School Academisation.

[Ripleys]

Good Afternoon Folks,

 

The School where I work at is going to turn into an Academy some time after the summer holidays. All the staff/management are all yapping on about the changes are going to go ahead and I am wondering why no one has came to us about any changes to IT. We use the council for Internet, Proxy and Emails. Is there anyone here who has gone through the academisation process? What was it like? What needed to be done in order for things to go smoothly? What was the time frame for change?

 

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

 

EDIT: Sorry, I should point out that I didn't know where to put this post, so sorry if it is in the wrong place.

[Lonix]

There is a ton of threads of academies, from your point of view it depends what those above may decide.

 

If they decide not to make no changes, you only really have to look at your licensing side because you will be licensed as an Academy. Most companies have no issues but some will have additional costs. Best to contact them all to confirm, make sure all departments have been alerted to the license (either provide a copy to you or check their end etc). This part also shows your Proactive level.

 

Although some of the below is more towards Multi Academy Trusts, they are worth a read.

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/166801-academies-agenda-gathering-momentum-again.html

Multi Academy Trusts

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/bsf/145537-academy-staffing-structures.html

 

I would say this is the big one to read:

Academy Conversion, what should I do?

 

Worst case scenario which sadly is realistically possible - full restructure of Support Staff, hierarchy and certain departments with layoffs etc. This can effect teaching staff as well.

 

You will find some positives out of the conversion and some negatives. Some people have gained promotions and pay rises out new opportunities, while others have lost jobs or re-applied for theirs.

 

If I was you I would just make sure your CV was fully updated and make sure your presence/value is there. The main reason why a lot of Staff raise concerns is because a conversion allows those above to pretty much rewrite the dictionary and as long as they follow the law with the likes of TUPE.. then there is little to nothing that can be done to fight back.

Edited June 20, 2016 by elsiegee40

[zag]

Good Afternoon Folks,

 

The School where I work at is going to turn into an Academy some time after the summer holidays. All the staff/management are all yapping on about the changes are going to go ahead and I am wondering why no one has came to us about any changes to IT. We use the council for Internet, Proxy and Emails. Is there anyone here who has gone through the academisation process? What was it like? What needed to be done in order for things to go smoothly? What was the time frame for change?

 

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

 

EDIT: Sorry, I should point out that I didn't know where to put this post, so sorry if it is in the wrong place.

 

We became an academy almost 4 years ago, nothing really changed at all from my memory.

 

In ICT we gradually moved away from council provided services like internet and filtering. We saved a lot of money too.

[snagrat]

Are you converting to Academy or joining an existing MAT?

 

A lot will depend on that really

[Ripleys]

Thanks for the links Lonix, I will be reading over these today. I actually just updated my "IT" CV last night to flesh my recent projects / experiences.

 

Zag, one thing I was worrying about (other than possibly losing/reapplying for my job) was money. The School is on a tight budget as it is and can only imagine it being the same if not, worse after the change over.

 

Snagrat, I believe are only converting to an Academy.

[ITJS2015]

There are a lot of pros and con with academy's, I wouldn't worry about your job situation at all. Schools need ICT within the school and they would look at other areas of the school before ICT.

 

I had been with an Academy for 5 years and 2 schools merged to become an academy which most schools are doing. My tupe conditions merged over and the wage stayed the same apart from we moved to an centralised managed team where we supported multiple school across the north west.

 

Licensing situation would have to calculate the number of staff and students which will give you an estimate of licensing for devices, this has saved the school money a lot from 2 schools. I was mainly supporting 1st and 2nd line support for all users on site, 3rd line support was from our off site team where they logged into servers and switches.

 

Like someone said which is to update your CV as much as you can and it will show them you are needed

[hardtailstar]

The last school I was at went to an Academy, We used the council for services not just in IT,

 

The council put prices up as it had done for other Academies.

 

Check your contracts as some may be cancelled due to converting to an Academy, also go through every little detail.

 

If you check and then report to the SLT/HT what will happen with the IT, They may not have any knowledge of things changing in regards to prices etc.

[zag]

Thanks for the links Lonix, I will be reading over these today. I actually just updated my "IT" CV last night to flesh my recent projects / experiences.

 

Zag, one thing I was worrying about (other than possibly losing/reapplying for my job) was money. The School is on a tight budget as it is and can only imagine it being the same if not, worse after the change over.

 

I don't know too much about the finances but when your an academy the money comes direct to the school, so it wasn't a problem at all. We seem to have expanded since then a fair bit so it must be going ok.

 

I really don't think you have to worry too much about this. The days of LEA provided services are over really, the sooner your school jumps the better. It certainly worked out for us and we were one of the first to do it.

 

The services such as internet, and VLE's now we buy our own are much better and cheaper.

Edited June 21, 2016 by zag

[jertsy]

I have worked at two schools that became academies and I never noticed any change to be honest.

[Lonix]

I have worked at two schools that became academies and I never noticed any change to be honest.

 

Sort of likewise, one School I worked at no change other than a re-shuffle of management. They went from 4 Assistant HTs to 8 and another Deputy Head. This was at a time when School finances was good.

 

Another School though actually laid off a lot of Support Staff and even hit IT Support with a restructure.

 

The biggest change is always joining a MAT but for the OP a lot less risk because you don't have some one coming in with a new plan to go by. A simple Academy conversion is certainly a lot less risky but the main issue is the fact those above can make the changes if they want to. I know one School that fully outsourced their IT staff once TUPE had finished... strangely enough they have since reverted to on site staff.

 

Not impossible but you are right, should be okay.