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Should Friesland School convert to an academy? Issues for governors

The Academy Option

 Academy conversion involves structural change in the school’s status and is an irreversible process which affects students, parents, the wider community and employees.  Academisation involves structural change in the school’s status as an employer.  Friesland School is currently maintained by Derbyshire County Council, although as a Foundation School the governing body is the employer.  As an academy, the school would be directly maintained by the Secretary

• f State for Education.

 Academisation has been heavily promoted to schools by the Government since 2010, as an option which provides them with greater freedoms and flexibilities than remaining as a local authority maintained school.  It is precisely these freedoms and flexibilities which threaten the future success of Friesland School.

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The Two Counties Trust

 The NASUWT understands that some of the Friesland governors are promoting academy conversion because it means that the school will join the Two Counties Trust, which is a local multi-academy trust (MAT).  However, the governing body should understand that there is no guarantee that, should Friesland School join the Two Counties Trust it will remain with the Two Counties Trust, or indeed that the Two Counties Trust will have any lasting future.  A significant feature of the academies sector is the failure of MATs because of low standards or because of financial issues.  When this occurs, the Department for Education (DfE) tries to find alternative MATs for the affected schools. However, there is no guarantee that the DfE will be able to do so.

System Failures

 There are now numerous examples of failed academies:

• The Wakefield City Academies Trust which recently closed down because it

could not improve educational outcomes for its pupils.

• The Education Fellowship Trust handed back all of its schools to the DfE in

2017 following DfE concerns about poor outcomes for pupils, governance and financial management. Some of its schools are still in limbo, without a sponsoring academy but unable to rejoin their local authority.  The NASUWT believes that academisation would introduce a wholly unnecessary risk into the future of Friesland School which can easily be

• avoided. The school can, and should, continue to be maintained by the local

authority.  What are the myths which the academies lobby promotes about the academy sector?

Myth 1 – Academies benefit teachers

 One key academy freedom is that academies are freed from the national pay and conditions of service for teachers. National pay and conditions of service are statutory for teachers in local authority maintained schools, but not for teachers in academies.  Academies have the freedom not to follow this framework and to worsen teachers’ terms and conditions as a result.  The DfE’s own data indicates that teachers’ salaries are lower in the academy sector than in the maintained school sector.  The DfE’s most recent School Workforce Census data indicates that :

• in the secondary phase, classroom teachers’ salaries are £700 lower in academies than

in local authority maintained schools;

• in the primary phase, classroom teachers’ salaries are £1,400 lower in academies than

in local authority maintained schools.  In the academy sector, just 50.1 per cent of overall expenditure is on teachers.

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Myth 2 – Academies raise standards

 It is not the case that academies raise standards. The DfE’s own data shows that standards in academies are lower than those in maintained schools.  The DfE’s official statistics show that:

• at Key Stage 4 over half of MATs had Progress 8 scores that were below

the national average for state-funded mainstream schools;

• approximately two thirds of MATs (66 per cent) had an EBacc entry figure

which is below the national average for state-funded mainstream schools;

• 76 per cent of MATs had an ‘EBacc attainment at grade 5/C or above’ rate

which was below the national average for all state-funded mainstream schools.

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Myth 2 – Academies raise standards

 Friesland was graded by Ofsted as a ‘good’ school at its last inspection. Ofsted made the following comments about Friesland School in its last inspection report, on 13 – 14 May 2015:

• ‘Students feel very safe in school. Their parents agree.
• Teaching is good. High expectations and clear explanations help students to

learn well. Teachers check students’ understanding regularly so that they can adapt their lessons, when necessary.

• Students’ attitudes to learning are overwhelmingly positive. They appreciate

the skill and care their teachers show and they work hard.

• Students make consistently good progress… attainment and rates of progress

have risen markedly since the last inspection.’  The NASUWT asks the governing body to accept that these achievements of Friesland School, identified by Ofsted, will be put at risk if the school were to convert to an academy and join a MAT.

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Myth 2 – Academies raise standards

 Many local schools, which became academies when they were graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, have seen standards fall since academy conversion:

• Heanor Gate Science College converted to academy status as an Ofsted
• utstanding school in 2011.
• The 2011 Ofsted Inspection Report concluded, ‘Heanor Gate Science

College provides an outstanding all-round education for its students.’

• When Heanor Gate School was inspected in 2013 it was graded

‘inadequate.’

• Ofsted concluded in September 2013 that, ‘Since becoming an academy,

the college has declined.’

Myth 2 – Academies raise standards

• John Port School, Etwall, converted to academy status in 2011 and was graded

by Ofsted as outstanding in December that year, very shortly after academy conversion took place.

• However, the academy was graded inadequate in every area in June 2017,

with Ofsted commenting that, ‘pupils have been let down.’

• Kirk Hallam Community Technology and Sports College converted to academy

status as an Ofsted outstanding school.

• Its last Ofsted Inspection Report before academisation stated that, ‘The school

is highly effective and provides an excellent standard of education. There is an exceptionally good ethos for learning throughout the school.’

• When the academy was inspected in March 2014, Ofsted reported that

‘students are sometimes late to lessons and do not always display positive attitudes to learning.’ The school was graded by Ofsted as ‘Requires Improvement’.

Myth 3 – Academies spend more of their funding on teaching and learning

 In the academy sector, funding is diverted away from teaching and learning into other types of spending.  The DfE’s data on income and expenditure in the academy sector has demonstrated that, since 2011/12:

• expenditure on teaching staff as a proportion of total expenditure had

fallen by 3.2%;

• expenditure on ‘back office’ costs has risen and is now running at £2.2

billion (11.5 per cent), just behind expenditure on teaching assistants (11.8 per cent);

• spending on educational consultants runs to over £172 million;
• greed, excess and waste are running out of control in the academy sector.

Myth 3 – Academies spend more of their funding on teaching and learning

 In many academy trusts, there is excessive spending on trustee pay (which includes CEO and executive headteacher pay).  The DfE has reported that, in 2015/16 (which are the most recently published DfE figures), academy trusts made 102 payments of over £150,000 to trustees.  In many cases, these were single academy trusts. 843 payments of over £100,000 were made by academy trusts to trustees in 2015/16, which was 30 more than in 2014/15.  Ofsted has commented on this issue, stating that: ‘Salary levels for the chief executives

• f some of these MATs do not appear to be commensurate with the level of

performance of their trusts or constituent academies. The average pay of the chief executives in these seven trusts is higher than the Prime Minister’s salary, with one chief executive’s salary reaching £225k.’  The Two Counties Trust remunerates one of its employees between £150,001 and £160k.

Myth 4 – All schools are in the process of becoming academies

 It is not the case that all schools are academies, or are on their way to becoming academies.  The DfE’s latest Annual Report and Accounts for the academies sector, published in October 2017, indicates that 4 per cent of primary schools in Derbyshire, and 42 per cent of secondary schools, are academies.  Some more schools may have decided to embark on academy conversion since the DfE’s last Annual Report and Accounts were published, but it is not the case that all schools in Derbyshire are in the process of becoming academies, by any means.  The Government has confirmed the role of local authorities in maintaining schools and created two new funding streams, the high needs and the central school services National Funding Formula, for this purpose. These will continue after 2020.

Myth 5 – Derbyshire County Council does not have any funding to support Friesland School or for school improvement

 Friesland School is not an underperforming school and does not require targeted intervention from the local authority.  The governors should not be unduly influenced by those supporters of academisation who ‘talk down’ Friesland School and imply that it needs targeted intervention to raise standards.  The Government has given a clear school improvement role to local

• authorities. The DfE has stated that they should: ‘Encourage good and
• utstanding maintained schools to: take responsibility for their own

improvement; support other schools; and enable other schools to access the support they need to improve.’  Derbyshire County Council has been allocated a £693k school improvement grant for 2018/19 and can also fund school improvement from its schools block allocation from the DfE.

Myth 6 – Derbyshire County Council does not want to maintain Friesland School any longer and is forcing it to become an academy

 Derbyshire County Council has made its position clear to the NASUWT about the future of Friesland School.  The County Council’s position is that schools have a free choice over whether to convert to an academy and that the local authority will continue to provide the highest level of support for schools, whichever choice they decide to make. This includes school improvement support, which the local authority will continue to provide.  The NASUWT believes that the Friesland governors should invite Derbyshire County Council to make a submission about the support which the local authority provides to the schools which it maintains.

Myth 7 – The Government is forcing Friesland School into becoming an academy.

 Friesland School is an Ofsted ‘good’ school.  The Government’s powers in respect of forcing schools to become academies are set out in the DfE’s Guidance, Schools Causing Concern.  Schools Causing Concern clarifies the power of the Secretary of State to make an academy order. Other than following an application of a school’s governing body, this is if the school:

• has received an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating,
• meets the DfE’s ‘coasting’ definition, or
• has failed to comply with a warning notice.

 The Secretary of State has a duty to make an academy order in the case of a school which has been judged inadequate by Ofsted.  Friesland School is not in danger of a forced academy order for this reason.

Myth 7 – The Government is forcing Friesland School into becoming an academy.

 In the case of a school which meets the DfE’s ‘coasting’ definition, this does not necessarily lead to the making of an academy order, but to a conversation between the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) and the School as to whether academisation could raise standards.  A warning notice can be issued by the local authority (for maintained schools) or the RSC in respect of:

• performance standards or safety, or
• teachers’ pay and conditions.

 A warning notice has not been issued by the local authority to Friesland School.  The crucial issue for the Friesland governing body is that the Secretary of State for Education would be unable to force academisation on Friesland School because the criteria which would lead to the DfE doing so are not applicable to Friesland School.  The performance of Friesland School, as a local authority maintained school, is far better than the level of performance which would lead to forced academisation.

Myth 8 – The Two Counties Trust would be the best

• ption for Friesland School

 If the Friesland governors opt for academy conversion, this does not provide certainty that Friesland School will remain with the Two Counties Trust.  A significant number of academy trusts fail. Friesland could be handed to any MAT, based anywhere in England.  However, the NASUWT knows that the Two Counties Trust is actively trying to persuade the governors of its merits.  The NASUWT does not believe that joining the Two Counties Trust would be a positive step forwards for Friesland School.  Friesland School’s performance is as good or better than other schools in the Two Counties Trust.  The income which the Two Counties Trust received from the Government is not all spent on teaching and learning or invested in front line staff, such as teachers and teaching assistants.

Myth 8 – The Two Counties Trust would be the best

• ption for Friesland School

 The Two Counties Trust Annual Report and Accounts indicate that there has been a substantial increase in remuneration to senior staff in the trust:

• In 2017, the Two Counties Trust remunerated one member of staff in the salary

band £150,001 to £160,000, one member of staff between £100,001 and £110,000, and one member of staff between £90,001 and £100,000.

• The total amount of employee benefits (including pension contributions) received

by key management personnel in the trust rose from £664,000 in 2016 to £715,000 in 2017.  The trust purchased educational supplies to the value of £69,025 from a company in which a member of the trust had a majority interest.  The trust held back £2.27 million in unspent reserves.  The NASUWT accepts that none of these funding practices are illegal. However, the Union does ask the Friesland governing body to consider whether this is where public funding which is intended for the education of Friesland students should be being spent.

Myth 9 – The Two Counties Trust will preserve the employment framework for teachers following academy transfer

 The NASUWT is aware that the Two Counties Trust has promised that it will preserve the employment framework which Friesland teachers currently enjoy. This is not the case.  The employment framework for Friesland teachers is made up of several crucial

• components. These are:
• an overarching framework of national terms and conditions set out in the School

Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), which is laid before Parliament each year as a statutory provision for teachers in maintained schools;

• national collective agreements, including those on sick pay, maternity pay and

teachers’ notice periods which are set out in the teachers’ Burgundy Book;

• local collective agreements, policies and procedures, including those which

determine teachers’ pay progression, teacher monitoring and locally determined sick pay entitlements;

• HR policies and working practices, including teachers’ disciplinary, capability,

grievance and ill-health management procedures.

Myth 9 – The Two Counties Trust will preserve the employment framework for teachers following academy transfer

 The Two Counties Trust has only agreed to honour the first two of these

• categories. The trust has already begun replacing, for its own Derbyshire

workforce, agreed teachers’ local collective agreements and HR policies, and has begun imposing detrimental policies and procedures on NASUWT members.  This imposition of a detrimental employment framework by the Two Counties Trust could lead to legal action and further industrial action by NASUWT members to defend their pay and conditions entitlements which the trust is seeking to remove.  The actions of the Two Counties Trust in seeking to remove Derbyshire agreements and policies negotiated by democratically elected NASUWT representatives will deter teachers from remaining at Friesland School.

Myth 9 – The Two Counties Trust will preserve the employment framework for teachers following academy transfer

 In the era of a teacher shortage, the recruitment and retention of a committed teacher workforce is the most significant factor in achieving high standards for Friesland students.  The Two Counties Trust teachers’ contract, which the NASUWT has rejected, includes a ‘mobility’ clause which means that teachers can be deployed at any school in the trust. Under this clause, Friesland teachers can be deployed away from Friesland School.  Key Two Counties Trust school improvement policies, such as a ‘mock Ofsted’-style approach to school improvement, are a significant driver of teachers out of those schools which employ such practices. They do not lead to high standards, but rather a greater crisis in recruitment and retention.  Punitive approaches to school improvement, which do not respect teachers as highly skilled professionals, detract from teaching and learning by diverting teachers away from focusing on the children and young people they teach. They could also lead to industrial action by NASUWT members at Friesland School if the school joins the Two Counties Trust.

The views of the Friesland School Workforce

 The NASUWT believes that the views of the Friesland School workforce should not be ignored. The motivation and morale of the Friesland School workforce is crucial to the success of the school.  The NASUWT has called on the governors to make provision for an independently conducted vote of all employees as to whether the school should convert to an academy.  The NASUWT has called for this vote to take place before the governors take the decision as to whether to convert the school to an academy.  Up to date, the Chair of Governors has rejected the NASUWT’s request but it is not too late to organise a survey of the workforce so that they can make their views known.  The NASUWT calls on the Friesland School governing body to reject academy conversion as an unnecessary diversion from its role in ensuring high standards of teaching and learning for students at Friesland School.