The largest single sponsor of academies today pulled out of two new schools due to open next year, after the
Sheffield academy it sponsors failed an Ofsted inspection for the
second time in four months.
This is REALLY serious as Ofsted bends over backwards to ensure Academies don't fail inspections
The troubled United Learning Trust
(ULT) has already been banned from sponsoring any more academies until
it improves the progress in its existing schools, but after the Ofsted
judgement this week it wrote to the schools secretary Ed Balls
indicating that it would be withdrawing from the two new academies, in
Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, to focus its "full energies" on its
existing schools.
ULT may not actually be any good at running
schools. Even though there are 9 other one of those has also been on
special measures.
It leaves the Department for Children, Schools
and Families under intense pressure to find replacement sponsors for
the two new schools and raises questions about government - and
opposition - plans for large chains of independently run academies.
It doesn't 'raise questions' rather its time the government started
being truthful about how good or bad Academies really are. However hell
will freeze over before that happens.
ULT
is an Anglican charity chaired by the former Conservative education
minster Dame Angela Rumbold, and includes the former archbishop of
Canterbury Lord Carey on its board. It is the largest academy sponsor
and runs a chain of 10 private schools.
Evangelicals need to be kept as far away from
education as possible. Secular education is the key in my humble
opinion and its one of the few things that France does better than
Britain.
Sheffield Park Academy
has been plagued with behavioural problems, has struggled to improve
results and was judged inadequate by Ofsted inspectors.
Aah so its all the fault of the KIDS not the
religious evangelical righteous who are simply trying to do the 'right
thing'. Wake up the problem isn't the kids its the ULT people.
In a
statement, Balls said that on a return visit by Ofsted, Sheffield Park
Academy had been judged inadequate again. "This is unacceptable and I
have expressed my very serious concerns about the situation to ULT," he
said.
This is the same Ed Balls who thinks the sun shines out of the ULT's
backside. Why else did he sign off on so many ULT sponsored schools?
"Over the past few years the academies have, on average,
consistently outperformed the rest of the schools system in raising
GCSE attainment - often from a low base and in challenging
circumstances. And given the nature of the schools that academies
replace, there will always be some that do not progress as quickly as
others.
This is more like Ed Balls. Telling bare faced lies about how successful Academies really are.
"But I have made clear that we will challenge academies
and sponsors where progress has not been good enough and take all
necessary actions to ensure all schools, including academies, get on
the right track."
Why does Ed include 'all schools' in this defence?
I would like to point out, in response to your article, that the blame for the failure of Sheffield Park Academy is being consistently misappropriated. The press, via Ofsted, seem to be missing the point about the school's inadequacies while things are being run further into ruin for the staff and students at the school.
The press are quick to judge teaching staff at the school. Claims of incompetence and dull teaching styles are unfounded and could not be further from the truth, and are doing little more than demoralising the already pressurised teaching environment. In fact the teachers are the ones who work tirelessly to try and make a difference to the lives of the young people in this very oppressive neighbourhood. Teachers there are more dedicated than in many other state schools; the simple fact that they remain working under such challenging and often dangerous circumstances is testimony to that fact. I would challenge any adult - particularly teachers - to spend a day walking in the shoes of a member of staff at Sheffield Park Academy before judging the teachers who work there day-to-day.
In your article you lay the blame for the failure of Park at the feet of the 'evangelical' agenda of the ULT. While religious motivations may have some impact on decisions made at a higher level, the daily affairs at Park Academy are entirely secular and other than the annual Christmas and Eid Fair there is no religious observance whatsoever. The children are certainly not 'brainwashed'.
Behaviour at the school is shockingly bad. There is no denying this fact, and without consistent and sustained rules in place to address poor behaviour there can be no hope for improvement. Given that the school has inadequate facilities and programmes to deal with extreme behaviour, the situation in the school has escalated to a dangerous level and it is no longer a minority of students who behave in this way. Parents do little to support the teaching staff while senior team do less.
The real blame for the failings at Park Academy, and the subsequent effects on the lives of the young people, can only be attributed to the management at the school itself. Not only are they utterly incompetent and under-qualified for running such a demanding school, but under their control the rule book is being constantly re-written and staff are expected to bow to pressures and demands at the slightest notice. What the school needs is a super-head, a few expulsions and an ethos that all the staff can truly believe in. Ed Balls blowing hot air is simply fanning the flames of an already raging debate. Sheffield Park Academy staff and students are not some pawn in a political debate, they are professionals and young adults who need to be given something to believe in.