May 26: Academies: a revolution that will trigger a revolt?
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More money,
more freedom and more control over admissions. What’s not to like –
if you are a school keen to break free from the shackles of your
local council – about Michael Gove’s plan to
radically expand the number of academies?
Not much, in truth. So, will we
see a headlong rush by schools keen to embrace what Mr Gove has
modestly labelled the start of a revolution in our schooling
system?
I don’t know about elsewhere but
I don’t believe there will be schools across the county trampling
over one another to get to the new Department for Education’s doors
with their application forms in hand.
For a start, the government has
ruled out grammar schools from its revolution and in Kent, it is
the grammar schools that dominate a list of "outstanding" schools
as rated by Ofsted.
Of the non-selective schools in
that list, some are already in a federation with others.
Of those that might take an
interest, I’d take a punt that it could be one or more of the
following: Canterbury High School; The Westlands School; Hayesbrook
School, in Tonbridge and Sandwich Technology College.
Misgivings over academies expansion
plan>>>
Of course, any school can now
become an academy so there may be a few who haven’t always got on
well with the education authority that might be tempted to break
ranks.
Clearly, KCC is anxious about
the prospects of greater fragmentation and an already bewildering
set of admissions arrangements risks becoming even more complicated
with a new generation of academies.
Academies, already exempt from
the Freedom of Information Act, also escape the
kind of robust scrutiny that most council subject their schools
that have stayed within the system do.
It’s interesting to see that the
LGA
has flagged up very quickly its concerns about how the programme
might undermine funding for all pupils and calling for safeguards
to prevent any unfairness in the system – issues that have been
raised before by KCC leader Paul Carter.
The LGA has even dared to
mention the creation of a "two-tier" system under the
scheme.
All of which suggests that the
plan could be an increasing source of tension between local
government and the new coalition government.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Going, going, gone...after all
the consultation, public inquiries, masses of reports, more
consultation, more public inquiries, endless discussions and
goodness knows how much public money, it seems the much debated
South East Plan is to be scrapped and with it the
previous government's much maligned policy of Regional Spatial
Strategies.
The question is: what comes now?
And possibly, what will happen now to organisations like Ashford's
Future, quangos set up to steer the government's determination to
foist development on areas designated as "growth areas"?
Wednesday, May 26 2010
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