If academies fail, is there a plan B?

The government says it is working on improving the school, but Fiona Millar argues, academies and free schools seem to be the only strategy - and not necessarily work

last month, I wrote an article here, in response to Michael Gove speech to the Conservative Party conference. The day of its appearance, was contacted via Twitter by a key advisor to the Department of State policies, Sam Freedman.

For those unfamiliar with Mr. Freedman, let me explain. He is a former political adviser turned Conservative government official in the Department of Education (DFE), which, despite their status as civil servants, is an active user of social media to promote conservative party's education policy.

His complaint was that if I could only look beyond schools and colleges free, I would see another important reason in common between this government and the last hour of school improvement. He highlighted the work of London Challenge of Labour, where he continued in the new generation of schools.

is actually quite difficult to see beyond the academies and free schools, as they dominate much of what his department does and says. Recognizing the achievements of the coalition office work I also went through the flood of speeches for the trash folder of the previous government.

However, the point of London Challenge is interesting. A keychain in the working strategy of school improvement during the last decade (and later extended to two other regions), you must have some important lessons.

The reasons why London Challenge was as effective are presented in the final report Ofsted before the program ended in 2011. The summary is succinct opening. "The support programs for schools are provided with credible and experienced consultants Challenge in London with an audit of needs and shared. Management System is excellent and pan-London network of schools allow the establishment of effective partnerships between schools , suitable to be processed quickly and accelerate progress. "

• Ofsted other striking features emerge: the clear sense of moral purpose among teachers and school leaders, their commitment to all children in London, his pride in being part of a department of education throughout the city, regardless of whether they were receiving or providing support,. its assessment of effective professional development opportunities, the use of data and interventions and support for individual children

When the program ended, less than 1% of secondary schools in London were under the floor of the Government objectives and 30% were considered "exceptional." In addition, statistics released by the DfE program last month that London is now the region most highly conducting in the country to the extent of five GCSE A *-C including English and mathematics. Some of the poorest neighborhoods of the capital, such as Tower Hamlets (also no free schools or academies) have performed this year are comparable to leaves Mr Gove Surrey and contact points of the realization Oxfordshire's rich Prime Minister.

So back to Mr. Freedman. How much is being developed and expanded? Judging by the website of ecodesign, very little. It is true that 100 schools have been approved (for a total of 23,000 schools), but it was a very set the challenge of London, a multifaceted approach.

other key elements: the poor base, counselors strategic partnerships, focus on teaching and learning, have disappeared. In addition, budget cuts mean local authorities are increasingly less resources and relatively impotent.
It is worth asking whether there is a coherent strategy for school improvement proposed by the Department of D. Freedman. The only evidence on the site of ecodesign is a letter from Mr. Gove to local authorities, asking them to present their plans for schools in the soil under the government's objectives, and a press release explaining that one tweeter of public schools commissioner Dr Elizabeth Sidwell, then step in and broker sponsorship with a string of academia.

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