “Even in the tough economic times that we are currently facing, there is still room to innovate.” Jones emphasised that if academies do not embrace technology and embed it into the learning process then they are not accurately reflecting the life that students will go on to lead. The seminar, like many others, was peppered with visual and interactive demonstrations and enabled attendees to try out innovative
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