E D U CAT I O N TRUST STATUS?
EMILY WINSOR introduces the debate on academies. Do we want them or not?
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WITCHING to academy status is a decision many head teachers have been faced with over the last three years. And it isn’t a quick or easy choice. It
involves a long consultation process and can be the subject of heated debate. A case in progress is Kimberley School. The governors have voted to pursue academy status, but opposition has arisen from parents, councillors and staff. Now the Hands Off Our School campaign group has become the voice for people against the academy bid. Member Mary McGuckin, a local councillor, said academies were anti-democratic, adding: “Academies get the same funding per pupil as any other school. The only difference is they receive money direct from the Government to buy in a range of services no longer provided by the local authority.“ She added: “Academies fly in the face of democracy. The democratically-elected local authority no longer has a say in the running off the academy because it is run by a trust.” Councillor Philip Owen, Notts County
Kimberley campaigners: Liam Conway, Andrea Oates, Alan Darley and Andy Coop e r.
Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said the decision about whether to convert to an academy was wholly in the hands of the school itself. He said: “We don’t as a rule force schools into becoming academies. It’s almost always for the governing body to make the decision in the best interest of their school with support and guidance from us.” Tony Blair’s Labour government created the first academies – schools that are directly funded by central government – in 2000. All other comprehensives, apart from
Church of England schools and private schools, are run and funded by the local
authority. In Notts there are 30 academies and a further 28 schools currently considering or progressing towards academy status. In Nottingham City there are 17 academies and 13 schools, including Trinity, in the process of applying. Trinity School head Mike McKeever said:
“We went through a long moral debate about whether to become an academy or not, because we are a voluntary-aided school and the change would mean we no longer would be. For us, the main problem is space. Becoming an academy means we can access funding for new buildings.”
‘We had a long moral debate because we are a voluntary-aided school’
Hands Off Our Schools was set up in Broxtowe in 2010 by a group of parents, teachers and governors and others who wanted to campaign for a fair and comprehensive education system and a good local school for every child. We believe in a democratic and planned education system that places equal importance on the needs and aspirations of every child in the community, regardless of background and academic ability. And we believe that this is best provided by a family of schools, supported and coordinated by democratically-elected local education authorities (LEAs) not by the chaotic, free-market free-for-all being created by the G ove r n m e n t ’s academies programme. The system the Government inherited
wa s n ’t “broken”. It might not be perfect but it allows planning for school demand, coordination and co-operation between schools over pupil admissions and exclusions. Governors and councillors are elected. Their decisions can be, and have been, challenged at elections. In an academy, out goes the elected
governing body and in comes an unelected 108 NOTTINGHAMSHIRE TODAY No
says Andrea Oates of Hands Off Our Schools
trust that is not accountable to parents or the community. And the LEA no longer has a say in the running of an academy. Effectively there is no longer a local avenue of complaint, just a civil servant in Whitehall. While schools may claim that they will be financially better off by becoming an academy, there is no new money. Any “additional” funding a school claims it will receive will be taken away from other areas, so there will be less money for local primary schools and less to spend on the most vulnerable children. The Government has made it clear that becoming an academy should not bring
about any financial advantage for the school. But the decision to convert to academy status is irreversible and becoming an academy means “going it alone” without the safety net or economies of scale of a local authority family of schools. There is no evidence that becoming an academy will raise standards or benefit students, and academies do not have to employ qualified teachers or trained headteachers. But they do have greater powers to change the admissions criteria. There is pressure to alter the pupil population to improve results. Finally, many of Education Secretary
Michael Gove’s advisers think that “f o r- p r o f i t ” providers should be allowed to run schools. If the school stays with the LEA, no company can take the school over. Th a t ’s why we’re campaigning for the Kimberley School and the White Hills Park Federation of Schools to remain in the community. If they convert to an academy, everything could change. If you agree with us, please sign our online petitions at
http://nottsantiacademies.org and follow us on Twitter @Notts_Schools
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