Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
This piece of legislation frightens me as it's impact is far reaching and could dramatically change our educational landscape over the next 5 years.
As a School Governor myself, the demonising of Local Authority Education Departments is particularly frightening when the skill sets we enjoy in our own City are mostly of a high standard with wide ranging skills offered to it's schools. We also have schools forming local mutual beneficial alliances such as the Portslade Cluster where schools share experience, training, staff and governor skills.
There doesn't seem to be any convincing evidence that pulling a school out of it's local elected council control has any real benefit or delivers greater success. In my own school we were put in special measures and resisted being made an academy. With local authority support, a change in leadership, and a new governing body saw this school transformed within 6 months. It wouldn't have happened that quickly had the school been forced down a path of academy status.
Academy status may suit some institutions, but this bill seeks to force that change in a very undemocratic way. Schools needs support, help, leadership and funding to pull them out of trouble. Whether they are local authority schools or academies, that support is what transforms a school, not simply switching the status of it.
As a School Governor myself, the demonising of Local Authority Education Departments is particularly frightening when the skill sets we enjoy in our own City are mostly of a high standard with wide ranging skills offered to it's schools. We also have schools forming local mutual beneficial alliances such as the Portslade Cluster where schools share experience, training, staff and governor skills.
There doesn't seem to be any convincing evidence that pulling a school out of it's local elected council control has any real benefit or delivers greater success. In my own school we were put in special measures and resisted being made an academy. With local authority support, a change in leadership, and a new governing body saw this school transformed within 6 months. It wouldn't have happened that quickly had the school been forced down a path of academy status.
Academy status may suit some institutions, but this bill seeks to force that change in a very undemocratic way. Schools needs support, help, leadership and funding to pull them out of trouble. Whether they are local authority schools or academies, that support is what transforms a school, not simply switching the status of it.
