Headteachers claim forced academy status is unjustified

In Birmingham, Primary principals say they are forced to convert to academy status, despite the fact that their schools are showing a real improvement. What is the truth?

Anna Jones is a director with a proven track record in school improvement. When he joined the Birmingham primary school was in special measures. He had made a previous school of special measures and was appointed to do the same again. As soon as he arrived, Jones was devoted to a thorough analysis of gaps in teachers' performance and implement a monitoring program to check and re-see-what student achievement (course) and implementation ( results) have been accurately assessed and targeted for improvement.

efforts seem to be working. The school is now out of special measures and was considered "satisfactory" after an Ofsted monitoring visit. It is oversubscribed in certain age groups, 95% attendance and student achievement and the level increases rapidly. Basically, the internal monitoring of progress predicted that this summer school Sats to target newly redesigned by Ofsted is constant whereby 60% of those age 11 must reach the level expected of them in English and mathematics .

This is a great school in an area of ??multiple deprivation. Jones pays tribute to his deputies, who, he says, "have worked very hard to pull up." Now, he says, "we have a quality education and improvement and learning. We have very robust self-assessment and our improvement plan is headed for it. "

But despite all this, a shock Jones has just learned that their school is one that will be forced to state academy. If the governors do not vote to request the status of the Academy, this is considered evidence of "weak leadership". Existing governors, he said, be removed, a section 60 "notice to improve" issued, a new government agency set up and imposed a sponsor.

The 12 months between the most recent school and published his Sats next set of results is the problem, says Jones. If it lights up this term Ofsted to inspect the school under the criteria recently redesigned, it is no longer considered "satisfactory" because the more recently published results of SAT tests taken in 2011 - were below the ground level by 60%. This is a matter of time, Jones said wryly. This summer, when this year's Sats results validated the left, saw its rigorous internal monitoring of student progress indicates that the school will reach the threshold of

Jones objected strongly to become an academy, but she says there is no ideological opposition to the model. She said she and her chair of governors have considered the evidence and I saw nothing has convinced them that this is a magic formula for improving student achievement.

exacerbate their lack of confidence in the evidence base for the academies, Jones fears that schools of the academy may further marginalize already vulnerable children, citing figures from national fixed exclusion, which show that permanent exclusions are more than three times higher in schools than in community schools. He also said he found no convincing evidence that the benefits of the Academies model primary schools and the objects to their pupils to be guinea pigs.

After meetings with officials of the Ministry of Education, however, Jones has left no doubt as to oppose the will of the Secretary of State would be "career suicide". "We're going to do this job for us and have some influence on the choice of sponsor is the only way we will have the vaguest of states in this process. It is absolutely outrageous," she said.

In Birmingham, the National Association of Principals (NAHT) said it was contacted by more than 20 schools to say they are forced to become academies, against the will of the main governing body, staff and community. All that being said, with one exception, are improving their internal control of student achievement and success.

Birmingham

perhaps the largest area of ??the local authority in the country, but only a part of history. The NAHT representative for the West Midlands, Rob Kelsall said more than 60 primary schools in the region have contacted him and he fears that the DFE are forced to "choose" one of the sponsors of the Academy and make the change . "The data and the trajectory is increasing in almost all of these schools," he said.

view of this, he says, it is increasingly suspect that among the leaders ecodesign is directed to schools that were failing, but they are now rising precisely that their achievement on the rise - in the next set of results is published Sats after connecting to each school in the state academy - can be claimed as a success strategy for the academies. The DEA says it is "totally false".

Kelsall, however, believes its members are intercepted and intimidated. In both cases, the authorities asked the Ecodesign one-on-one meetings with managers to discuss the restructuring, not even the Chairman of Governors to be present.

"I felt quite out of place," says Joelle Birmingham Varley seeded. "My chairman of governors Naht and he said no."

"I completely ignored his request to meet with me alone," said Fiona Fair, another principal at the head of the local authority in Birmingham. "My governor said:" We have a plan for school improvement and we are moving forward. ""

• the DFE does not deny that these meetings have been requested, but says he always tries to talk to local authorities and leaders, but private meetings with schools have been sought in cases where the local authority "ISN 't that helps us move forward quickly."

Varley, may have thought that the progress of his own school to be deemed insufficient for several years in his recent "satisfactory" Ofsted report may have given him, his staff and parents the right to express their opinion about their future. Having reached the head after the school had suffered significant personal upheaval and turned so that, to his great joy, which hit the house floor by 60% last year, Varley said she thought it would to be left alone.

But earlier this year, said he would be forced to "choose" one of the sponsors of the Academy and make the change. Increasing the pressure, he said, was achieved through several discussions with officials of ecodesign, with notes on what is in store for her and the steering when mounted any opposition . She felt she had no choice but to meet or beat.

"In this first meeting, I asked, are employees of job security, the answer was" it's sponsoring organization, "she said. Under TUPE legislation, which guarantees the terms and conditions. when staff transfer more than one organization to another, jobs are protected Jobs staff can be sure, but it seems that managers may have to fight for their own line of DfE is as follows: "Although TUPE applied, the new sponsor will have a view on the appropriate leadership structure, because it will be critical in driving school improvement. the structure of each project management should be decided by its own circumstances. "
Schools may be forced to convert if they are in special measures, or if issued with a Section 60 "notice to improve." For this reason, says Kelsall, now there is great concern about spot checks by Ofsted. And the rate at which schools are judged not seem to be increasing, he said. In Staffordshire, Kelsall received 31 inspections in 11 schools and went to special measures. Before, Kelsall estimates, enter the average in this category was four times a year.

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