Schools to be made into academies
 

I thought this might be better with it's own thread.

Osborne to focus budget on plan to turn all English schools into academies.

Well my wife works in a school and she isn't so sure that this would actually work.

Main focus would be who is the employer? the local councils or the school themselves who pays the staff? will there have to be new contracts and rates of pay. will the schools still be subject to the same holidays or down to the head of the school to set their own.

They also want to make 8 hour days but can kids actually focus for this long?

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Here is a link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35815023

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Your wife really should know the answer to this by now, an as for kids "focusing" in China the average school day is 7:30am to 5:30pm an their students do a lot better than ours, by a long way.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Perhaps the 8hr day won't include pupils but instead provide training sessions instead of giving kids the day off for them to happen.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Nope she doesn't know the answer there hasn't been any briefings on this at all other than this being a possibility mentioned last year.

As for China being so far ahead well they all can't be that educated you just have to look at the work houses where they have poor working conditions and long hours

---------- Post added 17-03-2016 at 00:38 ---------- Previous post was 16-03-2016 at 23:10 ----------

Thanks for the link...so basically after reading it they don't really have a clue atm how it is going to play out.

You'd have thought they at least might have had some idea how this was going to work before putting a shout out about the change.

I suppose we can only sit back and watch while it goes down the same route as Blairs size 9's into education education education

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

So in basic terms education in England is just about to be privatized?

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Like everything else..

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Well state run education has failed our children as revealed by international standards. Privatisation should be given the chance to show how it should be done. Of course the teaching unions will squeal merry hell but since they, in part, are the problem with our lamentable low school standards so be it.

It is a sorry state of affaires when many children, after 11 years of "education", can't read, write, add up or string together a coherent sentence.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

It wouldn't be that bad if they didn't also mess up the teaching for the brightest pupils as well. e.g. missing teachers for long periods of time and then after complaints hiring effort from the local private schools.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

In the same way that GP services already are (in Scotland as well as in
England).

Unless you live in an extremely remote area where it's very hard to attract a permanent GP to run a practice, your GP practice is a private partnership which holds a contract to provide NHS services.

In England, some academy schools are owned by private trusts which are funded by the DfE, others have converted from local authority control so it's less clear to me who ultimately "owns" them (except that the buildings themselves who'll presumably be owned by the state).

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

I'm surprised that the Local Government Association hasn't been up in arms about this. I'd imagine education is a massive part of councils' budgets.

In Wales education will still be under the auspices of the Welsh Government and Local Councils, and with the Labour stranglehold on the Welsh government still firmly in place, I doubt we'll see any plans to radically change the education system here, despite some obvious failings.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Normally the Local Authority holds the freehold to the land and buildings, the academy trust holds the leasehold (usually on a 125 year lease), the staff are TUPE'd over on the same employment terms and conditions and are employed by the academy trust. Hope this clarifies some of the points raised.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Very much so :tu:

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Just look what is coming to light now in regards to the announcement
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35831935

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Interesting that schools are now going to be required to become academies and to be freed from local authority influence.

I wonder if this applies to public schools like Eton etc.

If not, maybe the new academies ought to emulate public schools given that they have such high standards and supply many of our politicians, captains of industry and other leaders.

Mind you, if the academies fail the government will be left with egg on its face as they will be unable to blame local authorities as was the case in the past.

Governments tend to forget that all their manipulation of the education system could be a contributory factor not only in terms of falling standards but also in terms of the difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers.

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

For personal reasons I can't even come close to being unbiased on this, so will just run with:

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2016/03/7.jpg

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

This is reinstatement of Grammar/Secondary schools except this time round the 'customers' will be segregated by ability to pay rather than academic ability. The trouble with the old system was that too many well-heeled hooray henry's couldn't cut it when competing with the riff-raff so measures were needed to redress a false balance.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

None of the academies in Leeds (or anywhere else I know) charge fees, or take parental income into consideration when admitting pupils, so I am confused by what you posted.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Absolutely right - academies are prevented by law from charging and pupil admissions are on the same basis as LA schools.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

In which case, I am completely wrong.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

You're not entirely wrong, 75% of heads who's schools were or were about to become academies thought their school would benefit financially not educationally from the change of status.

This is quite old now but still quite a good read

http://www.newstatesman.com/educatio...ools-academies

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

The only difference really is where the funding comes from ,state schools get their funding from local authorities academies get it directly from central government

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Thanks guys :)

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

How many head teachers will take cash in hand once all this goes through so that someone can get their child in their local school?

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

At lot less than MPs & Lords who fiddle expenses

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Nice unanswerable question/smear...:dozey:

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Paywall.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Works fine for me and I don't subscribe

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Some of the early convertors may have benefited financially but that hasn't been the case for a long time. Academies are now funded per child exactly the same as they would be if the were a Grant Maintained school.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

I can see that OFSTED not inspecting a failing school within a given period after a new head has taken over could be a good thing. If any school is that bad, it's going to take time for a new head to work out what is and isn't working, and to change what isn't working.

If the school is inspected while the changes are being made, the inspection may bring a bad result, which could reflect badly on the new head, even at future schools.

The state has no input in running them, so I doubt the Government could change them to academies any more than it can change private schools.

Maggie will correct me here, if I am wrong, but I think that given the right people in charge, State schools could be made to run as well as public schools, but it will take time. Certainly more than one term of government (which is all politicians seem to worry about).

It will also require serious money to be spent (something which neither major political party will ever commit to), and will also require that the government do not meddle.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36227570

Excellent news.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Sanity prevails. Forcing schools to become academy's is undemocratic. It should be a combined decision for the governors, teaching staff and the parents.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

This idea seems to have been ditched just as quickly as it appeared. Weird. :shrug:

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Cameron is desperate to avoid damage to himself as it might affect the EU referendum result. Expect plenty of U turns in the next two months as he tries to cling to power.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Yes l am glad they have listened as that's what politicians should do when there is deep unease about certain policies.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Timing of this latest U-turn, is very suspect. Last thing on a Friday in the middle of election results !
See they've also now decided to talk to junior doctors too; Dave's really running scared on the referendum.

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

I'm normally a fan of u turns, it shows people are listening, reasonable and not so ignorant that they think they know best come what may. However to many more to quickly will be dizzying and they'll look like dithering incompetents

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Except this isn't a genuine change of heart. A referendum is imminent which the Govt. is petrified of losing . Hence the junior Dr talks suddenly being reopened aswell. I'd conclude negotiation before June 23 if I were them, as the govt. will stop talking again after then.

So far we've had u turns on child tax credits, disability benefits, child refugees, TU reform, academies ... The iron lady will be u turning in her grave...

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Possibly because of massive dissent within the Tory camp..However I think it's just been shelved not kicked into the long grass.:erm:

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

So they don't look like dithering incompetents already?

Cheers

Grim

Re: Schools to be made into academies
 

Hmm. I strongly suspect this won't look so good once the small print is examined. Trivial to portray this as listening to teachers while simultaneously loading the dice so heavily as to ensure that fewer schools fall inside the 'high-performing' range that avoids compulsion.

Feel sorry for Nicky Morgan having to take the flak for Nick Gibbs again.

---------- Post added at 12:34 ---------- Previous post was at 12:29 ----------

The level of incompetence is immense. No idea what they are thinking. Seem to be making a string of decisions based purely on ideology then being forced to wind their necks in when the practicalities, and the minor fact that the public and apparently many of their own MPs do not share such extreme ideologies, come back to bite them.

Wish they'd just be open and admit they want to put everything into the private sector so that their donors and mates can profit from our taxes, while simultaneously being able to deliver better services more cheaply because of course the private sector is always better than the public one, and be done with it.