Conversion Academy

patchwork_cat

My DD's school is considering the possibility of becoming a conversion academy I would be interested in parent's views whose children attend an academy or whose school is further down the route.

patchwork_cat

Does anybodies child attend an academy?

mandragora_2

Lots of schools are coming under pressure to convert to academies, about 11% of secondary schools have already started the application process or undergone it. The new round of academies will be different to those which already exist, as the ones which were created previously were, by and large to replace 'failing' schools. The new ones are existing state schools, with 'fast-track' being offered to 'outstanding' or 'good with outstanding features' rated schools. Depends how good the head and govs are - in principle you shouldn't see a lot of difference on the ground if it goes ahead, but it will give leadership a bit more flexibility over purchasing and staff contracts, etc, and they have HUGE responsibilty also, because they are then separated from the LEA.

jog

My understanding is that over the next few years all state schools will have to become Academy's.

At the moment the Outstanding and Good with Outstanding features schools are being encouraged to go across to the new system, and there are incentives being offered to encourage them to change.

There is a feeling around our area that they are better off going now and having some say in what happens rather than wait and get told to go anyway.

My children's primary and secondary school are both in the process of converting to academy status.

Jog

Madmel

Yes, DD1's school converted on 1st January to become a *new* Academy. Parents were told as part of the process that they would not really notice any changes in the day to day running of the school and that it would retain its selection procedure.

I also teach there. We received the same assurances with a bit more detail. Basically the LEA was slicing off a chunk of our budget to cover things like the advisory teachers, payroll, solicitors etc. The problem was that as a Trust school, we did not really make use of them, preferring to employ our own choices and pay for them. Now we are an Academy, the slice of money comes directly to us, so we are going to be a 6-figure sum better-off and able to still pick and choose the services we want from the providers we want without having to go through the LEA.

I hope this makes sense. Almost two weeks of term into this, I have to say the only differences I have noticed are the letterheads and email signatures that we now have, but time will tell.

patchwork_cat

Thank you. Yes I had read the official line, what I was concerned about is the true impact. So those 'good' school changing early are getting extra incentives. I do wonder what the downside is going to be and why the govt. are pushing it. Cynical, me? Yes!

jog

My honest feeling as to why this is being pushed so hard at the moment is because a big part of the LEA's will go therefore saving a lot of money. The gov'd have made a deal out of not cutting school budgets, but what they are actually doing is cutting the LEA's instead.

As has already been said only time will tell how it works out.

I think there will be lots of opportunities for business minded people to set up companies offering all sorts of services to schools, as especially the small schools will have to buy in things traditionally provided by the LEA such as Payroll, HR, Training etc etc.

On a positive note it does give the schools more choice and as the previous poster said a lot of schools were already buying in some of these services from elsewhere anyway.

I suspect the good schools will do well, but they need to have to have good management in place. Schools whose management isn't so good won't do so well.

System

the problems arise when a child has SEN as academys are not accountable to the LEA. I withdrew my dd from the academy 18 months in, a lot of staff left when it converted including a very good senco they were replaced by less experienced staff who seemed to be more concerned about money than anything else. in the 1st yr she was there there wasnt a single conversation about cost of assesments but that changed and even with parent partnership support they did not follow through on even the most basic of things they had agreed to .

balletshoes

mandragora wrote: »

Lots of schools are coming under pressure to convert to academies, about 11% of secondary schools have already started the application process or undergone it. The new round of academies will be different to those which already exist, as the ones which were created previously were, by and large to replace 'failing' schools. The new ones are existing state schools, with 'fast-track' being offered to 'outstanding' or 'good with outstanding features' rated schools. Depends how good the head and govs are - in principle you shouldn't see a lot of difference on the ground if it goes ahead, but it will give leadership a bit more flexibility over purchasing and staff contracts, etc, and they have HUGE responsibilty also, because they are then separated from the LEA.

The school my daughter will go to is an academy now, was previously a failing high school. Its been an academy, under the new head teacher and management, for 18 months now - and the change in the kids and their attitude to school has been amazing :T. The buildings are brand new, as is the curriculum and uniform. The kids who start school there in year 7 really look forward to it, because of the facilities etc the academy provides. They have also changed the structure of the school day, and provide tuition/extra classes from 8am to around 6pm. The financial and educational sponsors of the academy are very hands-on, and as one of the sponsors is Nottingham university, they have a lot of involvement in educational placements etc. As a parent, I'm very happy that our local high school has changed to an academy.

mandragora_2

You may find these points useful:

• The government has stressed that there should be no financial benefits or detriment in gaining academy status. (The academies will be registered charities, so will no longer be VAT exempt, but will be able to aply to national lottery for funds, which schools are not allowed to at the moment). They are expected to make a serious commitment to fundraising externally.
• SEN obligations were placed on academies at a later stage of the Bill. These are equivalent to those imposed on maintained schools in Part VI of the Education Act 1996.
• The DfE website says that there is no requirement to consult the local authority or parents, although it is suggested that students and parents should understand the changes proposed.

(These points taken from Unison website docs:
http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/19452.pdf and here
http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/B5194.pdf

The unions, unsurprisingly are not delighted about the proposals)

The DFE advice to schools can be found here:
http://www.education.gov.uk/academies/~/media/Files/lacuna/academies/convertorsguidancedoconsulltationV2.ashx

A lot of solicitors' firms are rubbing their hands with glee.

jcr16

we have a couple of school locally which are becoming acadamy's. on paper they look like they are gonna be brillient. they are high school's. and although our children are only 7,5 and 2. i'm already thinking of high school's. as the one which is the closest at the moment doesn't give me any reason to inspire me. but things can change.