ninjabeaver Posted January 5, 2007 Posted January 5, 2007 I guess the topic title says it all. Are there any of us EduGeeks working in them? How do they operate? Is the money the same as LEA schools? Any other comments. It looks like my school may be going down this route, so I'm after any inside info etc. Thanks in advance,
Geoff Posted January 5, 2007 Posted January 5, 2007 I don't even know what an Academy school is? Can someone explain?
ninjabeaver Posted January 5, 2007 Author Posted January 5, 2007 WAHEY, I found something Geoff does not know. Do I get points for that? lol. Joking with you mate. Taken from http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1256683,00.html Academies State-maintained independent schools set up with the help of outside sponsors, academies are the government's latest attempt to drive up standards by replacing failing schools in struggling education authorities. Originally called city academies, the government has dropped the word 'city' because it wants to introduce them in struggling rural areas as well as the inner city. A private organisation, such as a faith group, puts in £2m, and the government gives £20m. The private organisation then runs the school outside of the local education authority's (LEA) funding control, but still operates it within all the national requirements for curriculum and standards. There are 12 academies to date, and the government plans to introduce another 200 over the next five years. So far, academies have been set up by Sir Peter Vardy, a Christian philanthropist who has been accused of advocating the teaching of creationism in science in the schools, Graham Able, the head of the prestigious Dulwich College in London and the bank Goldman Sachs is also considering backing a sixth-form college in east London.
broc Posted January 5, 2007 Posted January 5, 2007 I don't even know what an Academy school is? Can someone explain? A school where a private sponsor commits to donate £2m and in return the Government commits to provide the balance of funding for a new build. In return for the sponsorship, the sponsor gets 'control' of the school, subject to usual HMI Ofsted inspections etc. Curriculum must follow national curriculum in principle. Cuts LEA out of the loop, staff become employees of the Academy & its board of Governors. Used to be the case that only 'failing' schools could become academies, not always seen as popular, so Govt have relaxed rules a bit in order to increase take-up of Academy model. Have a trawl on Google, you will find lots of emotional debate about the merits/demerits of Academies! In Sunderland, a revised 'model' for academies was proposed & eventually accepted by DfES. In Sunderland the LA are co-sponsors with private commercial sponsors, each putting £1m into each academy. This way the LA still has a say in how the school operates. I am not sure how this affects employee status as it was a long drawn-out battle before agreement was reached, which in turn had an impact on BSF, delaying the program for a long time. (Not that I am suggesting the two were linked in any way ).
ChrisC Posted January 5, 2007 Posted January 5, 2007 Basically, seems to be the government pumping money into rebuilding/reforming failing schools apparently. Is also commercial, private sponsors fund them initially, and end up being pretty much the decision makers, then the government pay the rest. They're also not part of their local LEA. Chris
GrumbleDook Posted January 5, 2007 Posted January 5, 2007 FOr more information look at the website of The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust ... and from there just email webmaster@ and ask for the poor blighter that has took look after the kit. Djanogly would be a good bunch to speak to, and they can be contacted through the ICT-Register ... another place that would be worth looking for info on Academies. Failing that, if you are down at Bett I will introduce you to a few of the people involved.
Geoff Posted January 6, 2007 Posted January 6, 2007 Ok that makes sense. Up to a point. What's in it for the sponsor?
Guest Guest Posted January 6, 2007 Posted January 6, 2007 Basically what it is; Tony Blair has been sleeping with Bush for far too long and American "values" have been exchanged . Its one step closer to the American way of "Ive got a rich daddy who donates to the school - ill have an A please, and id like to play for the football team" lmao You cant privatise education FFS! But saying that we have "public" services which are indead private and an NHS which is not far off being fully private!
CyberNerd Posted January 6, 2007 Posted January 6, 2007 What's in it for the sponsor? Recruitment, brainwashing.
kxv2020 Posted January 6, 2007 Posted January 6, 2007 The LA have started an expression of interest for our school - although it is not failing and glowing fantastic OfSTED report proves that - we need a new building and therefore the LA have decided we should be an academy. Most staff are opposed, but apparently there is a drive towards ICT with lots of money; still opposed as I won't be employed by the LA. But it's not even set in stone yet!
GrumbleDook Posted January 6, 2007 Posted January 6, 2007 Basically what it is; Tony Blair has been sleeping with Bush for far too long and American "values" have been exchanged . Its one step closer to the American way of "Ive got a rich daddy who donates to the school - ill have an A please, and id like to play for the football team" lmao You cant privatise education FFS! But saying that we have "public" services which are indead private and an NHS which is not far off being fully private! Education had been private for years ... it truly has. It doesn't matter whether you take places like Eton (who have actually been doing some fantastic work on open source VLEs for the last 6 years ... but fails to get a mention because it partners with HE/FE), Harrow, Oakham, Oundle, Christ's ... the list goes on ... and then you have the next form of private funding ... religious schools who have sizeable funding from the various faiths and without which the cost of education in the UK could almost double (taken from a conversation with an MP who does stuff in the DfES) ... and then you get on to the new types of sponsors ... business sponsors that are formally recognised as support CTCs and specialist schools ... and then you come to Academies and BSF. Sponsorship of any type in education is nothing new but some of the targets behind it are ...
steve Posted January 6, 2007 Posted January 6, 2007 What's in it for the sponsor? Recruitment, brainwashing. And thats why my personal view is that there should be no religion in any school. The LA have started an expression of interest for our school - although it is not failing and glowing fantastic OfSTED report proves that - we need a new building and therefore the LA have decided we should be an academy. Most staff are opposed, but apparently there is a drive towards ICT with lots of money; still opposed as I won't be employed by the LA. But it's not even set in stone yet! Makes you wonder if LA's are under pressure to put forward good schools, so they won't all fail like a lot of the city acadamies have been.
SpuffMonkey Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 Education had been private for years ... it truly has. It doesn't matter whether you take places like Eton (who have actually been doing some fantastic work on open source VLEs for the last 6 years ... but fails to get a mention because it partners with HE/FE), Harrow, Oakham, Oundle, Christ's ... the list goes on ... and then you have the next form of private funding ... religious schools who have sizeable funding from the various faiths and without which the cost of education in the UK could almost double (taken from a conversation with an MP who does stuff in the DfES) ... and then you get on to the new types of sponsors ... business sponsors that are formally recognised as support CTCs and specialist schools ... and then you come to Academies and BSF. Sponsorship of any type in education is nothing new but some of the targets behind it are ... Think it would be fair to say that some education has been privately funded (ie the Public schools (less than 10%) - and these only after a grab for schools that were free to the local populace prior to (hence the inappropriate name)). Church schools are mostly publicly funded just the same as other state schools (I work in one!) - so I can't see how the cost would increase much - you just get the great situation where all the tax payers pay, but a slim minority gets to call the shots - s'life I guess.
mullet_man Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 I guess the topic title says it all. Are there any of us EduGeeks working in them? How do they operate? Is the money the same as LEA schools? Any other comments. It looks like my school may be going down this route, so I'm after any inside info etc. Thanks in advance, Same here, we are joining with another school to form an academy with the next 18 months to 4 years.
kxv2020 Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 What's in it for the sponsor? Recruitment, brainwashing. And thats why my personal view is that there should be no religion in any school. The LA have started an expression of interest for our school - although it is not failing and glowing fantastic OfSTED report proves that - we need a new building and therefore the LA have decided we should be an academy. Most staff are opposed, but apparently there is a drive towards ICT with lots of money; still opposed as I won't be employed by the LA. But it's not even set in stone yet! Makes you wonder if LA's are under pressure to put forward good schools, so they won't all fail like a lot of the city acadamies have been. It's definitely that, as we're an inner-city specialist school [M&C], but the whole area is going to be regenerated - either they get the money through the Academies option or they can wait for 'Building Schools for Future' PFI way. I think the government wants to put the image that Academies are working - some probably do as the 'City Technology Colleges' [old name for academy but with little differences] are converting so they get more cash!!! Not Sure!! The whole name 'Academy' is labelled failing... but I'm more worried about what powers the sponsors have over the National Curriculum and the running of the school.
broc Posted January 8, 2007 Posted January 8, 2007 What's in it for the sponsor? Recruitment, brainwashing. And thats why my personal view is that there should be no religion in any school. The LA have started an expression of interest for our school - although it is not failing and glowing fantastic OfSTED report proves that - we need a new building and therefore the LA have decided we should be an academy. Most staff are opposed, but apparently there is a drive towards ICT with lots of money; still opposed as I won't be employed by the LA. But it's not even set in stone yet! Makes you wonder if LA's are under pressure to put forward good schools, so they won't all fail like a lot of the city acadamies have been. More likely there is a funding shortfall somewhere along the way; It is a 'cheap' way for the LA to get a school rebuilt. In at least one LA that I am aware of the LA were faced with a stark choice during their planning for BSF; stick with their strongly held views (& views of the educationalists) that academies were not for them, and so fund a shortfall of £40m from Council Tax income to cover their BSF plans, or bite the bullet, go with the academies and take the money....... guess what they did?
ninjabeaver Posted January 9, 2007 Author Posted January 9, 2007 I'm guessing that no one is already in an Academy School, but there are a few who will be in the future. I'm just on some inside info to see how much different it is.
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