Academy Campaigns

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ACADEMY CAMPAIGNS

Copland strike followed by action groups

Following the strike action by teacher unions at Copland Community School in Brent on 23 May 2015, two action groups – one for staff and another for parents – have been established to coordinate their continued opposition to the imposition of an interim executive board (IEB) and forced academy conversion of the school.

The Unions and action groups have written to the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, requesting an urgent meeting. They are demanding a secret ballot of all staff and parents before any decisions are madeabout Copland's future and a commitment from the Government to rebuild the dilapidated school buildings that Ofsted have stated are not fit for purpose and have adversely effected pupils' education.

The joint unions are considering a further day of strike action before the end of term if they cannot get agreement from Brent Council and the DfE that Copland will not be forced to become an academy.(Joint unions’ press release, 17.06.13)

Strong parental support for Abbey Meadows remaining community school

Parent campaigners at Abbey Meadows primary school in Cambridgeshire are celebrating the results of a parent consultation which revealed a huge show of support for their children's school. Parents returned 169 consultation forms and all but three voted to keep Abbey Meadows as a Community School. Two voted for a sponsored academy and one had no opinion. Parents say: “The scale of the response was overwhelming, and sends a clear message to the governors, Chris Beddow [the Head Teacher] and the staff: We and our children are happy at Abbey Meadows, we want to keep you, and we want to keep our school the way it is.”

A group of parents meet with local Conservative MP Julian Huppert to express their concerns over the school’s recent Ofsted judgement of ‘inadequate’ and the proposed academisation. Parents asked the MP to support the school should it choose to remain a community school and he agreed to write to Michael Gove and ask that the DfE respect the decision of the governors. (Save Abbey Meadows campaign press releases)

The campaign’s website is at:

Roke to be handed over to Harris

Roke primary school in Croydon, where parents put up a determined fight to prevent the forced academisation of their school, is to be handed over to the Harris academy chain.

A letter from Lord Nash to the school’s chair of governors on 19 June 2013 announced that the school would become a Harris academy on 1September. The letter acknowledged that 63 per cent of respondents to the official ‘consultation’, “were in support of Roke remaining a local authority maintained school” and that two parental polls and a petition organised by parents and the school outside the formal consultation “showed that the majority of respondents oppose the move to academy status”.

An Ofsted monitoring inspection in January found that the previously ‘outstanding’ school was making ‘satisfactory’ progress but a further inspection this month judged that the school now requires special measures. What Lord Nash’s letter fails to acknowledge is the role that the forced academisation process itself has played in destabilising the school. The head resigned in April and it has been reported that 29 staff – including 12 of the school’s 17 teachers, two teaching assistants, five midday supervisors, three children’s centre employees and a librarian – will have left by the end of term. In their latest report, Ofsted cite high staff turnover since September 2012 as a reason why some teachers had missed out on training.

Parent Becky Carrier, 31, told the Croydon Guardian: “How can standards not now slip, when children have been robbed of teachers often mid-way through term? These are good, inspiring, motivated teachers who have been put through the forced academy wringer, with disastrous results. This is exactly what we predicted would happen, that our good teachers would leave in droves. Forced academy is toxic and does more damage to a school than good.” (Croydon Guardian, 07.06.13 and Lord Harris letter to Roke chair of governors, 19.06.13)

The campaign website is at:

Staffordshire schools’ petition against forced academisation

Campaigners fighting plans to force two Staffordshire primary schools into academy status are to a deliver a petition to the local Conservative MP Aiden Burley who has spoken in favour of the move and has accused the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) of “shameful scaremongering”. The Parents Action Group has gathered around 700 signatures opposing the forced academisation at Norton Canes and Heath Hayes primary schools in Cannock.

The petition can be found at:

Colne Valley – No Academy!

A new group has been established to build a campaign objecting to Colne Valley High School becoming an academy.

The group’s Facebook page can be found at: any doubts about a school being turned into an academy, google, 'The Anti Academies Alliance'. It is Tory ideology to remove schools from the state sector ,effectively, turn them into 'businesses' by taking them into the private sector. Once an academy, heads can more or less do as they like to the detriment of teachers wages, terms and conditions. They are able to determine the admissions process (selection by the back door) , choose the curriculum and in brief, accountabilty and democratic control are lost. Please get your friends to join the campaign.

ACADEMIES

DfE creates new ‘middle tier’ to further academy programme

A leaked internal DfE newsletter appears to show that the Department has set up what could be seen as a “middle tier” of officials and consultants to monitor the performance of both academies and non-academy maintained schools in nine regions across England. According to the website SecEd the newsletter, sent to staff in the DfE’s Infrastructure and Funding division, “talks about the amalgamation of separate offices within the DfE – the Office of the Schools Commissioner and the Academies Delivery Group – into one overarching academies group”.

The move is being seen as a response to concerns about the Department’s capacity to provide effective oversight and support for academies as well a need to establish an administrative function between central Government and the operation of schools at a local level. But the proposals are not aimed at redressing the balance of power in favour of local accountability and democratic oversight. To the contrary, they appear to envisage the creation of a more extensive Departmental bureaucracy, albeit with a regional structure, and will further emphasise academisation as a solution to “underperformance”.

The DfE newsletter describes the creation of a division whose “functions will be split across three divisions: the North … Central … and South … with small units within that structure focusing on the nine government regions.” It continues: “Each division will be responsible for monitoring and intervening in underperforming schools in their region, whether they be maintained schools to be brokered for an academy solution with a sponsor, or an open academy.”

The proposed regional structure of the new system is explicitly linked to Ofsted’s recent adoption of regional directors and inspection teams, in a move that will reinforce suspicions that the inspection body and the DfE are increasingly working together to further the academy agenda. The newsletter states: “We will create a national sponsor function … looking at relationships and the future sponsor market. Later in the year we expect to be recruiting a new schools commissioner to further support the work of identifying and encouraging the sponsors of the future.”

“These changes help the academies group align itself with the new regional structures in Ofsted and the (Education Funding Agency), ensuring a more coherent view of local issues with better intelligence about schools and sponsors.”

Work on the new system was due to begin in April. In February the DfE also set up an internal “academies board” under Theodore Agnew – a DfE non-executive director and Conservative Party donor who is himself an academy sponsor – to link academy sponsors with schools and encourage more sponsorship. (SecEd News, 09.05.13)

Academy chainforces move for year six pupils

Year six pupils at an academy in the Devon village of Lapford may have to travel to a different school eight miles away under plans being imposed by the school’s sponsor. Lapford community primary school opted to join the Chulmleigh Academy Trust, formed of three other small primaries and the local secondary school, Chulmleigh Community College, in January 2012. The shift to academy status was initially welcomed by parents. However parents have rejected plans for older pupils to be taught at another of the trust's primaries for part of the week. Under revised plans announced by the head of the academy trust and Principal of Chulmleigh Community College, Mike Johnson, year six pupils at both Lapford and East Worlington will be expected to travel to another school in the trust, Chulmleigh primary, which neighbours the community college.

Lapford parents have collected a 370-signature petition opposing the plan, an impressive level of support in a village of 250 homes. Nevertheless, the trust has rejected the parents' alternative for all Lapford pupils to be taught in their own school by two full-time and one half-time teacher supported by parent volunteers.

When parents complained to the DfE they were told: "There is no statutory requirement for the academy trust to carry out consultation on the restructuring". The trust says that the move is necessary for financial reasons but that the main objective is to improve standards at Lapford and East Worlington. Both schools have ‘requires improvement’ verdicts from Ofsted and the trust claim that the quickest way to raise standards would be to have both classes taught at Chulmleigh primary, which was judged ‘outstanding’ when last inspected in 2006.

The situation illustrates the power the Government has given to academy chains to take major decisions over the future of schools. It also shows the lack of accountability within multi-academy trust – there is no individual governing body for each school, and therefore no formal representation for Lapford’s school community among the trust's decision-making directors. (Guardian, 20.05.13)

Academy brokers complaints

The DfE has refused to release details of the official complaints that have been partially upheld against some of its academy brokers. The schools minister Elizabeth Truss answered a question by her shadow counterpart Kevin Brennan MP on 25 April 2013. She said the Department for Education had received six formal complaints about academy brokers, two of which were partially upheld. Mr Brenan tabled a follow up question on 21 May requesting “(a) the nature of the two partially upheld complaints and (b) the grounds on which they were upheld.”

The response, provided by Conservative MP Edward Timpson,confirmed only that “the two complaints against brokers that were partially upheld regarded matters of conduct constituting minor procedural infractions.” No further information about the nature of the complaints or the grounds on which they were partially upheld was disclosed on the basis that this “would risk identifying individual cases and therefore jeopardise the confidentiality afforded to the complainant and subject, and be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs.”

It also appears that there is confusion within the DfE about the code of conduct to which academy brokers must adhere. Responding to a parliamentary question on 12 March 2013, Elizabeth Truss claimed that: “The Departmental brokers have contracts with the Department that state their terms and conditions. They are not paid on results, and they are subject to the civil service code of conduct.”

However, a subsequent response to a freedom of information request made by Janet Downs, a member of the Local Schools Network appeared to contradict this, stating that: “Brokers are not employed by the Crown, therefore they are not bound by the Civil Service Code.” Ms Downs also points out that, contrary to the response from the DfE and the earlier statement by Liz Truss, broker contracts contain a clause which suggests the possibility of some form of payment by results since they state: “Post contract Award key performance indicators will be discussed and agreed with the Contract Manager”.(Hansard, HC Deb, 21.05.13, Local Schools Network, 05.06.13)

Further ‘emergency funding’for academies

The total amount of emergency funding provided to academies has increased by 52 per cent, according to education finance provider Syscap. The Government gave £9 million in emergency funding to nine academy schools in the 2011/12 financial year, a substantial increase on the £5.9m provided the previous year.

Syscap also warns that the correction of previousoverpayments of Lacseg funding to academies could increase the financial pressures on them. While academies will not be asked to repay overpayments received to date, next year’s per-pupil grants will be lower as the payment is readjusted.(Syscap website, 16.05.13)

Return to secrecy over academy finances

Academy finances would be freely available to parents, David Cameron said last year, but the DfE have apparently taken steps in the opposite direction, failing to release the same level of financial information about academies as they did last year. In 2012 the DfE published a spread-sheet of per-student income and expenditure for academies for 2010/11 and displayed this information for individual academies on the Performance Tables section of the DfE website. At the time the DfE were heavily criticised by the Public Accounts Committee for not providing individual school expenditure data for academies that were part of a chain. But now no information for academies is available at all. In contrast DfE Performance Tables provide full financial information for maintained schools. (Local Schools Network, 17.06.13)

Sussex academy pays £100,000 for US curriculum

An academy trust which runs four schools in Sussex is paying its US parent company £100,000 a year to use its patented global curriculum, which has been criticised by Ofsted for lacking a "local" focus. Aurora Academies Trust took over the four schools – King Offa and Glenleigh Park in Bexhill and Heron Park and Oakwood in Eastbourne –after Education Secretary Michael Gove criticised the local authority for "failing actively to pursue sponsored academy solutions". Aurora also has "lead sponsor" status with the DfE, meaning it is consulted on policy decisions and is likely to run more schools in the future.

Aurora was established by Mosaica Education UK, a subsidiary of Mosaica Education Inc, an American company which runs schools in 12 US states, the United Arab Emirates and India. Mosaica receives £100 per pupil per year in royalties from Aurora for the use of its Paragon curriculum, with around 1,000 children at the four schools, this means Mosaica receives about £100,000 a year from the arrangement.

NUT General Secretary Christine Blower said: "This is taxpayers' money, which should be targeted directly at children's education in the classroom. What is most shocking is that no accountability mechanism exists to prevent this, nor is there any form of quality assurance."

Mosaica’s US record has also been questioned.A comprehensive analysis conducted by Arizona State University in 2005 lists the first 36 schools founded by Mosaica since it began operating in 1997, of which 27 have since been shut down by local authorities or have ended their association with the company.

In 2007 the governing body of Lafayette Academy charter school in New Orleans took legal action to break its contract with the firm. The school was awarded $350,000 because the curriculum provided by Mosaica was not aligned to state standards which resulted in students failing tests. In addition, it was claimed that Mosaica had failed to performroutine student assessments or create tailored student education plans. (Guardian, 18.05.13, Times-Picayune, 14.09.07, ‘Profiles of For-Profit Education Management Organizations 2004-2005, Seventh-Annual Report’, Commercialism in Education Research Unit, Arizona State University, 2005)

NUT questions payments to academy chains

The Yorkshire Post newspaper has reported on how expanding academy chains have taken millions of pounds from the county’s schools’ budgets while paying their own top bosses six-figure salaries. Around £9million has been top-sliced in the past three years from Yorkshire’s primary and secondary academies in order to pay for chains’ central services – including the wages of several chief executives who earned more than £150,000 and a director-general whose take home pay was around £280,000 a year.

There are now almost 300 academies in the region, with more than 60 schools operating within larger chains.Four of the biggest chains operating in Yorkshire – Academies Enterprise Trust (AET), E-ACT, School Partnership Trust Academies (SPTA) and Outwood Grange Academies Trust – are reported to pay their most senior figures salaries greater than the £142,500 earned by the Prime Minister.