Teachers not politicians know how best to run schools

ENGLAND – For the first time all schools will be able to apply to become Academies and get greater freedoms.

Greater freedom and independence were promised to primary and secondary schools recently as Michael Gove, the education secretary, invited all schools to apply to become Academies.

Writing to schools he announced that the government will open up the Academies programme to all schools including, for the first time, primary schools and special schools.

He also pledged to make the process of becoming an Academy quicker and less bureaucratic, removing local authority powers to block schools that want to become Academies.

Schools that are rated outstanding by Ofsted will be fast tracked through the process.
Subject to Parliamentary approval of the Academies Bill, introduced in the House of Lords in late May, the first tranche of these Academies will open in September 2010 and schools that become Academies will enjoy:

• freedom from local authority control;
   
• the ability to set their own pay and conditions for staff;
   
• freedom from following the national curriculum;
   
• greater control of their budget;
   
• greater opportunities for formal collaboration with other public and private organisations;
   
• freedom to change the length of terms and school days;
   
• freedom to spend the money the local authority currently spends on their behalf.

These freedoms will be in addition to system-wide reductions in bureaucracy due to be announced shortly. This will shift power from central and local government back to heads and schools.

Mr Gove said: “The government is genuinely committed to giving schools greater freedoms. We trust teachers and head teachers to run their schools. We think head teachers know how to run their schools better than bureaucrats or politicians.

“Many school leaders have already shown a keen interest in gaining academy freedoms. They want to use those powers to increase standards for all children and close the gap between the richest and the poorest.

“Today I am inviting all schools to register their interest. It is right that they should be able to enjoy Academy freedoms and I hope many will take up this offer.”

Schools who wish to apply for Academy status can now register their interest on-line and will receive further guidance on how the process works.

Further details of the changes will form part of the Academies Bill. Subject to Parliamentary approval the government will allow all maintained schools to apply to become an Academy with schools rated outstanding being fast-tracked for approval by the Secretary of State.

Other primary, secondary and special schools will be able to convert at a later stage with the final decision on which schools become academies resting with the Secretary of State.

This announcement was welcomed by head teachers, Academy sponsors and national education bodies: Patricia Sowter, head teacher of Cuckoo Hall Primary School, indicated that her school would apply for academy freedoms: “To achieve success in our school we have always been committed to effective and non bureaucratic ways of working. I have always felt that successful schools should be given the option to adopt the same level of autonomy that comes with academy freedoms. These freedoms would allow Cuckoo Hall to continually build on its success and shape its own future by choosing our own curriculum to best meet the needs of our children.”

Dan Moynihan, chief executive Harris Federation: “Academy freedoms for outstanding schools will remove bureaucratic shackles from head teachers and give them the scope and incentive to run their schools even more entrepreneurially for the benefit of children and their communities. This policy change is a major step forward in creating a world class educational system.”

Sally Coates, principal of Burlington Danes Academy: “I welcome this announcement. I have led inner-city schools under local authority and academy control and I know that Academies enjoy the freedom to put into practice fresh ideas to keep students motivated and genuinely enthused about learning.

“Academies have the autonomy to really respond to the needs of the local community context and strategically shape their offer to meet those needs.”

Tom Clark, executive chairman of the Foundation, Aided Schools and Academies National Association (FASNA) said: “FASNA have always said that to ensure a high quality education for all pupils, head teachers need to have control over how they run their school; and importantly need to be free from Local Authority intervention. FASNA welcomes this initiative and is confident that many of our schools will be keen to apply for these freedoms.”

Dr Elizabeth Sidwell CBE: CEO Haberdashers’ Federation: “At the Haberdashers’ Federation we value our academy freedoms very highly. Overall they encourage a sense of responsibility and allow our principals to take decisions and be accountable for these. The best heads flourish in this way. We enjoy self determination in the allocation of our resources and so get the best deals for our schools in all support services. Freedom also means we can act promptly and apply resources to teaching and learning where it is most needed.

“For example through efficiencies of scale we are able to give all our primary children free cooked lunches which benefits their health, social skills and most importantly their learning. The freedom to set our own term and holiday dates means we are able to maximise learning and teaching time and put a 2 week break in the long autumn term and start the academic year early.”