It seems Furness Academy Limited's troubled northern sister Academy is once again suffering from incompetence and mismanagement, sadly.
But first here is a very telling comment from a Richard Rose pupil called Sophie.
I'm publishing it here because it doesn't do any harm to keep the Furness Academy company focussed on it's promises.
i actually go to the academy, so i know whats happening rather than just being a member of the public that has never set foot in the academy. I used to go to st.aidans and at the end of the school year in 2008 i was predicted B grades for all subjects as well as some A's which i was on target for. In march 2009 i found out i was working at D and C grades, which have dropped dramatically since the merge. I am in my last year now and my grades are still low, this whole merge has been way too quick in my opinion, they should have waited until everything was sorted out at NCTC.
Posted by Sophie on 10 September 2009 at 19:15
Bat colony adds to overspend at Carlisle central academy
By Julian Whittle
Last updated at 12:59, Thursday, 10 September 2009
Roosting bats are partly to blame for a £323,000 overspend on preparing the site for Carlisle's Richard Rose Central Academy.
The bill for clearing the former St Aidan's site in Lismore Place has soared from £737,000 in April to £1.06m.
Councillor Duncan Fairbairn, Cumbria County Council's cabinet member for children's services, yesterday blamed the increase on "additional consultants' fees and property issues".
One of these was the removal of a bat colony at a cost of £1,500.
The discovery of the pipistrelle bats put work back by four months.
The council had planned to raid the schools' maintenance fund to plug the overspend.
But that prompted concerns that other schools across Cumbria would lose out.
Councillors meeting in Kendal voted instead to take cash from council reserves.
Mr Fairbairn said: "There will be no impact on other schools. Construction work for the new academy is on time and on budget."
The Government is providing £31.6m to build the school but the council has to meet the costs of getting the site ready.
Head of children's services Moira Swann was so alarmed by the overspend that she ordered a review of the other academy projects at Morton in Carlisle, Egremont, and Barrow to ensure the same thing does not happen there.
The Richard Rose Central Academy opened a year ago in Harraby and is due to move to Lismore Place by January 2011.
The final business case was submitted to the Department for Children, Schools and Families on July 30.
Academies are a government initiative to raise standards in deprived areas.
The Richard Rose Central Academy replaces North Cumbria Technology College and St Aidan's School.
Cumbria County Council will own the buildings and lease them to an independent academy trust for 125 years. Kier Construction has been appointed to build the school.
This school practices Zero Tolerance but this seems to have taken the place of compassion and understanding and the ability to tackle problems from a multi dimensional direction.
Posted by Val on 11 September 2009 at 10:50
So now the Bat are being blamed. 1500 pound spent to move them on, and it's thier fault that 323,000 pound extra is being spent.
So Moria Swann is alarmed ? she should be livid and start disaplinary proceedures!
This is a complete outrage.
Posted by DoTheyThinkWereDaft? on 10 September 2009 at 15:15
There are a lot of 'hot shot' staff if the academies now who know what they are doing. This was not the case at the start. Plus, big changes don't happen overnight. Give it a chance rather than being such a pesimist!
Posted by JJ on 9 September 2009 at 21:00
I couldn't agree more Anon. St. Aidans and NCTC had their problems singularly, the academy has just brought those problems together and with bad decisions has become worse. I hope that the academy does improve for the pupils sake, it cannot get any worse a the moment. I would argue with such a sweeping statement about Newman or any other school in the area though. Where is your evidence?
Posted by Diana Prince on 9 September 2009 at 20:50
jj how do you know that Newman will be well below the academies standards in 3 - 4 years. Do you have a crystal ball or can you see into the future i suspect not. By all the press articles and from personal experience there has been nothing but truble since it opened last year, granted it improved a great deal in the last few months but it's still a farce.
Posted by anon on 9 September 2009 at 16:11
WHY SHOULD OTHER SCHOOLS SUFFER BECAUSE OF THE RICHARD ROSE ACADEMY? THE BULLYING PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN SOLVED JUST HIDDEN.MANY CHILDREN ARE BEING TAUGHT AT HOME.WHY WOULD ANY ONE WANT TO SEND THEIR CHILD TO A SCHOOL WHERE SOME CHILDREN COME HOME WITH INJURIES ON A DAILY BASIS?
Posted by Val on 9 September 2009 at 13:06
Diane, Newman will be well below the academies standards in 3 - 4 years. Lets hope for your comments sake your child is not in year 7!
Posted by JJ on 9 September 2009 at 00:04
i cannot believe that my children are going to suffer in their school due to an inefficient council. Why should their school get reduced funding due to an enormous mistake by them. The academy has been a joke from start to finish, this is why I chose a good school like newman to send them to.
Posted by Diana Prince on 7 September 2009 at 22:27
This academy has been a farce from the start. Nobody wanted it but
nobody listened. Do this goverment, local and national, really care
about the education of our children, it doesn't look like it.
A saying comes to mind, 'if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it'. Pity the powers that be have never heard of it.
Posted by Anon on 7 September 2009 at 18:09
This is just the start as the build progresses the glass menagerie will lose more of the essentials to pay for the gloss. I suppose books and equipment will be ruled unessential to massage the gross overspend. OK Iâm cynical but the Dome the Scottish Assembly and Carlisle Hospital are examples of how everyone gains except the public and no one is held to account. It was wonderful to have Richard Rose cited on the radio and TV this morning as an example of how things go wrong and have Barrow mentioned as the latest bit of poor planning and management by our Council and Young Peoples Department. I doubt if any of these highly paid managers will be held to account, or if they are they will depart with a generous settlement.
Posted by Charlie on 7 September 2009 at 16:09
Who did the quote and contract? Was it the same person who said that Belah School should shut? Since it is an 'Academy' run by the private sector why on earth are WE paying the extra, shouldn't they?
I doubt we will ever get an answer, we never do.
This Council is useless, totally bloody useless.
Posted by Dave Evans on 7 September 2009 at 15:43
The schools should have been left alone , they ran perfectly well unlike the new super academy that is "failing " in all areas including good education !
Posted by Ronnie on 7 September 2009 at 14:33
a 50% overspend ?
Higher than expected fees??
I'll say.
What on earth is the Project Manager doing, surely this has to be gross misconduct ? You can't overspend by £323,000 on a £737,000 budget without noticing it.
I realy can't think of the right words to describe my contempt for the management of this, certainly none that you could print anyway.
Posted by CanTheyAddUp? on 7 September 2009 at 13:12
We were told by Moira Swann not to compare Furness Academy to Richard Rose as they had learn't from their mistakes. I just hope Ms Swann is right!
The council has to bear the cost of getting the sites ready for the new buildings??
Does this mean that the council ie you and I, have to fund the demolition of Parkview and Thorncliffe? This has never been mentioned before.
If this is true, we have been misled even more than we suspected.
Incredible.
A £323,000 cost overrun on a project that is just a few months old and was costed at £737,000!
This is a cock up of biblical proportions but it won't matter. No-one will be sacked, bollocked, hauled over the coals, sent to Siberia or removed from their position because it's a bunch of publically funded civil servants blowing the public's cash and it's happening in Cumbria which might as well be on the moon as far as the national press or the national government is concerned.
Pathetic bunch of fools masquerading as professional people. Sorry for repeating the blog authors assessment of the people behind this but I can think of no better description of them.
Whose fault is it?
This is typical of the work done by Capita and not a civil servants.
I've had experience of the abilities, such as they are, at Capita and it's no surprise to see such an 'error' occur. They are far more common than the man on the street realises and they waste far more of the council taxpayers cash than they claim to save.
The County Councils appointed 'policeman' is Capita Symonds who are lets not forget the outfit which designed the widest and shortest cycle track in Britain on the short stretch of Park road that is now one way only.
So there's the 'team of professionals' who will be overseeing the design and build of these extremely expensive schools paid for by you and me. We also pay these civil servants and their contract companies wages as well.