Academy status report

There will be a delay in our planned conversion to academy status in April this year. Negotiations are still underway between the school and the local authority concerning leasing arrangements of parts of the school site.  We will provide further updates once agreement is reached.

 

Update - Academy Status 1 April 2012

Following discussion and further consultation and research with schools that have converted to Academy status, the Governors agreed on Tuesday 10 January 2012 that we should proceed with the process of conversion, so that Charters School becomes an Academy on 1 April 2012. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the consultation process.

 

 

Introduction

The Governing Body and the Senior Leadership Team at Charters School are considering whether or not it is right for the school to become an Academy. We are currently in a formal period of consultation to allow all those with an interest in the school to ask questions and contribute their views. This document has been produced to provide information as part of this consultation as well as explaining how you can contribute to the discussion.

We have tried to provide as much useful information as possible and, along with the opportunities provided by the parent and staff meetings that we have organised, we hope to receive your views on this important issue for the future of the school.

 

• Background information
• What is an academy?
• Benefits of converting to an academy and concerns
• FAQs
• The consultation process

Background Information

Charters School has the opportunity to convert to academy status as a result of the 2010 Academies Act introduced by the Coalition Government. Schools converting to become academies because of this legislation should not be confused with the academy schools created by the previous Labour Government which were set up in areas where there had been persistent failure to deliver good educational outcomes.

Initially under the 2010 legislation, only schools graded “Outstanding” by Ofsted were allowed to convert to academy status, although eligibility has recently been widened to allow “Good” schools to convert.

At the time of writing, 1244 applications to convert to academies have been received by the Department for Education (DfE), 430 new academies have opened and a third of all secondary schools have either converted to academy status or are in the process of doing so.

What is an Academy?

An academy is a school directly funded by the DfE and is independent of local authority (LA) control.

What this means is that an academy has greater freedoms and flexibilities including:

• Greater control of the budget, with freedom to spend the money currently retained and spent by the LA on the school’s behalf
• The ability to set their own pay and conditions for staff
• Freedom in delivering the curriculum
• Freedom to change the length of terms and school days

Nevertheless, there are certain safeguards included in the Academies Act:

• Academies have to comply with the admissions, exclusions and SEN laws and relevant codes, like all maintained schools
• Academies must teach a broad and balanced curriculum, including English, Maths and Science
• All academies will be subject to inspections by Ofsted.

Benefits of Converting to Academy Status

 

Increased Strategic Freedoms

If Charters became an academy, it would have greater independence to make decisions about the strategic direction of the school. At present, we have a fair degree of autonomy even as a community school accountable to the LA. Nevertheless, academy status would increase this autonomy, allowing us greater flexibility to innovate in areas such as the structure of our curriculum or our land and property.

 

Curriculum Freedoms

Charters has spent a great deal of time structuring its curriculum to meet the needs and interests of our pupils. As an academy, however, we would have greater freedoms to make it even more relevant and exciting if we were not restricted by the National Curriculum.

 

Greater Financial Freedoms

The LA currently retains funding to provide services on behalf of Charters School. If we became an academy, Charters would be given its share of this funding to provide these services for ourselves. Using the DfE’s “ready reckoner” we calculated that we would receive £373,589 to pay for these services if we become an academy on 1 September 2011. However, this figure will diminish as more schools become academies and take their share of this money from the LA’s central funding.

As an academy, we will continue to have to pay for many of these services but, significantly, we will have the freedom to buy the most appropriate services for the school, rather than those the LA offers. It is likely that a new wave of providers will emerge who may be able to offer services to a higher level and more cost-effectively than the LA.

It is worth noting that if Charters does not become an academy, the LA’s services would be much diminished and Charters would only have access to these diminished services and little buying power to go elsewhere.

 

Improved Partnerships

Charters already has strong partnerships with a range of different organisations, most notably with our feeder primary schools in the Ascot Partnership. However, as the LA’s strategic role inevitably reduces, schools must look to develop these partnerships and additionally partnerships to improve the lives of the children and families in our community.

Necessity may well be the driving force here, but already we have made effective links with Heathermount School, for example, to produce better solutions for some of our pupils with special educational needs than can currently be provided by the LA.

Concerns about Converting to an Academy

 

Long-term financial uncertainty

As an academy, Charters would receive additional funding currently kept by the LA. The Government never intended that academies would receive more money than community schools, but they would have the freedom to use this money as they thought was appropriate for their school. Nevertheless, it is clear that this level of funding will decrease as more schools become academies and also LA costs for their services, which the school may well still need to purchase, will continue to rise.

Medium term funding for schools is difficult to predict. Nevertheless, the next few years seem likely to be tougher than the last few. Academies are responsible for their own financial management and the Funding Agreement requires them to operate within their budget. The Government has announced its intention to review the funding methodology for 2012-13 onwards. In the medium term, there are financial uncertainties irrespective of the status of the school.

 

Management and Leadership

If Charters became an academy, we would have to provide services and take on responsibilities, such as for the admissions process, currently delivered by the LA. It is unclear, at present, how much the school’s Senior Leadership Team and Governors may have their focus and efforts diverted to these responsibilities away from their prime responsibility to provide high quality education and care for the pupils.

FAQs

 

Admissions

Would the admissions situation for Charters change if it becomes an academy?
Academies must still abide by the Admissions Code. Charters’ Governing Body is not interested in changing current arrangements. The new draft Admissions Code is clear that schools cannot introduce or increase selection. So we do not anticipate any changes to admissions for Charters at present.

Can academies change the timing of the admissions process?
No.  1st March is fixed as National Offer Day.

Would the applications process change?
Parents would still complete a common application form which would go to the LA. The academy would be responsible for administering the applications once they were forwarded from the LA. However, it is likely we would sub-contract this task to the LA and pay for them to administer the applications for the school.

 

Staffing

What freedoms do academies have over staff terms and conditions?
Academies have the freedom to move away from agreed terms and conditions for teachers and associate staff. However, this is not a priority for the Senior Leadership Team or Governors, at present.

What about the pension schemes?
The teachers’ pension scheme is unaffected by this change in status. The school would take responsibility for associate staff pensions and would have to fund the deficit. The school would have to obtain an actuarial evaluation and pay this off over a period of years. However, if the school did not become an academy, this would still have to be paid off by the LA and, consequently, taken from the funds available to the school. So, either way, our school budget would be affected.

What is the impact of academy status for current staff?
All qualifying staff would transfer from the employment of RBWM to the employment of the Academy Trust. Qualifying staff are generally those who would have been employed at a converting school on the date of conversion to academy status. This transfer takes place within the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) for staff transfer, which ensures that staff retain all of their existing rights, terms and conditions and pension arrangements, including continuity of service.

What does TUPE protect?
The TUPE Regulations provide that the current employer’s “rights and obligations arising from a contract of employment existing on the date of transfer shall, by reason of such transfer, be transferred” to the new employer.

Would the academy change Terms and Conditions for future new staff?
An academy has the freedom to alter Terms and Conditions for future new staff. Schools that have converted already to academy status rarely deviate from current terms and conditions and that would be Charters’ approach.

 

Curriculum

Who would quality assure the school and its wider curriculum?
Ofsted inspections would still take place. The Governors could also secure additional external evaluation if they wished to evaluate our provision between Ofsted inspections. Charters also has well-developed self-evaluation processes.

 

Land

Who would own the school buildings and land?
The Academy Trust would own the school. The LA owns the land but it would be leased at a peppercorn rent to the Academy Trust for 125 years.

 

Finance, Resources and Services

Do academies receive extra funding?
Academies receive their funding direct from the Government rather than via the LA. The main academy revenue budget consists of two elements:

• The school budget – which is worked out in exactly the same way as it is currently for the school
• The share of the funding that is retained by the LA from all maintained schools. This is used by the LA to fund central services, such as the Behaviour Support Service, that they provide for all maintained schools at present. LA retained funding is called the LACSEG and that is given directly to academy budgets. This money is directed to the academy rather than the LA; it does not come from the budgets of other schools.

Charters’ Governors would only decide to convert to academy status if they are confident that they could re-provide the services currently provided by the LA effectively and economically.

How would the academy re-provide the services that the LA currently manage using the LACSEG funding?
As an academy, Charters would have a greater degree of control of the quantity and quality of these services compared to the current situation. The academy would have to consider how much of the LACSEG funding that it receives would be required to re-provide services that are currently organised by the LA. Some of those services might not be required by the school or could be provided more economically.

Will Academies be disadvantaged as regards Capital funding?

The short answer is that academies will be devolved the same level of Capital funding as other schools who have remained under the control of the Local Authority. However, a parental query focused on whether or not academies would be discriminated against, or stopped from applying for grants or funds to be used for Capital projects that were open to maintained schools.
Although the answer from the Department for Education is not clear cut, it did not indicate that academies were unable to apply for such funding and, in fact, gave an example of a new privately-financed school re-building programme open to academies and maintained schools from 2012-13 onwards. There was also reference to an Academies Capital Maintenance Fund of £85 million which has been targeted at current academies to help them meet any urgent building condition needs.
Therefore it seems that at present, academies will be able to access Capital funding in line with maintained schools.

Can services that are currently provided by the LA which support the children in school, such as the Educational Psychology Service or Behaviour Support, be easily provided elsewhere?
Yes. Also, we could buy back services from the LA if we particularly value the service they provide. We essentially have the choice to purchase the services that best meet our needs.

Are there any financial costs in becoming an academy?
There are costs relating to the legal conversion and other “one-off” conversion costs. Each school receives a £25,000 grant from the DfE towards these costs and discussions with schools who have converted indicate this figure is adequate for these purposes. In the event of Governors wishing to withdraw from the conversion process, no part of this grant is repayable to the Government.

What insurance costs would an academy need to cover the significant risks posed by potential emergencies such as fire, flood, pupil accidents, major crimes, etc?
All academies are required to take out a wide range of insurances, often to levels specified by the LA (for land/buildings) or the DfE. The academy receives a grant equivalent to the cost of insurance from the DfE so it has no net effect on the academy budget.

What will the responsibilities of the Governing Body be?
The Governors will be responsible for establishing the Academy Trust. The Academy Trust (a charitable company limited by guarantee) will then enter into a funding agreement with the Secretary of State for the running of the academy. The Academy Trust (made up of members) has a strategic role in running the academy and will be responsible for appointing the Governors (also known as directors or trustees) to the Governing Body of the academy. It is the Governing Body that manages the academy on behalf of the members of the Academy Trust. The key responsibilities are to:

• ensure the quality of educational provision
• challenge and monitor the performance of the academy
• manage the academy trust’s finances and property
• employ staff

It will be for the members of the Governing Body of the school to decide and agree, in discussion with the Secretary of State, who among them would wish to be members of the Academy Trust and which of them would wish to be Governors of the Academy Trust (note that it is possible to be both a member and governor).

What is the role of the Academy Trust?
An Academy Trust is a charitable company responsible for the running of the academy and has control over the land and other assets. It has a strategic role in running the academy, but delegates management of the school to the Governors.

 

General

Until what point can the Governing Body pull out of the conversion process?
The Governing Body can withdraw at any point up to the final stage of signing the Funding Agreement. Even if the school has indicated to the DfE that they intend to convert, nothing is binding until the Funding Agreement is signed.

Can academy status be “undone”?
The Academy Trust or the Secretary of State can terminate the contract to run the academy, but there is a seven year termination clause (which could potentially be varied if both sides agreed that was in the students’ best interests). Converting to academy status is therefore a long-term decision.

The Consultation Process

This is an important decision for the school and so we have agreed a consultation process that should allow all interested parties the time and opportunity to ask questions, raise any concerns and express views. All these comments will then be considered by the Governing Body, prior to making a decision whether or not to sign the Funding Agreement that would commit the school to converting to an academy.

The Governing Body is seeking the views of:

• Students
• Parents and carers
• Staff and their union representatives
• The Ascot Partnership
• Other interested parties

There is a significant amount of helpful information on the DfE website about Academies, please click here to read

How you can contribute your views

The Governors have provided a lengthy consultation period, incorporating the summer holiday, so that everyone has time to properly reflect on their response. Your views can be provided in any written form:

• Emails should be sent to cha.academycon@rbwm.org
• Letters should be marked “Private and Confidential – Academy Proposal” and addressed to the Co-Headteachers
• A consultative meeting for Associate Staff will be held on Monday 11 July 2011 at 2 pm
• A consultative meeting for Teaching Staff will be held on Tuesday 12 July 2011 at 3.15 pm
• A Parents’ Academy Consultation Meeting will be held in the Main Hall on Wednesday 21 September 2011 at 7 pm.

 

 

Martyn Parker	Richard Pilgrim
Co-Headteacher	Co-Headteacher