Headteachers in Academies

The ASCL union reports that many head teachers are losing their jobs in the new academy schools, because they do not fit the aims and ideal of the prvate sponsors.

Some people, will, no doubt see this as a welcome clearing out of the dead wood who presided over 'failing' secondary schools. Those people might also think that a market solution will obviously produce better than those who have been seen to fail.

Other of us migth not be so optimistic...

Rewriting the Rules

According to yesterday's TES, the draft code for schools admissions has been altered since it was consulted on, on order to exempt Academy schools. The phrase 'admission authorities' has been changed to 'admission authorities for all maintained schools', allowing academies to argue that it does not apply to them, as they are distinct from 'maintained schools' in the document.

The fact that this has been changed since the draft version of the document was produced and consulted on by the government suggests that it was a change which was meant to go unnoticed. It also chimes in nicely with the increasingly-frantic Blairites' desire for 'permanent revolution'...I'm sorry 'irreversible reform'.

NAO criticises Academies

"The National Audit Office (NAO) criticised the academies scheme for millions of pounds of cost-overruns, low exam results, poor A-level provision and a failure to collaborate with neighbouring schools." from the Norwich Evening News.

The National Audit Office, of course, is the Parliamentary body, independent from government, that sees of public policy is being administered in a way that delivers value for money.

"In a new report, the NAO said academies cost more than other schools to build and most of the projects ran over-budget by an average of £3m."

Another interesting facet is this: "The report also reveals that academies are being forced to restrict community groups from using their facilities in order to avoid VAT liability, despite the fact that academy buildings were always intended for community use."

A new report from the IPPR suggests that allowing schools to pick their pupils on the basis of their parents' faith leads to their being less representative of local communities, according to The Telegraph. Needless to say, Lord Adonis has said that this will have no effect on Government policy.

US sponsors pull out

US sponsors of the 'charter school' scheme in America have pulled out of negotiations on sponsoring academy schools in Great Britain, as reported in the Daily Telegraph here. The company has not been named, but it marks a blow to Mr Blair's aim to have another 400 of these schools that no one wants to sponsor.

Which is why we should. Education is too important to be left in the hands of fanatics as we stand to one side and tut. We should aim to sponsor secular, liberal, humanist schools ourselves, to engage with the government's activities (at £2 million per school, it's an absolute bargain!) rather than sighing and blogging about the perils of the academies scheme.

"Jews are monkeys, and Christians are worthless"

This kind of sentiment is being taught at King Fahd School in Acton, according to former teacher there, Colin Clarke. This article outlines his allegations in more detail.

The schoolis funded by the Saudi government to teach Wahhabism (?). This shows the kinds of corrosive intolerance which pervades some religious teaching, and is a prime example of why we should not tolerate greater religious influence in state-funded academies. (King Fahd is privately-funded, although the Saudi government could, presumably, afford the £2 million to become an academy sponsor)

The new Labour government has a radical faith-based agenda, and seems to have no discriminatory faculty when it comes to faith groups or businesses. They are, by dint of being faith groups or businesses, obviously a good thing. Let's raise the money to set up our own, faithless schools, and set new standards in education.

No Steiner Academy in Hereford

This report tells of Herefordshire Council's decision not to allow the conversion of the fee-paying Hereford Waldorf School into an Academy, funded by £10 million of government money:

Councillor Godfrey Davis said he couldn't see why government was giving one school "millions" to make itself an academy when the county was crying out for cash to keep village schools going.

I like the fact that it was being branded as an 'eco-academy' to try to make it sound more appealing...

ID packs for schools

Slightly off-topic, but here's the Newsnight interview with Andrew McIntosh, whose 'Truth In Science' group is promoting Intelligent in schools.

There is an interview in today's Guardian with Steve Chalke , who runs Oasis, the Baptist organisation that runs five academies:

'"Creationism is a load of garbage," Chalke declares. "Genesis is a poem based on a Babylonian creation myth."

Chalke insists that anyone can work for Oasis and any of its organisations. "People have to be committed to the ethos, but they don't have to be Christian," he says. "We want depth, not a label. I'm not interested in who says they are a Christian or not, but whether they are inspired by the message of Christ of inclusion and equality"'

His different vision of how academy schools should work, and how faith organisations can be involved in what have been traditionally the state's roles in service provision are interesting.

The question remains, however, as to whether or not the state should subsidise his ideas about what a school should be...

Not Schools of Choice...

Here, Melissa Benn explains why academies are not always schools of choice. She highlights the case of Labour MP Karen Buck, who removed her child from an Academy to go to the local comprehensive.

"As long as some schools are allowed to engineer favourable intakes for themselves - be they private, grammar or faith schools - and then build on that advantage, those will be seen to be the successful schools"

Vardy's Untruths...

Peter Vardy here says: "It is emphatically not a fundamentalist school, and welcomes pupils and staff of all faiths, and none."

And here he says: "We do hire Christian headteachers. As all our schools have a strong Christian ethos it would be difficult to see how we could operate with a principle of a different faith."

I wonder which one we should believe...

With Friends Like These...

Des Smith, a Catholic headmaster caught up in the cash-for-peerages scandal, has called for Tony Blair to be treated in the same way that he was, as is reported here.

Whilst he might be more than entitled to think that "a cosy chat with Tony Blair at Chequers simply will not do," and in an entirely fair world his statement that "My experience was dehumanising and designed to reduce me to bare essentials. The Prime Minister must be treated in the same way." would be a reasonable guide to action that should be taken, one cannot help but wonder what sorts of people the Government thought they were dealing with.

After all, if you're going to give special privileges to faith groups, and do your best to promote a radical faith agenda, you would hope that those who benefit most from it would not call for your being treated in a dehumanising way, designed to reduce you to bare essentials. Whatever that might mean...

PS - It's also notable that rather than calling for a revision of police procedures, so that other people avoided the treatment he got, Des' main concern is to ensure that everyone else gets screwed as royally as him. That is Christianity in action.

No More Faith Schools, Say Headteachers

In contrast with the article below, this one, which appeared in the same newspaper on the same day, comes to the opposite conclusions.

Only 9% of headteachers agree with the Prime Minister that there should be more faith schools. One wonders why this did not interest Martin Wainwright as much as the talk of 'lizards' and the opening of doors at King's.

In An Ideal World...

This is a fawning, uncritical portrait of Peter Vardy by Martin Wainwright, the Guardian's Northern editor. Every serious question is elided or dodged, and the article is not comprehensive enough to provide any real security of mind. Naturally, the fundamental questions about whether a religious school should receive state funding are not even addressed.

*Edit* And let's not forget this: "Last year, as part of a wider investigation, the Guardian revealed that the number of children eligible for free school meals at Kings, the standard indicator of deprivation, had dropped by more than 100 compared with the school it replaced, leading to renewed claims that it was cherry-picking pupils who were easier to teach."

What It Looks Like From Over There

Here is an interview with Sir Peter Vardy. I give it to you without comment...

Irreversible Reform

That's the Prime Minister's aim. This article asks: Is irreversible reform sensible?

Faithless City Technical Colleges?

Here's a good history of Keneth Baker's failed City Technical Colleges programmeof the late 1980s. Some may spot similarities with another controversial policy...

Summary of the Legal Implications to Challenging Academies

A BBC News article looks at the implications of the legal challenges to Academy schools, and for some of the reasons behind them.

A Parent is Launching a Legal Challenge to Academies

Parent Rob McDonald, from Tamworth is disputing his council's right to create an academy school in the courts.

Academies (amongst other things) can increase racial divisions

The CRE has expressed concerns about evidence suggests that the government's educational 'reforms' will lead to an increase in racial and religious segregation. CRE Policy Chief Nick Johnson told the Educational and Skills Committe that giving parents greater choice led to them 'banding together', thus leading children to their being exposed to less diversity.