Weston Favell School, Northampton A ULT Academy Consultation Report, December 2009 A ULT ACADEMY FOR WESTON FAVELL SCHOOL NORTHAMPTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE CONSULTATION REPORT “The school has had a poor reputation and the academy will give it a fresh start” (a significant stakeholder). 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Proposal to replace Weston Favell School with a ULT academy This report summarises the findings of an extensive public consultation into Northamptonshire County Council‟s (NCC) proposal to replace Weston Favell School (WFS) in East Northampton with an academy, catering for 1,650 young people aged 11-18 years. The consultation process has been conducted by DJB Consultancy, Independent Consultants on behalf of the United Learning Trust (ULT), sponsor of the proposed Weston Favell Academy, and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The consultation ran for a four week period from 7th September to 2nd October 2009 and held joint public and key stakeholder meetings with NCC Officers. The consultants have also independently sought the views of a wide cross-section of people in the target school community – parents, students, staff, Governors, key education stakeholders, statutory support organisations and trades unions. The case for this academy proposal is strongly supported by NCC, which wishes to see a greater acceleration and sustainability in WFS‟s performance, despite its recent improved achievements at GCSE (30% of students achieved five or more A*- C grades including English and maths in the first year of a three-year National Challenge programme). However, WFS‟s governors and a majority of staff, students and parents are against this academy proposal. At the time of writing this report, NCC proposed the academy to open in January 2010 in the school‟s existing buildings which the school had moved into in 2008. The Council, however, has not yet made a decision whether or not to publish statutory notices to close the school in order to open an academy. Any new date is therefore subject to NCC statutory processes and a NCC Cabinet decision to progress to the next stage of this proposal. 1 Weston Favell School, Northampton A ULT Academy Consultation Report, December 2009 Should NCC‟s Cabinet decide to close the school to open an academy, the academy proposal would finally be subject to a Funding Agreement by the Secretary of State for the DCSF. 1.2 The academy proposal The proposed academy would offer: 1,350 places for students aged 11-16; 300 places for post-16 students; A broad and balanced curriculum with special emphasis on Science and Technology alongside a theme of Business and Enterprise within an ICT-rich environment; More challenging courses for the more able students and extra support for those who may be struggling; Partnership working with NCC, building on the strong links and local partnership with primary schools, to ensure a smooth admission transfer of students to the academy; Partnership opportunities with Northampton Academy, other local secondary schools and Further Education establishments in the delivery of the 14-19 curriculum; A positive contribution to the local community by sharing its facilities with other schools and developing ways in which people in the wider community can use its education and sport facilities, either during or outside academy hours. 1.3 Structure of the report Section Two of the report explains the Academies Programme and funding. Section Three details the consultation process and methodology used in preparing this report. Section Four sets out the background to Weston Favell School. Section Five sets out the NCC rationale for this proposal and describes stakeholders‟ attitudes to the academy proposal. Section Six reports on the key priorities for consultation: The admission policy; The academy‟s development; Curriculum and specialisms; Ethos; Governance; 2 Weston Favell School, Northampton A ULT Academy Consultation Report, December 2009 Community involvement and wider use. Section Seven of the report sets out the consultants‟ conclusions and recommendations. 2. THE ACADEMIES PROGRAMME Academies are all-ability schools which aim to bring a new and innovative approach to school leadership, teaching and learning. They seek to raise the standard of education provision in the maintained sector in the most disadvantaged areas. Academies draw on the expertise of a sponsor and have the freedom to try new ways of teaching within an innovative and stimulating environment. Academies are state-funded independent secondary schools. They are independent of the Local Education Authority (LEA) and have more autonomy over curriculum design than maintained schools. They offer a broad and balanced curriculum together with a specialism. All places are free with no fees paid by parents and are available to children from the local community within an agreed admission policy. Across the country, academies are being created to replace schools in challenging circumstances or to meet demand for additional school places. The expansion of the Academies Programme now allows improving schools and others in a wider range of situations to be eligible for the scheme. By September 2009, there were over 130 academies open in 65 Local Authorities (LA), with a further 80 projected to open in September 2010. The Government is committed to establishing 400 academies, with at least 243 open or in the pipeline by 2010. 2.1 Funding for academies Academies are operated by a not-for-profit charitable trust from the private or voluntary sectors. The Capital Grant for building work is administered under the DCSF Partnership for Schools (PfS) programme and is met by the LA‟s allocations for Building Schools for the Future (BSF). The annual recurrent costs are funded directly by the DCSF at a level comparable to the funding of similar schools in the area. The funding also takes account of the hold-back by the LA for services for which the academy is responsible. Each academy receives the addition of a per- pupil grant equivalent to specialist schools in the maintained sector. 3 Weston Favell School, Northampton A ULT Academy Consultation Report, December 2009 Funding for 16-19 education comes directly from the DCSF. Since 2001, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has played a major role in the planning and co- ordination of post-16 learning provision up to Higher Education level. These arrangements aim to maximise participation and social inclusion and support the Employment Service in helping school leavers and those without jobs to find work. 3. CONSULTATION PROCESS AND METHODOLOGY The consultation process was conducted over a four week period from 7th September to 2nd October 2009. It was run in parallel with the separate NCC consultation process which related to the statutory regulations for the closure of WFS in order to open an academy. The consultation was carried out by independent education consultants, DJB Consultancy, and was designed to ensure the process was conducted fairly, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. To ensure independence in reporting, the following actions were taken: The provision and wide distribution of a ULT consultation document (together with NCC‟s information leaflet) giving detailed explanation on the proposal to potential parents, parents of Weston Favell School students, staff and school governors, key stakeholders and the wider community; the documents were made available at NCC One Stop Shops and libraries; they were also uploaded on to the ULT and NCC websites; Issuing of a press release announcing the launch of the public consultation and providing details of the public meetings; Commissioning of a telephone survey of a representative sample of 200 parents of local primary school-age children; Commissioning of a focus group of Weston Favell School staff and parents; Letters inviting participation in the consultation were sent to statutory providers, schools, post-16 providers, key education and training stakeholders, faith organisations, trades unions, Councillors and the local Members of Parliament. 3.1 Qualitative research Qualitative evidence was gathered through meetings with the general public as well as individual interviews, group meetings and focus groups. Participants included the parents, students, teaching and non-teaching staff and governors of Weston Favell 4 Weston Favell School, Northampton A ULT Academy Consultation Report, December 2009 School. Focus groups were also held with a sample of students from each year group at the school. 3.1.1 Weston Favell School meetings Two meetings were held on 15th September with the Student Council (54students) and with members of the teaching and support staff (55 staff). At the meetings, NCC representatives explained the Council‟s reasons for the academy proposal as well as the statutory consultation process. ULT representatives spoke about ULT‟s track record in education and DJB Consultancy explained their own independent consultation process. There were also opportunities for students and staff to ask questions. 3.1.2 Public meetings Three public consultation meetings were held jointly with NCC Officers. The meetings were held as follows: Date Audience Attendance 7.00pm Parents, staff, students, 325 15th September governors and the general public. 3.30pm Key professional staff, head 12 23rd September teachers, staff, governors. 7.00pm Parents, staff, students, 271 23rd September governors and the general public. The public meeting of 15th September was introduced by the Chair of Governors of Weston Favell School and was followed by the Acting Head Teacher. Both stated reasons why the Board of Governors and staff were against the academy proposal. Paul Burnett, NCC Director of Children and Young Peoples Services, chaired the meeting and explained the statutory consultation process and timeline for any decision to be made on the outcome of the proposal. He also stated the Council‟s rationale in bringing this proposal forward. Presentations were made on behalf of ULT by: Martyn Baker, National Education Advisor and Senior Projects Officer Jan Shadick, Principal of Swindon Academy Peter Hullah, Principal of Northampton Academy.