ACADEMIES: ARE MORE ON THE WAY? - Teaching union’s fears as five more schools consider cutting ties with City Hall
Published: 02 July 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM
FIVE more schools could be set to sever ties with City Hall and become academies.
Three secondary schools judged “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors – Quintin Kynaston School in St John’s Wood, St Marylebone CofE School and Grey Coat Hospital CofE School in Westminster – have joined St George’s RC School in Maida Vale and Burdett-Coutts Primary School in Victoria in registering an interest with the Department for Education over changing how they are run.
Top schools could be fast-tracked to academy status by September in a change that would radically reshape the education landscape in Westminster, rolling back local authority control and effectively leaving opponents to the academy system flying the white flag.
Out of the borough’s 10 secondary schools only two would not be academies – St Augustine CofE High School in Kilburn and Westminster City School in Victoria.
But yesterday headteachers insisted no decisions had been taken, and that they had made the approach simply to obtain more information.
Academies, originally dreamed up by Tony Blair’s Labour government, are a major plank of the new Tory and Lib Dem education reforms. They function as independent schools, funded directly from central government, and have wide-ranging freedoms over admissions, staff pay and setting the curriculum, as well as being rewarded with a bigger budget.
Until now academy status has been granted to struggling schools, raising concerns that the changes could create a two-tier system in the borough and fuel an “arms race” for the brightest pupils.
Jeff Bates, the NUT’s representative for Westminster, said teachers in the affected schools were “keeping their heads down”, and despite there being no obligation for consultation with parents, governors or teachers, voluble opposition was unlikely because of fears over job security.
“This could be disastrous for education in Westminster,” said Mr Bates. “It will widen the gap between the top and bottom schools and create a two-tier system. Not only does it put schools in direct competition with each other for the brightest pupils, but so-called problem pupils will be dumped. It will be a remarkable moment, ending 200 years of community education in Westminster and leaving pupils totally in the hands of the free market.”
The quality of lessons is also a concern, with warnings that the best teachers from remaining non-academies in Westminster, and community schools outside the borough, could be part of a “brain drain” caused by offers of higher salaries.
“The mix of teachers will also be a problem,” said Mr Bates. “You will get the best teachers concentrated in high-achieving academies, and none where they are most needed. Standards will rise and drop respectively. The worst thing is, there will be nobody left to do anything about it.”
Jo Shuter, the headteacher of Quintin Kynaston School in St John’s Wood, has been critical of academies in the past for their lack of accountability and has spoken of the “corporatisation” of education.
“There are more questions than answers at the moment and we’re waiting to see what being an academy might look like,” she said.
“If it was something we would do we would consult parents, students, staff and the local community.
“I think the whole philosophy of what an academy is has changed now – the goalposts have moved. I wasn’t just lukewarm about academies, I was stone cold, but some of my reservations have gone away.
“I wouldn’t really want us to be called an academy. I don’t particularly like the label, but I think it would be churlish of me to dismiss it because there might be real advantages.”
There are already four academies in Westminster – Paddington, Westminster, King Solomon and Pimlico.
Martin Tissot, head at St George’s School in Maida Vale, said: “I know everyone wants to say we’re becoming an academy but that simply isn’t the case.
“We are doing this simply to find out more information because there has been a major shift in government.
“There has been no word from our governors that this is something they want or that we want to end our relationship with Westminster Council. Standards are better than ever and our relationship with the council is great.”
A spokeswoman for Westminster Council said: “In reality there are no secondary schools with direct local authority control in Westminster and there are already so many academies that it wouldn’t make that much of a difference to education services.”
Last week, Lord Hill, parliamentary under-secretary of state for schools, said: “Every school expressing an interest will have a named contact in the department who can answer their questions and guide them through the process.
“At the same time we expect schools to keep their governors, staff and parents updated on progress.”