Anybody work for an Academy?

[c.ward]

The school at which I work is currently going through the final processes of shutting down as a state run school and re-opening as an Academy.

 

Was just wondering if anybody worked or has worked in an Academy, that could shed some light on how the ICT departments operated within an Academy!

 

Thanks

 

Craig

[richard.thomas]

Yeh, I work in an Academy... I can't tell you much differences as I only received one payslip from the school when it was run by LSA

 

However, doesn't seem to have affected much- But I don't deal with any management stuff or budgets etc. The only thing I know to have changed is the way we order stuff, and the limits before the department has to make proposals etc.

[c.ward]

Thanks for your reply Richard

 

If you don't mind would you be so kind as to answer a couple of questions?

 

How does the ICT department operate within the school...

 

Are they loaned out to neighbouring schools?

 

Does the Academy have night classes or a six form and are you expected to work late to provide support?

 

How are they with training requirements for the ICT department etc?

 

Thanks

 

Craig

[kylewilliamson]

I'm sure alot of this is identical to a normal school....

 

An awful lot of Specialist School's loan thier ICT support staff out to primaries. The Extended Schools program extends right across schools & academies and therefore late working is negogitable by individual contracts and need.

 

KYle

[c.ward]

Specialist schools and Academies are different as a Specialist school is still run by the local county and an Academy is run by an independant sponsor/company who have their own terms and conditions and ideas of how schools should be run.

[enjay]

@c.ward - I'm sure that the answers to those and other questions vary as widely from one Academy to another as they do from one Maintained School to another.

[kylewilliamson]

Specialist schools and Academies are different as a Specialist school is still run by the local county and an Academy is run by an independant sponsor/company who have their own terms and conditions and ideas of how schools should be run.

 

Yeah, I know - but the Extended Schools program still extends to Academies, as does individual neogigation of contracts at local level. I imagine that the divide is even greater between one academy and the next, however.

[c.ward]

Sorry about that

 

The sponsors for the school I work are going to be United Learning Trust - I should have asked.... does any body work for a ULT Academy!

 

Apparantely the way they run schools are very different....

[Sirbendy]

I now work for an Academy, and it's meant that I've changed from being paid by the LEA to paid by the academy. Other changes..um..well, the school day is now 8.20am to 5.15pm (8.30-4 for kids)...and..that's about it.

 

We're not quite there yet though..we've been through the "staff" and "kids" changes, but we're just starting on our new site/Academy building before we move over to it in 2009 and the existing building gets shut down and whatever happens after that.