Figures released today show momentum is building for the Government’s
flagship school reform. The Government announced today that
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there are now 407 academies open in England
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371 secondary schools are now academies – 11 per cent of all secondary schools in England.
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204 academies have opened since September 2010 under the Coalition
Government, with 46 opening this week alone. Of these, 136 were schools
converting to becoming academies that will now use their academy
freedoms to support weaker schools. Sixty-eight were weaker schools that
had been granted academy status and new sponsors to help them turn
round underperformance
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at least one school has converted to become an academy every school day since September
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an additional 254 more schools are in the pipeline having applied to
become academies, with more applications coming in every week
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Sixty-four schools applied to become academies in the last week before Christmas alone
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it took four years to open the first 27 academies. It took five years to open 15 city technology colleges.
In addition, the Department is also working with academy sponsors who
have targeted underperforming schools. Plans are advanced to reopen
these schools as academies in the coming academic year.
Michael Gove today congratulated the schools becoming academies this term:
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I am delighted that more schools are opening as academies this week,
and are now free from central and local bureaucratic control.
Schools are taking up our offer to become academies because they
recognise the huge benefits of being an academy – more autonomy, more
power to teachers, and an opportunity to thrive, free from interference
from government.
The Coalition believes that headteachers and teachers – not
politicians and bureaucrats – know best how to run schools. That’s why
all school now have the opportunity to become academies, with stronger
schools supporting weaker ones.
Heads of the new academies today spoke of their excitement as their schools become academies this week.
Mike Crawshaw, Head of Debenham High School, Suffolk, said:
We've always worked hard to give our parents what they want – an
outstanding school on their doorstep, with excellent teaching and the
opportunities for their children to succeed, whatever their talents and
interests. But as we've improved, expectations of what we do and
aspirations for what we can achieve have rightly risen with them.
So that's why we've decided to become an academy now. It will give us
more day-to-day control to give families the sort of education they want
– a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum; strong and clear
discipline; extra academic and pastoral support for children that need
it; and thriving music, sport and activities outside class. It is a
clear vote of confidence in our staff's skill and abilities – that we
are trusted by government to make the right calls for our pupils.
Paula Humphreys, Head of The Broxbourne School, Hertfordshire, said:
The governing body believes that we have the experience and expertise
to use the additional autonomies of academy status to continue the
development of the school; to further raise standards; and to be more
proactive in responding to the needs of the local community: leading in
raising attainment and removing barriers to learning. The additional
freedoms open to us as an academy and our commitment to cooperation with
other schools and agencies will be important components in the school’s
work at the heart of the community.
Martin Watson, Head of Lavington School, Wiltshire, said:
The governors made this decision because we believe the school knows
best what is needed to provide an outstanding education to our students.
We intend to better tailor our curriculum to best provide for all
abilities.
The freedoms around pay and conditions will enable us to reward those
staff who take on additional responsibilities not covered in the TLR
structure. Being an academy also enables us to continue and even expand
our work with other schools for mutual development and improvement.
Gary Longman, Head of The King’s (The Cathedral) School, Peterborough, said:
The governing body of The King’s (The Cathedral) School, Peterborough
is delighted that the school acquired academy status on 1 January 2011.
As an outstanding school the governors believe that the new status will
give them the best opportunity to maintain, and indeed raise, current
standards and protect all they cherish about Peterborough’s Cathedral
School founded by Henry VIII in 1541.
Although the school will gain a further degree of independence we look
towards developing the existing collaborative arrangements with other
schools in the locality. We believe that we will be able, in these
difficult times, to target resources wisely to the benefit of our
pupils. In the short term we hope to provide additional one-to-one
support for a number of pupils in mathematics and English, in addition
to protecting our existing curriculum and class sizes. This is an
exciting phase in the long and rich history of the school.
John Townsley, Head of Morley High School, Leeds, said:
Becoming an academy is of immense importance to Morley High School. We
will re-open as The Morley Academy this week and, as a direct
consequence of our change of status, we will begin to play an even
greater part in transforming the educational experience of thousands of
young people.
As an Outstanding school we are being given greater freedom and trust
and we intend to use that freedom to maximum effect. Already an
organisation with a track record of highly effective intervention in
less effective schools, we will now drive forward with an even greater
sense of purpose in this area. We remain convinced that so much is to be
gained from highly effective schools working in partnership with less
effective schools to raise standards of achievement. Becoming an academy
provides us with the flexibility and additional resourcing to work on a
number of fronts with a range of partners in a manner which will have
an enormous impact on so many students. This will include the
appointment of new colleagues who will be employed to work both at The
Morley Academy and partner schools.
Bob Mitchell, Head of Bodmin College, Cornwall, said:
Academy status will give us the freedom to allocate all resources at
our disposal to be directly beneficial to our students. We can offer
extended opportunities, not only to students at Bodmin College, but to
students across our networks.
The key driver for this decision rests with the belief that becoming
an academy will give the College full control of local decision making,
hence becoming more effective and efficient in the delivery of a 21st
century educational offer for everyone at the College and within the
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