The academy question (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

The academy question

6:38pm Thursday 14th January 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share

By community correspondent Joel Nulsen

Shene School, in the borough of Richmond-Upon-Thames, enters a crucial time in its history. Plans have recently been approved by the Government for the institution to be transformed into an Academy. Now parents are being allowed to have their say in a public consultation.

But is it worth it? The Academy scheme aims to combine private enterprise with public education. According to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, donors for Academies include “high performing schools and colleges, universities, individual philanthropists, businesses, the voluntary sector, and the faith communities.” The donor is then given the management of the Academy, including the authority to appoint staff and the majority of governors, control admissions (abiding by the Admissions Code), and to control the curriculum.

The idea is that new facilities and management will help to raise the standards of schools taking part, while drawing on private funds for a minimum cost to the taxpayer.

However, there are some less than perfect features of the Academy scheme. For instance, the current required donation is £2,000,000. The rest of the funds for constructing new facilities, and for keeping the Academy running in the future come from the Government. The average total cost of establishing a new Academy is £25,000,000, meaning that as little as 8% of establishment costs can be provided by a donor.

The improvement of grades in Academies is also reported to be less than improvement in schools under the Excellence in Cities initiative. This provides study support for children in schools in urban areas. In school under the scheme, the proportion of students attaining the Government’s target of five A*-C grades at GCSE is growing at almost double the rate of other schools. It costs about £120 per year for each student involved. At an academy, each additional student gaining five A*-C grades at GCSE as a result of the change for the first 20 years of the academy’s existence is £250,000.

Despite all this, there is no question that the academic attainment of pupils rises significantly when a school becomes an academy. At Mossbourne Academy, the first GCSE results were outstanding, with 80% of students attaining five or more A*-C grades at GCSE, on the site of what was once labelled “the worst school in the country”.

While one might expect the parents of Shene School students to be enthusiastic about the proposed changes, other parents may well wonder if the community as a whole is getting real value for money.

• Print
• Email
• Share