An Innovative School Ahead of Its Time the Story of a Free School Journey from Concept to Closure an Innovative School Ahead of Its Time
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An Innovative School Ahead Of Its Time The Story of a Free School Journey from Concept to Closure An Innovative School Ahead Of Its Time The Story of a Free School Journey from Concept to Closure Contents All the views and opinions expressed in this ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ??? document are the personal views and opinions of the individual contributors. Facts, observations, FOREWORD ??? opinions and memories have been combined to create this narrative of the lifecycle of the INTRODUCTION ??? Robert Owen Academy. CHAPTER 1: The Drive For Vocational Education In The UK Since 1944 ??? Please note: whilst the school opened under the name of Robert Owen Vocational School, the name CHAPTER 2: The Co-operative Dimension ??? Robert Owen Academy has been used throughout this document, including extracts taken from the CHAPTER 3: From Concept To Reality ??? original bid. CHAPTER 4: The Development Year 2012 – 2013 ??? All contributions to this document have been freely given without any charge, payment or expenses CHAPTER 5: The Robert Owen Academy At Work 2013 – 2018 ??? whatsoever. Such has been the support for and commitment to our precious and unique Academy. CHAPTER 6: Governance ??? CHAPTER 7: Final Summaries ??? CHAPTER 8: The Hard Lessons Learned ??? CHAPTER 9: If We Had A Time Machine... ??? CHAPTER 10: Reflections ??? ACRONYMS ??? REFERENCE LIST ??? 4 AN INNOVATIVE SCHOOL AHEAD OF ITS TIME CHAPTER 5: THE ROBERT OWEN ACADEMY AT WORK 2013 – 2018 5 Acknowledgements As a Trust we acknowledge that this has been He has sat with us in meetings with civil servants The Trustees and Governors have worked from the battlefield for new warriors to take a Magnum Opus for us as a very small group in London and with the Academies Minister. tirelessly without pay and, in many cases, quietly up the cause of 14-19 technical and vocational of dedicated citizens, with a one-person office He has written to the Secretary of State and has and anonymously, making personal donations education. We thank our friends for being with finalising the run down and closure of the Trust done all within his power to keep our morale to fund student projects. The Stakeholder us throughout. We have been blessed with your in spring 2019. The Robert Owen Academy from flagging and to fly the flag to keep the Board has been at our side throughout and has support and we will never forget those who (ROA) shut its doors to staff and students on Academy open. Uniquely, among locally-based instigated many detailed cross-curricular work stayed by our side in the darkest of days, when 31st August 2018. However, we are adamant politicians, he saw the need for the Academy based on real time projects as well as making it seemed that the education world was totally that it is our collective and professional and the help and support it would provide to key recommendations related to the direction against our innovative ideas and the belief in a responsibility to tell the story of the Academy the Herefordshire family of schools and their of the Academy. Our staff have stuck with us better world for our students. as we see it, through a process of objective students, together with its potential role in and their commitment to remain with us and evaluation as we capture the development the regeneration of the Marches sub region. serve our students in the final two years, when Thank you all. through the eyes and ears of many. We write We also thank our Manchester-based medical the threat of closure was ever-present, often to this ‘Acknowledgements’ section just before consultants and their financial backer, who so their own personal detriment, is a testament Christmas 2018, as our last act before passing wished to base a medical and nursing school to their total professionalism. Our loyal parents the whole document to proof-readers and then within the Academy. They had national interest, bought into the vision and maintained their to our printers. As a co-operative we celebrate and with local backing this would have become support, seeing the difference that we were our Academy and we celebrate the untold a reality. We are grateful to the Principal of making to the lives of their children. voluntary work that has gone into putting this South Gloucester and Stroud College for his document together, which has been in the subsequent unstinting efforts to bring the It is with a degree of irony that we now hear true spirit of the support that our Trustees, Academy into their Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) that the new Hereford-based University Governors, staff, parents and local businesses and allow it to evolve into a University Technical ‘New Model in Technical Engineering’ (NMITE), have given our Academy since its inception. College (UTC) majoring in cyber security. We is set to move into our vacant Hereford City acknowledge the partnership with United In premises. It is also with a tinge of sadness that we To single out individuals is often an invidious The Community and the unselfish manner in listen to the ever-growing clamour from newly business, particularly in the case of our which their trustees supported the transfer of appointed education leaders and local ‘movers Academy, as so many have stuck with us the distance learning BTEC Diploma contract and shakers’ to fight our closure. We appreciate through thick and thin, when it often felt as to the Academy, as well as the interest shown that the true potential of the Academy and the if we were with John Wayne on the Alamo. by football teams across the West Midlands vision of the Academy pioneers are only now Our Vice Presidents deserve a specific mention to expand the membership. This would have beginning to sink in, with a collective sense for their ongoing support and, in particular, our made Herefordshire a virtual centre for of the scale of the loss to Herefordshire and MP, who has given us his support from the time excellence training in football for the whole of the Marches sub region. However, we have of the writing of the proposal through to closure. the West Midlands. done all we could, and we now wearily retreat 6 AN INNOVATIVE SCHOOL AHEAD OF ITS TIME CHAPTER 5: THE ROBERT OWEN ACADEMYACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AT WORK 2013 – 2018 7 Foreword By Dame Janet Trotter OBE DBE CVO I am delighted to have been invited to write The plans were detailed: a redundant school a forward to this evaluation of a brave and building in Hereford was secured and upgraded innovative venture with young people at and teachers and pupils were recruited. All was its centre. set fair, it was hoped, for the future. The Robert Owen Academy, named after the The evaluation sets out the story of the rise and great social reformer, opened its doors to fall of this project. The reasons for the closure students on1st September 2013. Its origins, of the Academy after high expectations are however, go back much further to a desire to complex. Some are strategic, some administrative put education at the heart of regenerating the and some reflect the difficulty of putting the Marches and provide further opportunities for founding vision into practice in an increasingly young people. The intention was to develop competitive education market place. a co-operative, community-owned model of education, where educational and vocational I hope this evaluation will be read carefully and areas of endeavour had parity of esteem and lessons learned by other communities wishing where co-operative values would dominate. to embark on brave experiments designed Longer term, there were plans for Initial Teacher to support the many young people who are Education to be re-developed on the Marches, underachieving in our current education system. and for teachers and resources to be shared with other local educational establishments. 8 AN INNOVATIVE SCHOOL AHEAD OF ITS TIME CHAPTER 5: THE ROBERT OWEN ACADEMY AT WORKFOREWORD 2013 – 2018 99 Introduction The final decision, taken on 8th March 2018 standard comprehensive school’, which the • The national fixation with examinations at The external challenges will not go away, in by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Robert Owen Academy has never pretended 16 – namely GCSE and, increasingly, A level. fact, by all predictions they will speed up with for the School System, to close the Robert to be. In short, we contend that although the • The obsession in schools with meeting potentially devastating impacts on our country Owen Academy on 31st August 2018 marks Secretary of State has every right to withdraw examination targets within the context of and our people. For those of us involved in the yet another landmark in the long struggle to our funding (providing legal process is followed), Ofsted criteria. Robert Owen Academy and of grey hair and develop vocational education in England. The the decision making about our future has been • The reluctance of head teachers to transfer advanced years, we had expected a detailed letter indicated that the decision was driven poor and badly managed. or share students because of the impact of evaluation of the Free Schools Project, just as by reasons of finance, but during the six years formula funding. we have approached virtually every education of uncertainty that central Government has We believe that the Free Schools Initiative, • The rapid growth in the number of students initiative since 1944 but, sadly, nothing has been created around the Academy, the reasons given as originally conceived, was a brave attempt with complex needs, who were being gently forthcoming. It is almost as if the clutch of for potential closure have shifted from poor to bring about change in an English education steered out of many high schools.