Ofsted gives academy the ‘thumbs up’

A leading academy in Lincolnshire has received a big tick following its first inspection report from education watchdog Ofsted. The E-ACT sponsored Trent Valley Academy in Gainsborough was described as "Making good progress towards raising standards" during a recent monitoring inspection.

The visit which was carried out in June was the first inspection for the academy, and as well as observing lessons across a wide range of subjects, inspectors interviewed staff, governors, students, and carefully scrutinised a variety of documents.

The academy sponsor E-ACT opened the academy in 2008 and moved to a multimillion-pound new building in 2009.

Tom Megahy, Executive Principal of Trent Valley Academy said: "Clearly we are delighted to see the efforts of our whole school community recognised in this way, and we remain conscious that ongoing support from the parents and our sponsors E-ACT, is a key factor in our continuing improvement."

E-ACT Director of Education Gerry Walters said: Trent Valley Academy continues to make great progress.  Like other schools in the area, it provides an excellent education for all learners, and provides a first class resource for its community."

The key areas and observations included: 

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4 is improving with most students exceeding challenging targets

Student behaviour has improved significantly with very low levels of exclusions

The majority of lessons observed were good with a small number judged outstanding

A broad and effective curriculum which meets the needs and interests of students

procedures for pastoral care being clear and well organised

The Academy is led effectively by the Principal and senior staff

The Academy receives effective challenge and support from its School Improvement Partner and representatives of the sponsors

 

A small number of priorities for ongoing improvement were identified, and the academy is working flat out to make sure that on their next visit, inspectors can see the difference made in all areas identified

Michael Gove defends academies push

Education secretary says scheme for schools to opt out of local authority control was debated during election campaign

The education secretary, Michael Gove, has defended himself against accusations that MPs had not had enough time to debate flagship legislation to transform England's schools, arguing that the plans were well-aired during the election.

MPs will this afternoon get their first chance to debate a bill that allows every school in England to become an academy – with schools rated outstanding by Ofsted being fast-tracked, so that hundreds could convert by the start of the new school year. To enable this to happen, the government has compressed the committee stage in which bills are usually studied in detail by a panel of MPs. Instead, this stage will take place in two days on the floor of the House of Commons.

Gove said the bill was a centrepiece of the election campaign and schools needed to be rescued from decline.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Rushed laws can be bad laws. But it is also the case that if you've had extensive debate during the course of an election campaign, if you have, as we have, hundreds of schools who are anxious to take advantage of these proposals, then it is understandable that you want to honour the manifesto commitment."

Debate on the bill will come as teachers and parents arrive at parliament to protest against the scrapping of a £55bn school building programme. Construction workers, pupils, school governors, local authority officials and MPs will also take part in the rally organised by the teaching union NASUWT.

The academies bill restores freedoms removed from the schools under Gordon Brown, including the right to abandon the national curriculum – though a new curriculum must be "balanced and broadly based".

At present there are 203 academies, most of which have replaced weak or underperforming schools. Figures published last week showed that just over 1,900 schools have expressed an interest in converting to academy status, including 1,038 rated outstanding, and Gove hopes a large number of these will be converted by September. For this to happen, the bill needs to be passed before parliament rises for the summer recess next week.

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Introduction to the Academies Bill

The Queen's speech set out the legislative framework for taking forward the range of major school reforms being planned by the Coalition Government, and as anticipated, a major thrust of the reforms involves a rapid extension of academy schools. Whilst a number of other crucial school reforms are in the pipeline (e.g. the establishment of 'free schools'), the main priority of the TUC and school workforce unions at present is to campaign against the Academies Bill. And in particular to oppose plans by government to enable a significant number of schools to transfer to academy status early in the new school year with limited consultation with parents, staff, pupils, and the local community.

This briefing provides further information on the campaign against the Academies Bill, including access to the campaigning materials that have been jointly produced by the school workforce unions (available at: www.tuc.org.uk/academies). The aim of the briefing is to help all unions make the case within their own memberships of the urgent need to support the campaign, especially as regards influencing schools in their local community not to take up the offer from the Secretary of State to be fast-tracked to academy status early in the new school year.

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Inside an academy

29 June 2010 With the number of academy schools due to expand rapidly, Lauren Higgs visits Petchey Academy in east London to see how it is improving the prospects of its pupils.

The "family service", or lunchtime as it's known to most of us, is a lively affair at Petchey Academy. The bright modern dining room at the east London school is packed with children tucking into rice and curry and chatting about their day.

Instead of lunching with friends, pupils sit on designated family tables. Children from different years are mixed together and there is at least one adult on every table.

David Daniels, principal of the academy, located in a notoriously deprived area, believes family service is vital to his pupils' wellbeing.

"For a lot of our kids this is the one proper meal of the day," he explains. "We far exceed government guidelines on healthy eating. We have mixed religion tables and mixed age tables, so pupils have access to role models as well. Henry, a year 10 boy who is going to go far, is on a table with a couple of year 7s."

Daniels describes lunchtime at the academy as "a lock-down situation". Pupils are not allowed to bring any food or drink to school, except for water and fresh fruit.

Chefs, not school cooks, are responsible for the catering, which is generally well received. "Some of the boys have been caught sneaking sachets of ketchup in their socks," Daniels says. "They try and bend the rules, but they're inventive, which is a good sign of entrepreneurship."

By Lauren Higgs (Children & Young People Now)
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Day of celebration marks academy's opening

Honda’s slogan ‘the power of dreams’ became a reality with the official opening of its £34 million state-of-the-art school.

Swindon Academy pupils, who waited two years for the new facilities in Beech Avenue, Pinehurst, were visited by representatives from school sponsor Honda including its most advanced humanoid robot Asimo.

Principal Jan Shadick said to her pupils: “It’s not just buildings that make a place special, it’s the people in them that do that and you are what makes Swindon Academy special and a place I want to come to every day.

“The building reflects us, it’s a positive can-do, unique building and it has that feel to it just like you do.”

The academy, which caters for children aged 0-19, first opened in September 2007 as a replacement for Pinehurst Infants, Pinehurst Junior and Headlands Schools and building work on the new site began in May 2008.

Students moved into the building, which is run by the United Learning Trust (ULT) and sponsored by the car manufacturer, just before Christmas last year.

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Academies: an issue that's not clear cut

The new government claims there will be hundreds of new academies by September. Should you be one of them? Hannah Frankel reports

It is a spectacular fall from grace by anyone's standards. In 2006, it was found to be an "outstanding college where all students are able to achieve the success they deserve".

Fast forward to the next inspection and it is a very different story. This time around, it "failed to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education", according to Ofsted. Without further ado the school was placed in special measures.

So what had changed to affect the verdict so drastically between inspections? The same leadership team was in place, the pupil intake had not changed. There was one tangible difference, however: the school had become an academy.

It is not just a bitter blow for Shireland Collegiate Academy in Smethwick, West Midlands. Ofsted's judgment has cast fresh doubts over the Government's attempt to roll out a major expansion of the academies programme.

Yet as one academy plummets down the ratings, another one goes up. When Frank Green arrived as its second principal in 1997, he says Leigh City Technology College in Dartford, Kent, was a "seriously failing school". The previous year, just 26 per cent of pupils achieved five good GCSEs.

In 2007, it became an academy. Last year, 95 per cent achieved five A*-Cs and Ofsted judged the once under-performing school to be outstanding. "We only get 11-plus failures, yet we are flourishing," says Mr Green. "Becoming an academy has been a phenomenally transformative process. It is not an absolute necessity in the route to success, but it does breed an independence of spirit and mind for headteachers. It lends you a resolve and determination to achieve things without relying on other people."

Despite the reversal of fortunes at Shireland, executive principal Sir Mark Grundy does not regret pursuing academy status. He claims Ofsted's verdict does not reflect the school's achievements, and denies that academy status played a part in turning outstanding into special measures. In fact, he says it has had the opposite effect.

"It has had a hugely positive impact," he says. "The wealth of experience our sponsor (the Ormiston Trust, a children's charity) brings alone has made it worthwhile. Having the freedom to innovate has been fantastic."

But despite his protestations, the Ofsted report is an embarrassment to Education Secretary Michael Gove, who has made an expansion of the academies programme one of his flagship policies. One of his first acts on taking office was to write to all heads of outstanding schools to offer them the autonomy that comes with academy status.

"The last government denied teachers and headteachers the powers they need," he said during the Queen's Speech debate last month. "This Government will ensure all who do want them can receive them."

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Schools to become academies without consultation

Schools will not be required to consult with parents or staff before converting to academies, EducationInvestor understands.

Plans for schools to become academies as soon as this September have led some to warn that there would not be time for adequate consultation. And the Anti-Academies Alliance, a pressure group backed by the leading teaching unions, has threatened to block such moves by demanding judicial review of any decision that is made without discussions with parents and staff.

But both political and civil service sources told EducationInvestor that there was no statutory requirement for governing bodies to hold any such consultation. "They can demand as many judicial reviews as they like, but it's not going to work," said one.

Sources stressed, however, that schools should nonetheless discuss their plans with both teachers and parents.EducationInvestor also understands that the government has backed away from plans for hundreds of schools to become academies this autumn.

Although a few may switch that soon, the complexity of the change process means that the government has accepted that many schools are unlikely to make the jump before September 2011.

On 25 June the government published a list of around 1,600 schools that had expressed an interest in becoming academies. Those that are ranked ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted – around 900 of them – will be "fast-tracked".

Academy status gives schools more freedom over their curriculum, building, opening times and staff play, and means they are directly answerable to the education secretary rather than the local authority. It will also give them control of a greater proportion of their budget.

But bodies including the Catholic Education Service, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Grammar Schools Association have warned schools against rushing into academy status before more information is available.

Oona Standard, chief executive of the Catholic Education Service, warned heads that they would be "very unwise" to apply for academy status, which would mean "an uncertain future and a higher level of risk."

And the NGA pointed out that if governors decide to change their mind at a later date they would not be able to opt back into local authority control.


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The Big Debate - Academies

Jonathan Dimbleby brings together an authoritative panel before a studio audience of parents, teachers and pupils to debate the Government's controversial academies programme.

Though Tony Blair is no longer in power, his educational legacy lives on in the form of this most controversial policy. First launched in 2005, the academy programme aimed to replace 200 struggling secondary schools with privately sponsored academies.

But are academies the best way to bring much needed innovation into the education system or are they a dangerous dilution of the principle of state education?

Dimbleby discusses all the issues with panellists including anti-academies campaigner Fiona Millar, former Blair policy advisor Matthew Taylor - chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, a body which itself sponsors and works with academies.

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Need to Know - The New Academies

Mike Baker looks at the government policy on academies, and the advantages and disadvantages schools face in securing academy status.

Mike visits a primary academy which demonstrates some of the advantages of being free from local authority rules, including longer school days and a literacy and numeracy focused curriculum.

Next, headteacher Greg Wallace from an "outstanding" primary school, wants more information before applying for academy status. For example, what extra money will they receive and will academy status make them liable for VAT costs?

Mike concludes by summarising what is known about application procedures and explains how schools should weigh up their options in deciding whether or not to become academies

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Academies' success questioned over vocational subjects

The success of England's academies is being questioned after data showed they rely more heavily than regular state schools on vocational GCSE equivalents.

Figures from parliamentary questions, in the TES, show 49% of academy A*-C GCSE passes were for "academic" exams, compared with 73% in other schools.

Think tank Civitas says the vocational exams taken instead - which still count for league tables - are less demanding.

The government says academies are improving at twice the national rate.

And a spokesman stressed that this was even the case when these independently run, state-funded schools were measured against the national benchmark of five good (grades A* to C) GCSEs including English and maths.

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