The Council's Relationships
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Cabinet Meeting Meeting: 23 April 2019 SCRUTINY REVIEW PANEL: THE COUNCIL’S RELATIONSHIPS WITH ACADEMIES: DRAFT FINAL REPORT Councillor Paul Porgess (Lead Councillor) 1. PURPOSE As part of the Scrutiny Work Programme approved by the Council, the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee decided to conduct a scrutiny review in respect to the Council’s relationships with Academies. The Academy programme has been in existence since 2002 and given the increasing number of schools that had converted to Academies in recent years, particularly in the secondary sector, it was agreed that a review looking at how the Council engages with Academies would be useful. At the initial review scoping meeting, officers outlined a number of important business areas where officers regularly interacted with and provided services to Academy colleagues and consequently the Panel agreed that they wished to explore the following issues in greater detail during the course of the review:- Mental Wellbeing and Curriculum Provision Special Educational Needs School Commission, Admissions and Exclusions Background Academies are state-funded schools which are independent of local authorities. The introduction of academies (including free schools, university technical colleges (UTCs) and studio schools) has been one of the most significant changes to the English education system of the last several decades. Any school is able to apply for Academy designation. The DfE, however, has a statutory duty to direct schools which Ofsted judged to be inadequate to become academies with the support of a sponsor. A sponsor is an organisation which the DfE has approved to support an academy. Most sponsors are groups of schools which have formed multi-academy trusts (MATs). The Academies Act 2010 led to a significant expansion and evolvement of the academies programme. Initially enabling ‘outstanding’ primary, secondary and special schools, as judged by Ofsted, to become an Academy, expansion of the programme allowed schools judged ‘good with outstanding features’ to convert and any school irrespective of its Ofsted grade to convert if it partnered with an excellent school or a multi-academy trust (MAT) with a strong record of improvement. The Coalition government also continued with the forced academisation of low performing schools. In September 2014 eight Regional School Commissioners (RSCs) were appointed with responsibility to approve academy conversions in their region and to intervene in underperforming academies. Stockport is part of the region of Lancashire and West Yorkshire. Following the Education and Adoption Act receiving Royal Assent, the DfE set out its vision that every school should be an academy or be in the process of academy conversion by 2020. The Department also stated that most schools would form or join a MAT, with an expectation that there would be many more MATs with oversight of between 10 and 15 schools. The announcement requiring all schools to become academies proved to be highly controversial and there was strong resistance in Parliament. This resistance led to a change of mind and in May 2016 the Education Secretary instead sought to introduce new legislative powers to trigger an area-wide conversion to academies if a local authority (LA) was deemed to be under-performing or if it was no longer financially viable for the LA to run its own schools (likely where a critical mass has already converted to academy status). In October 2016 plans for the Education for All Bill which would have introduced the legislation necessary to force area-wide conversion were dropped. National policy remains, stating the ambition that all schools will eventually become academies. As at 1st August 2018, DfE statistics indicate that there are 7,475 academies open. An additional 1,134 schools are in the pipeline to become academies. The former figure equates to 35 per cent of state- funded schools. The Stockport Context The Review Panel heard that since the inception of the Academies programme Stockport Council and corporate policy had been consistent in its approach to the academisation of Stockport schools. In terms of process the LA had presented to its schools, and continues to do so, the advantages and disadvantages of becoming an academy. The LA approach to schools which choose to become an academy accords with a school’s independence from the LA during the decision-making and conversion process itself and not just once the conversion has been completed. Any advocacy sought by a governing body from the LA for conversion is framed within this independent context and impartiality prevails. The Panel were reminded that in April 2016, in response to the education white paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ which sought to force all schools to become academies irrespective of their individual wishes, Council members resolved to write to the then Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, to allow ‘academy and non-academy schools to co-exist in a sustainable way, to ensure school places and education quality can be delivered for all our young people; which allows academy and non-academy schools to co-exist in a sustainable way; and to ensure school places and education quality can be delivered for all our young people. The figures below indicate that academy conversion in Stockport is lower than in many other local authorities especially in the primary phase. Aside from those schools which have chosen to convert, a number of governing boards have undertaken detailed scoping exercises assessing the opportunities and risks of academy conversion and have chosen to remain as part of the LA. 13 per cent of its primary and secondary schools combined are academies. There are eight primary academies and five secondary academies. None of the LA’s specialist settings have become academies. Table 1: Stockport’s academies School Academy Sponsor/MAT Conversion date status Bredbury Green Primary Sponsor led Education Learning Trust September 2017 Cheadle Hulme Primary Sponsor led Laurus Trust September 2018 Gatley Primary Converter Education Learning Trust September 2014 Hursthead Junior Primary Converter Kirkstead Education Trust June 2014 Meadowbank Primary Converter Education Learning Trust April 2018 Mellor Primary Converter Single converter February 2012 St. Mary’s Marple Bridge Sponsor led St. Ralph Sherwin Catholic Trust September 2018 St. Matthew’s Primary Sponsor led Chester Diocesan Trust January 2014 Cheadle Hulme High Converter Laurus Trust September 2012 Hazel Grove High Converter Single converter August 2012 The Kingsway School Converter Abney Trust February 2016 Reddish Vale Sponsor led South Manchester Learning Trust September 2017 Stockport Academy Sponsor led United Learning September 2007 School Improvement The Panel were keen to hear about how the LA worked in partnership with all its schools whatever their designation. Councillors were encouraged to hear of the ‘status blind’ approach adopted which was predicated on a ‘stronger together’ approach to school improvement and to securing the best possible outcomes for all Stockport learners and particularly for the more vulnerable pupils and those who are disadvantaged. For the most part this focus on the Stockport Family of schools works effectively. All the LA’s primary schools buy back the school improvement team’s service level agreement (SLA). The primary academies continue to value the support and challenge which the LA’s link advisers provide. The primary academies are involved in the programmes of facilitated learning such as the curriculum leadership programme. The primary academies have valued the support and guidance at the time of Ofsted inspection and endorsed the role of the link adviser who is able to share their deep intelligence of the school. In the secondary phase the Panel learnt that there was more of a mixed economy in relation to the academies’ engagement with Stockport’s school improvement team. From the outset, over 10 years ago, Stockport Academy received its school improvement support from United Learning rather than an LA link adviser although it has availed itself of subject and other network meetings at additional cost. United Learning is effectively Stockport Academy’s school improvement arm. Additionally, Cheadle Hulme High School had not bought into the school improvement SLA for several years and nor has Hazel Grove High School for the last couple of years. Whilst this has meant that these schools no longer have access to an LA link adviser they have continued to access subject and other network meetings and Cheadle Hulme High School has led, through its specialist leader for education (SLE) in mathematics, for example, the mathematics subject leader network. Both Kingsway and Reddish Vale has continued to buy into the school improvement SLA. From September 2018 a revised school improvement SLA is being implemented in the secondary phase. The link adviser role has been removed to reflect the reduced capacity in the school improvement team. Schools, with LA support, will broker their own external school improvement adviser/consultant who will provide updates for the Head of School Effectiveness and Education Director. It is hoped that all schools will buy back into the revised offer in order to effectively develop a secondary school improvement strategy. Recommendation: 1) That the report be sent to the Regional Schools Commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire highlighting the excellent work that the Local Authority undertakes in maintaining relationships with and supporting the Borough’s Academies. 2) That the Director for Education submit a report to a future meeting of the Children & Families Scrutiny Committee explaining the role of the Regional Schools Commissioner and how the Local Authority interacts with the Commissioner’s Office and to explore the potential of the Commissioner attending a future meeting of the Scrutiny Committee. 2. MENTAL WELLBEING AND CURRICULUM PROVISION Primary Since April 2018 the primary team has been working extensively on helping schools to re-shape their overall curriculum so that schools are developing their provision to support the needs of their community.