Academy Consultation
1. Academy Status – What it would mean for Kings?
The Government believe that a school should be given the opportunity to decide if it
wants to continue with the Local Authority or to be independent and autonomous.
At the same time, there are severe financial constraints and cuts faced by local
government. As a college we have to face these challenges and consider whether it
is in our best interests to convert to an Academy.
2. What is an Academy?
An academy is a government funded school that is independent from the local
authority. In terms of the day to day functioning, an academy will not be noticeably
different to a Local Authority maintained school. Responsibility for funding the school,
monitoring performance and any capital projects will fall to central government rather
than to local government.
Becoming an academy does not mean that the character, nature or ethos of the
College would need to change at all.
Academy status gives schools additional responsibilities and also greater freedoms.
If the decision is made to transfer to become an academy the College will then look to
join a trust. The College and Governing Body will form what is known as an academy
trust, which in reality is a charitable company. No one can make any money from the
company. The company is limited by guarantee. It does not pay dividends and makes
no profit. It is, however, a legal entity and will mean that the trust will be able to enter
into contracts, employ staff and be recognised as a legal body.
3. Funding of Academies
There will not be a significant financial advantage to the College, but it will have more
control over its budget allocation so that funding can be allocated to specific areas
identified by the College, not by the Local Authority (Surrey County Council).
Of the services Surrey County Council provide, the College can decide which they
wish to purchase, rather than paying for services currently provided which we do not
use.
The College would have more say over when large site maintenance jobs could be
undertaken.
4. The Curriculum
Academies do not have to follow the National Curriculum; however, this is unlikely to
have any impact on the way that education provision is delivered. All schools have to
provide a broad and balanced curriculum and will be judged against national
standards, which to a large extent are based on the National Curriculum. The
Governors are aware that changes to the curriculum are important to parents and
potential students.
5. Length of School Terms and School Days
The Department for Education says that an academy can vary the length of the school
term and the school days. At the present time there are no plans to change. The
College is aware that parents have made arrangements for childcare, and often have
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work arrangements to fit round school day and school terms. Parents and children at
other local schools would not appreciate this college taking an arbitrary decision to
change the school holiday dates as it would have an impact on siblings.
As a Local Authority school, subject to consultation and discussion, the College could
already seek to change the length of the school day.
6. Staff Pay and Conditions
The current pay and conditions for teaching staff and non-teaching staff within school
are determined by national agreements. All staff would transfer to the new academy
under the TUPE provisions which would mean no change to their terms and conditions
of service.
The College has an excellent track record of working closely with teachers’ unions,
professional associations and unions who act for the support staff. Maintaining these
good relations is vital for the overall health of the College and for ensuring that
education is delivered in the best possible way to the students.
7. Admissions
The local authority still has an obligation to make sure that there is a school place for
every child who lives in the area. As an academy, if we were to go down that route,
we are required to be at the heart of our local community. The academy could change
its admissions criteria, but only after a period of consultation and almost a two year
lead period.
Parents would still apply to the local authority which would ensure absolute fairness in
determining places.
8. An Academy Trust
The academy trust would be managed by members of the academy board, who would
be drawn initially from the Governing Body. A governing body would be appointed to
do much as it does now. There would be additional responsibilities for the Governors,
in that they would have to make sure that accounts comply with the Companies Act
and the Charity Commission and these are filed every year.
The Trust would also be the employer for staff at the school.
9. Relationships with other schools
We value our relationships and partnership with neighbouring schools. As you may
be aware, we work closely with local secondary and primary schools as Surrey Heath
Learning Partnership. We would like those links to continue and even to strengthen
as we work together in the interests of our local children’s education.
10. The Current Position
Everyone at Kings is proud of our achievements to date. We are fortunate to have
supportive parents, great students and a dedicated staff team. We all work together
with the same ultimate goal, to provide the best education for the students and to keep
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the College firmly rooted at the heart of the community. Kings will continue to provide
a great education for all of our students.
The Governing Body has seriously considered the prospects of converting to an
Academy. We are united in wanting to ensure that the ethos of the school and selfgovernance for the school is maintained. We also want to secure the future for the
College. The pace of change in education is very swift at the present time. We have
seen rapid changes and we do not want to be left behind. However, we must not rush
into any decision and we need to take on board everyone’s views.
The Governors believe now is the time to widen the debate and to seek the views of
the community and parents. No decision has yet been made and all responses to this
consultation will be given full consideration before a decision is made by the Governors
about whether or not to proceed.
There is a DfE website you can visit for more information and each of the websites for
the teacher unions has an area about academy status.
The Department for Education FAQ site is:
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/academies/secondar
y/faqs
The decision will be made public on the school website and students will have letters
as soon as practicable after that date.
Please send your written response to this proposal by hand or e-mail to
[email protected] by Wednesday 14th January 2015 or
respond online to the Academy Questionnaire which is on our website.
Please feel free to add your name if you choose or to keep the response
anonymous.
Thank you for taking the time to read the documentation and for your response.
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