Question and Answers on Academies

1Q What is an Academy?

1A An Academy is a new type of school set up by the Labour government. It is a school that is taken over by a private “sponsor” – basically anyone with a one-off payment of up to 10% of the funding (around £2 million). The Academy exists outside the normal regulations that apply to a state school. The DfEE’s own website makes it quite clear that Academies are a way of bypassing the Local Education Authority’s control of a school. Two of our neighbouring LEAs have been approached about having an Academy in their own borough and have refused. Why did our LEA open the door?

2Q How will parents’ and stakeholders’ views be taken into account when a decision is made about an Academy?

2A To most people the idea of “consultation” means listening to both views and then deciding or voting on the idea. This is not what consultation means to the LEA and the Vardy group. To them it means presentation. The “consultation” meetings that have been scheduled are rushed, brief and the agenda firmly fixed in favour of pushing through an Academy as quickly as possible. Councillor Aiden Rave has been quoted as saying that only if a “significant majority” of parents are against the proposed Academy will it be abandoned. What does this mean? 65%? 70%? 80%? It certainly means more than 51% of respondents in his view.

3Q Will my child be entitled to a place at the new Academy?

3A The LEA says your child will have “first priority” for a place. This is not the same as “yes” is it? One of our concerns is that either obvious selection or “selection by the backdoor” will be involved in the intake procedures for the Academy.

4Q Will pupils have to take a selection test?

4A The LEA says this will not happen – remember that answer. If it is true then the proposed Academy for Northcliffe will be unusual. Our research shows that other Academies operate covert selection – targeting areas for recruitment to the school that are well outside the catchment in an effort to fill places and make the school “oversubscribed” which means that it can legitimately turn away other pupils.

5Q I had heard that the proposed Academy was going to include a primary school. Is this true?

5A The LEA said “During early discussions, the possibility of a through school from age 4 to 18 was explored. Following consultation with headteachers and Chairs of Governors it was decided not to proceed with the primary aspect of the proposal.” This answer is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, it lets us know that these proposals were discussed well before we, the public, got to know about them. Secondly, it shows that we do have a chance at changing their minds.

6Q Who makes the decisions?

6A This is a very good question indeed. We know from the council’s answer that they and the government will try to push this decision through. However, the recent local elections have cast a large shadow of doubt over the Labour party’s flagship policies. Labour and, more particularly 3 Labour council cabinet members lost their seats and with it their majority right to steam ahead with rash decisions about our school. They now have only 27 seats in a council of 63 members. Surely this should be a message to them about the unpopularity of certain “key” Labour policies.

7Q How will the views of the wider community be taken into account?

7A The short answer to this question is that the council have been quite deliberately vague on the mechanics of how our views will count, if they listen to us at all. Some councils actually consult on the method of consultation but not Doncaster. We seem to be playing a game by their rules and they tell us these only when it suits them. Again we come back to the issue of consultation and what we think that means. At the time of writing this, thousands of people have now made their feelings known: that they don’t want a Vardy school in Conisbrough.

8Q Will my child have to attend another school while a new Academy is being built?

8A Mr Eales said “Children will continue to attend Northcliffe School until a new Academy is built and opened.” That sounds awfully like his decision has been made doesn’t it? The problem here is that IF the proposal is agreed, hundreds of our children ARE going to have their education affected in the turmoil. Children who are now in Years’ 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 WILL face upheavals.

9Q Why can’t the Government just give the £20 million to the community to use as it pleases?

9A Another good question. It would seem common sense wouldn’t it that, if the money was earmarked for educational improvement, it should simply go to schools that needed it most. However, common sense seems not to apply here. The simple answer is that the Labour government wants more Academies and councils that will agree to having them. Five months after Northcliffe was placed in Special Measures this proposal comes along which begs the question “Was this what was planned all along?”

1OQ I have heard all sorts of rumours about the Christian nature of the Academy. What will it teach?

1OA Mr Eales said “While the Academy would have a distinctly Christian ethos, the school will be required to teach the National Curriculum. It would not be a Faith school.” This is really splitting hairs. He can say this because an Academy is an Academy – a totally new type of school. Our research shows, from other examples of Vardy schools, that a faith school is exactly what we would get. John Burns, ex-head of a Vardy school and head of Mr Vardy’s Emmanuel Foundation said, of the children at Thorne –

"They will be exposed each day to biblical truth. That atmosphere itself will have a huge beneficial effect upon them. Each day we will have an act of Christian worship, exposure to the Word of God and an opportunity for people to participate in prayer. I think that in itself will have a calming, civilising influence."

Make up your own mind; doesn’t that sound like a faith school to you?

11Q What will the Academy’s relationship with the Local Education Authority be - will it be cut off from the LEA?

11A Again Mr Eales was economic with the truth in his answer to this. Our research shows that the average governing body of a Vardy school comprises of 5 members of the Foundation, 1 parent governor and 1 LEA representative. The Advisory Council he mentions which will assist in the running of the school may be “20 strong” but it is merely that, an advisory council. The decision to replace Northcliffe with an Academy is not one which can easily be overturned once made, nor is it for a fixed period of time. It is a fundamental change in the nature of our secondary school that effectively ends the life of a community comprehensive. It is privatisation by the back door.

12Q Will there be a school uniform?

12A Yes. Other Vardy schools have a very strict uniform policy – even down to the denier of the girls’ tights!

13Q Will Children have to carry bibles around?

13A Mr Eales answer to this was an unequivocal no. However, scripture study is part of the Vardy pupils’ school life…

14Q Will the Academy encourage sports?

14A No doubt the proposed Vardy school would be able to provide “state of the art sports facilities”: who wouldn’t be able to with £22 million to spend?

15Q What will the Academy’s relationship with the primary schools be?

15A The Vardy academy would need to have a good relationship with the local primary schools to some extent but it is also true that students would be encouraged to travel to the school from beyond the immediate catchment. One of our main concerns is that, once “oversubscribed”, the Vardy school would be able to refuse local children places. The automatic right to a place at the local school would disappear.

16Q Where will the Academy be?

16A The council said that “no decision has yet been made about a site for an Academy.” However, we have heard in public meetings of how the architects have already made a tour of Northcliffe to consider the idea of renovating that site and how they also made enquires about the possibility of building the proposed school on the “top field”.

17Q What will happen to staff?

17A What indeed? Our conversations with worried Northcliffe staff show that the vast majority are against the proposal. They feel that the placing of the school in Special Measures is unfair and that the proposed Academy is being rushed through at the end of the school year to suit political aims. Most teachers at the school believe in comprehensive education and did not sign up for a-faith-school-by-another-name. They may have they right to transfer to the new school but they will also have two years to decide if in all conscience they can work under the new regime.

18Q How will the Academy cater for pupils with special needs?

18A Northcliffe currently has a higher than average proportion of pupils with special educational needs. Many of these are children with behavioural difficulties. One of our concerns is that, in a school hell-bent on high academic achievement , those children with such needs will not be a priority.

19Q What powers of pupil exclusion will the Academy have?

19A Whilst it may be true to say that the proposed Academy will have the “same power of pupil exclusion as all other schools,” it is not really an answer to our concerns. It is how a school exercises its powers than differentiates one school from another. Northcliffe has always tried to be a humane school where pupils’ various needs are recognised. Will that be true of the proposed Academy? Will the LEA 'fine' the Academy £4000 for each student they permanently exclude as is the case in other LEA schools now? We think not.

These answers are given in an attempt to show the other side of the story and some of our concerns. The Academy hasn’t happened yet and, despite what we may think, an official decision is not yet made. We in the Conisbrough and Denaby Parents Action Group will do everything we can to try to make the Council and LEA see sense. Please support us.

Kay Wilkinson and Tracy Morton

Cadpag

Question that Have never been answered

Questions for our Elected Officers:

Academies

How can Labour Councillors approve a Government policy that by-passes all their previously adopted beliefs and undertakings?

“Please support LEA schools and don’t embrace Grant Maintained – so the majority remained with our Local Authority.” NOW TO BE SOLD OUT.

“Your locally elected officers will ensure open, transparent governance” – but are willing to enter into arrangements which could allow “Sponsors” of Academies to apply to build on ground not designated for housing and then acquire the profits without tendering or adopting Best Value principles.

Government policies are not always correct ………. How many elected members fought the Poll Tax??

Can we be sure that our current Mayor and Councillors are making principled decisions or have been influenced by the “quick fix – money talks” brigade? NEW LABOUR!

Have they realised that Doncaster’s national results for school performance will be depleted if the “Independent” Academies ‘select’ as they will be able to without recourse to the Local authority view in future. Also the proposed sponsor has no reliable, comparative data available to date.

How can they believe that “big business” sponsors have only altruistic motives. History (even recently) has shown that rich, financial establishments walk a fine line – Shell, ENRON etc. They’ll have no control.

What happens when a ‘sponsor’ runs into difficulty (London – Academy) who picks up the pieces – central government or the local council?

Haven’t they learnt the lesson that nothing in this life comes without strings – what are they in this case? There are bound to be some!

If Government (DFES) is prepared to put in such a great amount – why wont they trust that to our locally elected councillors to have stewardship of …… obviously they don’t trust them to do a good job for their communities.

AND WHO CAN BLAME THEM ………… OBVIOUSLY THE MAYOR AND LEA DON’T HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THEMSELVES TO HAVE SOUND GOVERNANCE OF LOCAL SCHOOLS FOR LOCAL CHILDREN. AS THEY WILLINGLY PASS THEM OVER.

CONSIDER HOW YOU VOTE THIS YEAR!! ………….Your school could be next.