Are academies the right answer?
Every school in the country will have the chance to opt out of local government control - but should they?
County education boss Ivan Ould yesterday appealed to schools to stick with the council.
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Ivan Ould
His plea came after the coalition Government unveiled plans to allow every primary and secondary school in the country to become academies – directly funded by Whitehall and outside of local authority control.
Councillor Ould, the council's Tory cabinet member for education, said he thought schools would flourish more working together under the wing of the county council.
Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove is to write to every head teacher inviting them to break their ties with local Government in the hope that greater independence and autonomy will help drive up educational standards.
Mr Gove says he wants to free schools from red tape.
Coun Ould said the performance of existing academies had not yet delivered convincing improvements.
He said: "More than two-thirds of the schools in Leicestershire are rated good or outstanding, so I hope head teachers would want to stick with us.
"There are, of course, some very good academies but there are also many Ofsted say are failing, so I don't think the case for them improving education has been made convincingly."
Coun Ould said he was not convinced academies would be as independent as promised and would have less of a voice if they had to report to the Government.
He said: "If schools do not have to answer to us they will have to answer to Westminster, so this seems to be switching one control for another."
Under Mr Gove's plans, schools rated as outstanding by Ofsted will be the first to be allowed to apply to become academies and could change status as early as September.
Most of the head teachers who spoke to the Leicester Mercury about the issue yesterday said they were uncertain about taking up the Government option.
A senior member of staff at a county secondary school told the Mercury the Government's academies proposal presented opportunities and pitfalls.
He said: "It would give a school the ability to use all its funding in the way most appropriate for its own needs without the direction from the local authority."
Andy Robinson, head teacher of Burton-on-the-Wolds Primary School, said: "I'm open-minded about the idea. "Head teachers will all have to make their own judgments if they think it's the best interest of pupils to opt out of local authority control."
Karen Allen, head teacher of Blaby Thistly Meadow Primary School, said: "I can't see myself ever taking up the offer and I don't think many other heads will. I value the support I get from the council."
The Mercury attempted to contact Leicester City Council cabinet member for education Vi Dempster for a comment but she was not available.
The National Union of Teachers will write to every head teacher and governing body to urge them to reject the offer.
Peter Flack, assistant secretary of the Leicester branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), described the Government's proposals as foolish.
He said: "All this does is take schools out of the control of the local authority and the local family of schools.
"If the Government wants to give schools more freedom it should simply give it to them."
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by sue, Oadby
Friday, May 28 2010, 9:36AM
“There are many parents who would like to support and be involved with their children's education but they have not had a good education. We have many good and outstanding schools in the county. The schools that are deemed satisfactory or good will still have some teachers and other staff that try to help ALL children to reach their potential. Governors may also be good. Sadly there are still many children who don't have access to the education which helps them to reach their potential.”
by CGLee, near Melton
Thursday, May 27 2010, 5:05PM
“It is my belief that there are no bad schools, only bad pupils. Sadly, some schools are attended by unruly children from homes where the parent(s) couldn't care less and have no interest in the education of their children or how they behave. What chance have teachers got when their classes are continually disrupted by these chidren? They have few sanctions and little power to deal with them. I don't really see that renaming schools academies and giving them a degree of autonomy will make any difference. What is needed is a return to the days where the teachers are boss and the children do as they are told.”
by Anne Bond, Oadby Leics
Thursday, May 27 2010, 12:44PM
“It is not right to put full onus for education on the parents(we see the selfishness of many outside the school gates every day!!)
I thought the idea on schools was to bring them further under Local Govt Control,thereby giving the Local Council more opportunity to put the Budget where it is most needed.Most schools have Governors ,which have their fair share of parents,if parents want more say get more involved as a Governor.
If they are really concerned and have the cash then there are many excellant Private Schools already which they can send little Johnny too!?
Michael Gove should be working with the County Councils on getting more discipline back in the hands of the Head Teachers and have proper ways of dealing with the unruly!!”
by martin, le3
Thursday, May 27 2010, 11:29AM
“Which party was it that bought us that national curriculum? Only the simple minded would say that one Party had the definitive answer to schools - both have a patchy record and neither has given high quality education based on pupils needs and ability to all.
Academies might work out just fine, but they might also exaggerate the differences between areas and regions. If you look locally, its hard to see how it will help the problem schools like Fullhurst? If the better schools in the area are able to leave local authorities and become Academies, what becomes of those that need the most sorting out? The risk is that the better schools get better and the less good get worse - as far as I can see none of the Parties have much of a solution for this. The unpalatable truth is that failing schools probably need more money and resources, they probably also need the best and most motivated teachers who might prefer pay and conditions in an Academy school.
I think perhaps many parents in the area of a better school dont care about the others, and it is only natural for parents to put their children first. But there is a cost to everyone when schools churn out unqualified, demotivated and dissolutioned 16 year olds - often bright kids that might turn their capabilities to anti social behaviours.”
by Kulgan, Crydee
Thursday, May 27 2010, 10:23AM
“Unlike Pete of Wigston whose glass is half-empty, I think that academies are a good idea.
Labour tried to micromanage every facet of the public services with endless initiatives and hundreds of pages of documents monthly. Let the teachers teach and let the doctors doctor. The sooner the running of our public services is de-centralised the better.”