With changes taking place across the UK school system at an almost unprecedented pace,
from academisation to assessment changes, it is essential that school leaders have a space to come together, debate ideas and share their experiences and best practice.
The risks involved with signing up to construction contracts, and the ongoing complexities arising
from academisation plans, require a legal perspective.
Not exact matches
However, its plans for increased
academisation have faced opposition
from teaching unions, who warn there is no solid proof that turning schools into academies will help to improve standards.
A new report
from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) and the London School of Economics (LSE) has advised that
academisation «is not a panacea» and «does not automatically raise standards».
The Education and Adoption Bill is undemocratic in forcing
academisation without consultation and excludes the school
from selecting the sponsor that is most appropriate to them.»
However, the suggestion of forced
academisation drew heavy criticism
from teaching unions and the Labour Party, who argued that there was no clear evidence that academy conversion actually raised standards and it would be a waste of money to force successful local authority run schools to convert.
Although the original intention to legislate for universal
academisation was subsequently dropped amidst much pressure
from parents, governors, and even
from within the Conservative party, the government has made clear that its preferred outcome is for all schools to become academies.
Schools where 11 - year - old children don't meet the scores expected in reading, writing and maths, can still be deemed «above the floor» — and so exempt
from interventions including forced
academisation — if those children have made sufficient progress.
Academisation means SBMs are facing increasingly complicated and diverse duties just as the support
from local authority services disappear.
The new «Bett Academies» event has been officially launched and will run
from 16 to 17 March at the NEC in Birmingham, providing advice, guidance and inspiration to academies, multi-academy trusts (MATs) and schools exploring
academisation.
Variation within regions Another key observation to come
from the report is that the difference in
academisation within regions is larger than variation between regions.
Morgan's u-turn followed an uprising against forced
academisation from backbench Tory MPs who were particularly concerned about the potential impact on smaller schools in rural areas.
These findings suggest the government's new proposals would protect these areas
from forced
academisation.
But Mr Shaw added: «In an era of universal
academisation and tight local government budgets, it is far
from clear that local authorities are best placed to monitor the quality of SEND provision in schools.»
Plans in the document to turn every state school in England into an academy by 2022 have come under fire
from teaching unions and parents» groups, with ongoing protests against forced
academisation planned across the country.
So I want to move away
from forced
academisation being seen as this punitive threat that can also hang over schools that are not failing.
They are still in the same situation after forcible
Academisation and then being removed
from the first academy chain and handed over to a second.
He said in the letter that the next sentence
from the press release had read: «It is clear that
academisation has led to a greater competition, challenging many maintained schools to improve and incentivising local authorities to develop speedier and more effective interventions in underperforming schools.»