Complete Academies Briefing 2007 3es Sold To GEMS

Academies
Background
The City Academies policy was announced by David Blunkett, the then Secretary of State for Education and Employment, in March
2000 as “a radical approach to promote greater diversity and break the cycle of failing schools in inner cities”. Academies are
publicly funded independent schools, which according to the Government, are expected to have “innovative approaches to
management, governance, teaching and Learning.” The Government originally said that it intended Academies to replace schools
which are either in special measures or “underachieving”, or to meet a demand for places by creating new schools. In August 2006
the Times Educational Supplement (TES) revealed that none of the Academies opened so far had replaced a school in special
measures despite Ministerial assurances that the initiative is designed to tackle educational failure. The TES research showed that
many schools were performing well prior to becoming Academies, although they had suffered from a lack of investment. An
analysis published by the Telegraph on 17 December 2006 showed that only six of 67 schools due to become Academies were in
special measures. Four were CTCs and the majority of the remainder were improving, good or excellent. These findings confirm the
trend that existing Academies have replaced challenging but not failing schools.
There are currently 46 Academies open. The first three opened in September 2002 with nine more opening in September 2003, five
opening in September 2004 and ten in September 2005. Nineteen Academies opened in September 2006.The Prime Minister,
Tony Blair, is keen to extend the initiative and doubled the target of Academies to 400 at his speech to the Specialist Schools an
Academies Trust Conference on 30 November 2006. If this were achieved, one in ten secondary schools would be independent
Academies run by sponsors.
Creating Academies in place of community or foundation schools involves the transfer of publicly funded assets to an
unaccountable sponsoring body. For a contribution of around 8 per cent (maximum £2m) of the cost of building a new, or
refurbishing an old school building to form an Academy, the sponsors are given control of a modern independent school set up as a
company limited by guarantee. Sponsors receive the entire school budget directly from the Government. In July 2006 the
Government announced measures to make it easier for private backers to sponsor Academies. Sponsorship – normally £2m will no
longer have to be pledged up front to help pay for new buildings, but instead can be paid over five years for “educational
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innovations”.
Union policy
The National Union of Teachers believes that Academies are an experiment with pupils’ education which have not been evaluated
(PricewaterhouseCoopers have been commissioned by the DfES to evaluate the programme but this has not been completed.)
Eight months before plans for the expansion of the Academies programme were announced, ministers were told of doubts about
the scheme's ability to introduce more innovative teaching. In a report commissioned by the Government, consultants
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) also said Academies could lead to a two-tier system based on social class and thwart the
Government's policy of collaboration. Ministers, however, chose not to publish the 264-page document, the first of five planned
annual reports evaluating Academies.
PricewaterhouseCoopers second evaluation report was published in June 2005. A number of the areas that PWC raise concerns
about have already been identified by the Union in its own monitoring of the Academies initiative. On the issue of teacher workload
the report states, “Staff workload is generally heavier in Academies compared to the previous schools”. PWC also report that the
mix of new staff and TUPEd staff has created significant tensions in Academies.
Further challenges identified by the report include: clarifying SEN admissions policy nationally; recognition that bullying is a problem
in some Academies; and the impractical design of some Academy spaces. The report also pointed to the lack of staff and teacher
representation on Academy governing bodies.
The third Annual Report of the PWC evaluation of Academies was published at the end of July 2006. The scope of the PWC data
base is substantial, but as yet only contains hard data up to 2004. However, over time it will enable each Academy to be tracked in
terms of a whole range of indicators. The current report shows that Academies are a very disparate group of schools from which
few rational conclusions can be drawn. In fact, quoting Academies’ averages on whatever factor – assessment results, pupil
absence, SEN percentages, free school meals, which is the tactic used by PWC and the Government - masks the huge variations
in the level of challenge Academies are facing and how much progress they are making.
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The report devotes a chapter to early indications of success factors, largely based on qualitative data from interviews and
questionnaires, quotations, case studies and “vignettes”. The factors identified relate to school improvement generally, rather than
any specific “Academy factor”.
The “good news” that PWC can present in the report is very sparse. The conclusion would have to be that Academy status in itself
is not the answer to addressing the needs of very challenging schools.
The Education and Skills Select Committee has raised serious concerns about Academies. The Committee’s report on secondary
education, published in March 2005, said that the Government’s use of Academies to serve vulnerable communities should be
properly evaluated, both in respect of the performance of individual Academies and the impact on neighbouring schools, before
embarking on a major expansion of an untested project.
The Select Committee stated that the good results achieved by some Academies might have been gained as a result of excluding
those children who were harder to teach and reducing the proportion of children in the school from deprived backgrounds. The
Select Committee requested that the DfES measure consistently the proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals and the
number of exclusions in Academies. King’s Academy in Middlesbrough expelled 27 pupils in the first year, compared with 10 in total
by the seven maintained schools in the local authority. Another 10 were withdrawn by their parents after the threat of exclusion.
West London Academy tripled exclusions to 265 in a year, with a further 20 permanent exclusions.
Not all Academies offer pupil an independent appeal after being permanently excluded. There have been complaints from parents
about Trinity Academy’s strict disciplinary code. They claim that it is aimed at getting rid of more difficult pupils who might damage
the schools examination results.
The NUT is greatly concerned over the influence that sponsors have over a school. The private sponsors that run Academies have
limited or no experience in education. Academy sponsors include Christian philanthropist, Sir Peter Vardy, of Reg Vardy car
dealership, Roger de Haan, Chief Executive of Saga Holidays, Amey plc, a construction and management firm and David
Samworth, chairman of Samworth Brothers, a nationwide manufacturer of sausages, pies, pastries and ready meals.
At the end of September 2005, the Secretary of State, Ruth Kelly, announced that teachers working in Academies would be
required to be registered and regulated by the General Teaching Council, as all other teachers working in state funded schools are.
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This followed joint campaigning by all of the teacher unions, diocesan authorities and parents and governors groups. It is still
however, the case that principals of Academies are not required to hold the NPQH, although it is mandatory for heads in the state
sector.
Another key concern for the Union is the impact that Academies have on teachers’ pay and conditions. Academies’ independence
and the encouragement they receive from the DfES to “innovate” in this area pose a threat to the pay and conditions of service
entitlements of teachers. Whilst teachers in Academies which replace existing schools have their conditions protected on transfer,
the NUT is aware that teachers newly appointed to Academies are often placed on separate contracts which involve longer working
hours and less favourable working conditions. Having teachers working on different contracts and for different hours of the school
day can in turn lead to a divided, two-tier workforce in Academies.
Local democratic accountability would inevitably be undermined by a large number of Academies, operating as independent
schools outside the aegis of the local authority. The role and influence of sponsors on the operation of governing body and on the
curriculum and ethos of Academies is a further factor in undermining the democratic link. The impact of a substantial number of
Academies on school admissions arrangements would be dramatic. They would undermine LEAs’ ability to plan coherent education
provision, or even the viability of LEAs. In Westminster, for example the LEA is considering operating as an education trust
because of the impact of the current Academies programme on its secondary schools. Academies receive disproportionate funding
(inevitably at the expense of other schools).
The philosophy underpinning Academies is also at odds with the Government’s “Every Child Matters” agenda, which recognises
and sustains the idea that every school is at the centre of its community. The responsibilities of local authorities in terms of co-
ordinating and encouraging provision based in schools, such as childcare, would be impossible to implement.
The NUT believes that the expectations on Academies to succeed in terms of academic success and popularity with parents could
well lead to more Academies using their ability to select on pupil aptitude. (Ten per cent as for all specialist schools.) This would
further undermine the comprehensive principle and leave LEA schools with a disproportionate number of pupils with SEN, excluded
pupils etc.
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The current situation
The first three Academies (The Business Academy, Bexley, Greig City Academy, Haringey and the Unity City Academy,
Middlesbrough) opened in September 2002. In September 2003 nine more Academies opened their doors: Capital City Academy,
Brent, The City Academy, Bristol, The West London Academy, Ealing, Manchester Academy, The King’s Academy, Middlesbrough,
Djanogly City Academy, Nottingham, City of London Academy, Southwark, The Academy at Peckham and Walsall City Academy.
Five Academies opened in September 2004: The London Academy, Barnet, Mossbourne Community Academy, Hackney, Stockley
Academy, Hillingdon, Lambeth Academy, Lambeth and Northampton Academy, Northampton. Ten Academies opened in
September 2005: Trinity Academy, Doncaster, St Paul’s Academy, Greenwich, Salford City Academy, Salford, Marlowe Academy,
Kent, Harefield Academy, Hillingdon, Haberdashers’ Aske’s Knights Academy, Lewisham and Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham
College Academy, Lewishham (federation of two Academies), Dixons City Academy, Bradford, Academy of St Francis of Assisi,
Liverpool, MacMillan Academy, Middlesbrough.
The Government is keen to expand the Academies initiative in London. The Government document The London Challenge:
Transforming London Secondary Schools, launched by the Prime Minister in May 2003, includes plans for at least 30 new
Academies in London by 2008, potentially involving several academies in one borough, either as new schools or replacing low
achieving existing schools.
In February 2004 the Government announced the biggest school rebuilding programme since Victorian times. The Government is
to spend £5.1bn by 2005 on the programme and plans to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in England within 15 years.
The “Building Schools for the Future” programme will be financed by a mixture of public funds and the private finance initiative. To
gain the money schools must show that they are “seriously considering” whether to become Academies.
In August 2005 the Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister was thought to be concerned about the rising cost of Academies.
Each new Academy costs an average of £25m, twice the cost of an average comprehensive. The newspaper reported that the
Government was likely to use a White Paper in the autumn to change tack. The White Paper is likely to look at how to improve the
choice on offer to parents over their children’s schooling. Emphasis is likely to be placed on encouraging popular schools to
expand. In July 2005 the Guardian newspaper reported that the Government had already launched a review of the initiative to see
if there were better ways to sponsor, build and fund schools. The review is being led by the Schools Minister Lord Adonis. The
Secretary of State, Ruth Kelly, is understood to be interested in establishing more “creative” partnerships to back Academies, such
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as using more educational bodies such as universities. Another suggestion being discussed is whether the £2m sponsorship, which
is kept in a charitable trust could be used to fund the running costs of the school, rather than the building of them. A series of
cheaper “standard building designs” may be used for the remaining schools. Cash donations may also be paid over a longer
period, possibly up to two years.
In September 2005 the Prime Minister told an audience at the City of London Academy in Bermondsey that he wanted to see 200
Academies opened by 2010. The speech was intended to celebrate the opening of ten more Academies and to reiterate his strong
personal support for the policy after a run of bad publicity surrounding failed projects. He stated, “parents are choosing City
Academies and that is good enough for me”. The Prime Minister said that the ultimate goal of his policies was to “escape the
straitjacket of the traditional comprehensive school”. Instead there would be “genuinely independent non-fee paying state schools”
that responded to the needs of pupils and parents. He also said that local authorities should become “commissioners of education
and champions of standards,” rather than direct providers of schooling.
Critics of the Academies programme include the former Education Secretary Estelle Morris who has expressed concern that
Academies could unleash market forces in education that would squeeze out the children of poorer families.
In September 2005 an EducationGuardian/ICM poll revealed that only 6 per cent of headteachers support Academies, with 43 per
cent opposed and 40 per cent unsure.
In October 2005 the Times reported that the Academies programme was at risk of failing to fulfill one of its core aims because of a
“tax trap” that would cost individual schools millions of pounds in VAT. If an Academy was to make its amenities such as swimming
pool or hall available to local people it would face a VAT bill of millions. The newspaper stated that the Business Academy in Bexley
could not be a community could not be a community school as it would cost about £7m in VAT. Tax is waived if 90 per cent of the
usage of the new buildings is for “relevant charitable purposes”, a regulation intended to stop commercial enterprises posing as
charities. For the Academies this means opening for less than one hour a day after school hours, and not at all during holidays, or
else face a bill for 17.5 per cent of the original cost of the new buildings. The Treasury has said that it is unable to change the rule,
which is enforced by the EU VAT Sixth Directive.
The White Paper “Higher Standards, Better Schools for All”, published in October 2005 emphasises that Academy status remains
“at the heart of the programme”. In this context, the White Paper recalibrates the Government’s objective for the number of
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Academies, from a target of 200 to the intention of achieving at least 200.
One of the key points in the White Paper is that the Government intends that community school status should wither away. Local
authorities will be barred from proposing new community schools.
All primary and secondary schools will be encouraged to become self governing and to acquire a Trust. The Government has noted
the similarity between Trust schools and Academies.
“Every school will be able to acquire a self-governing Trust similar to those supporting Academies, which will give the freedom to
work with new partners to develop their ethos and raise standards”.
The similarity of Trust and Academy governance implies that Trusts will be a new method of introducing new providers, or
sponsors, including Faith schools sponsors, and of providing independent schools with an easier way of becoming part of the
maintained system. It is also possible that the Government intends that Trust status will provide a future stepping stone to acquiring
Academy status.
In May 2005, Tim Brighouse, chief adviser to London schools, said that Academies were often strong on style but weak on
substance. He said one, which he refused to name, but was designed by Norman Foster, reminded him of “an American
penitentiary”.
In May 2005 it was reported that Unity City Academy in Middlesbrough had become the first Academy school to be failed by
OFSTED. It was warned that it must go into special measures after a critical report by inspectors. Inspectors described a catalogue
of weaknesses ranging from “fragile” leadership, an inappropriate futuristic building and a high staff absence rate with up to a third
of teachers off sick on any given day. The lack of continuity had had “a detrimental effect on the pupils’ learning, attitudes and
behaviour and standards.”
In September 2005 the Independent newspaper reported that the truancy rate in Academies was 2.84 per cent in 2004 – more than
twice the 1.25 per cent in other secondary schools.
Examination results and Academies
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In November 2005 the Sunday Telegraph reported that only 15 per cent of pupils attending Academies managed
to get five good GCSEs, including maths and English, in 2005. National figures showed that 56 per cent of children
in state schools gained five A* to C grades. For 44 per cent, the five included maths and English. Results from the
14 Academies were substantially lower. While over 35 per cent gained five good GCSEs, only 15 per cent of those
included maths and English.
In January 2006 the Guardian reported that Academies were among the worst-performing schools in England. Of
the 14 Academies that had been open long enough for their 2005 GCSE results to be included in the rankings,
seven were in the bottom 200 using the benchmark of the proportion of pupils gaining five or more passes at
grades A*-C. Less than 30% of the pupils attending these seven Academies gained five C grades or better. At
Bexley Business Academy in Kent, only 29% of pupils achieved five or more good GCSEs, while at the Capital City
Academy in Brent, and Unity City Academy in Middlesbrough, just 16 per cent of pupils achieved this benchmark.
In March 2006 the Times Educational Supplement analysed the GCSE results of Academies using the new measure of
including English, maths and science in the benchmark of 5 A-C grades. In 2005 only 16 per cent of Academy pupils achieved this,
an increase of only 3 per cent on predecessor schools. Two of the three longest opened Academies – Unity (Middlesbrough) and
Greig (Haringey) - had worse results on the new measure than their predecessor schools.
When GNVQs were removed, the percentage fell by at least half in 8 of the 14 Academies. Walsall Academy slumped from 67 per
cent to 7 per cent.
In October 2006 the Sunday Times reported that Academies were failing their pupils according to internal reports released under
the freedom of information laws. The reports, based on value added data, showed that at eight of the 14 Academies pupils were
failing to achieve the GCSE results that would be expected given their ability. The data undermines the Government’s claims that
poor results from Academies can be attributed to the deprived background of many of their pupils. The data has been disclosed in
performance and assessment reports, known as Pandas. The Sunday Times obtained the information from OFSTED. The latest
figures show that in 2006 only 21 per cent of pupils in the first 14 Academies achieved grade C or above in five GCSEs including
English and maths – less than half the national average. According to Pandas for 2005, five Academies had worse GCSE results
than the “failing” schools that they replaced; four had only marginally improved; and five had improved their GCSE results by more
than 5 per cent. In the worst case – Unity city Academy in Middlesbrough – only 6 per cent of 15–year-olds managed five good
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GCSEs that included English and maths. Its GCSE results were worse in 2005 than the two schools it replaced in 2002.
The DfES revised statistics on GCSE and equivalent examination results published in January 2007 contained a breakdown on
Results in Departmental Initiatives including the 14 Academies which had been open long enough to have results in 2005 and
2006. These figures show that these Academies are 17.7 per cent behind the national average for 5 A-C grades (41.5 per cent
compared with 59.2 per cent) but have a higher rate of improvement of 4.8 per cent compared with 2.2 per cent nationally.
When English and Maths were included, these Academies trail by 34 per cent – 21.8 per cent compared with the national average
of 45.8 per cent. The rate of improvement was substantially higher at 6.2 per cent compared with 1.0 per cent.
On contextual value added scores, these Academies had KS2-4 and KS3-4 CVA measures of 1007 and 1005.6 respectively
compared to measures of 1000.6 and 1000.8 nationally.
Interesting comparisons can be made between Academies with other Government initiatives and schools operating in areas of
deprivation: For Excellence in Cities schools (including Action Zones, clusters, etc), the figures for 5 A-C grades is 53.1 per cent
(compared with 41.5 per cent - Academies; 59.2 per cent - national average). The rate of improvement is 2.4 per cent (compared
with 4.8 per cent Academies; 2.2 per cent national average).
In the 10 per cent most deprived areas, 47.6 per cent of pupils achieved 5 A-C grades (compared to 68.1 per cent in the 10 per
cent least deprived areas). In Coalfield wards, 51.2 per cent of pupils achieved 5 A-C grades (compared to 58.0 non coalfield
wards).
These figures show that, purely in terms of GCSE outcomes, Academies trail other categories of schools, even those with high
levels of deprivation.
David Bell, Permanent Secretary at the DfES admitted to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on 14 March 2007
that he was greatly concerned about examination results in Academies, with only 22 per cent of Academies pupils gaining five good
GCSEs including English and maths compared with 45 per cent nationally. He said: “We are starting from a low base. There is a
huge amount still to do.”
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Around 69 Academy partnerships (open and in development) have been announced to date by the DfES. Information on these,
together with details of further proposed Academies is available from the Privatisation in Education Unit.
From the Unit’s analysis of the information available on Academies, a number of points have emerged:
Sponsors
The ability to raise £2m is the sole criteria for sponsoring an Academy. Expertise in education is not a condition. As examples,
Roger de Haan, Chief Executive of Saga Holidays, sponsors the Marlow Academy in Kent; Amey plc, a construction and
management firm sponsors the Unity City Academy in Middlesbrough; and Christian philanthropist, Sir Peter Vardy, of Reg Vardy
car dealership, sponsors the King’s Academy in Middlesbrough.
In October 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the Government had ruled out vetting companies which fund
specialist schools and Academies, despite the discredited energy firm Enron appearing on the official list of sponsors of specialist
schools.
Academy sponsors can use Academies to further their business interests. An investigation by the Times Educational Supplement in
2004 revealed that two Academies have paid out large sums of money to companies in which their private-sector sponsors have
major interests. West London Academy paid £180,964 to businesses and a charity with connections to Sir Alec Reed, the
Academy’s main sponsor. King’s Academy in Middlesbrough paid £290,214 to organisations and individuals with connections to Sir
Peter Vardy, including £14,039 to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
In January 2006 the Evening Standard newspaper reported that a senior advisor to the Academies programme had resigned after
he was caught encouraging businessmen to sponsor Academies in return for honours. Des Smith, an advisor to the Specialist
Schools and Academies Trust told an undercover reporter that if a sponsor made a large enough donation, they could be put
forward for an OBE, CBE, knighthood or even a peerage. He told the Sunday Times reporter if someone contributed to “one or two”
Academies they could expect to be nominated. If someone contributed to five, they would be a “certainty” for a peerage. The
appointments commission of the House of Lords is investigating two peerages offered to Academy sponsors. Mr Smith’s remarks
show how desperate the Government has become to find private sponsors willing to make the Prime Minister’s dream of 200
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Academies – 60 of them in London – become a reality by the target date of 2010. Nine Academy sponsors have been honoured since
Labour came to power. They are Sir Martyn Arbib, Sir Clive Bourne, Sir David Garrard, Roger de Haan CBE, Sir Ewan Harper (head
of the United Learning Trust), Sir Frank Lowe, John Madejski OBE, Jack Petchey OBE and Sir Peter Vardy. Some were honoured
before they sponsored Academies.
Two Academy sponsors, Sir David Garrard (Bexley Academy) and Sir Barry Townsley (Stockley Academy, Hillingdon) have been
turned down for peerages as being “unsuitable”, even though they have been allowed by the Government to sponsor and have
considerable influence over pupils’ education in Academies.
The Government has admitted that Sir David Garrard and Barry Townsley were nominated for peerages because of their support
for Academy schools. It asserted that it had always wanted business sponsors of Academies to join the House of Lords arguing that
their personal knowledge of the Government’s education programme would add to the debate in the Upper House.
In May 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that a £100,000 a year post of schools commissioner is to be created to
champion Trust schools and Academies. The commissioner, who will be employed as a civil servant based at the DfES, will match
up schools to partners and link sponsors to Academies. The move comes amid fears that interest in backing Academies is fading in
the wake of the “cash for peerages” row.
In February 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the Government was lobbying Church of England leaders to
play a leading role in the Academy programme. Andrew Adonis, senior policy adviser on public services, and Neil Flint, head of the
Academies programme, told a meeting at the General Synod that the church should become a major partner in creating 53 new
Academies by 2007. The church sees it as a way of helping it reach its target of creating 100 new secondary schools by 2007,
envisaged in a report by Lord Dearing. Individual dioceses have to raise the £2m sponsorship for a new Academy but it is believed
that they will be able to assess the Dearing Fund, which was set up to help achieve the 100 schools and has so far raised around
£25m.
Around half of the Academies approved or being planned so far, will be in the control of Christian organisations, which will decide
what is taught and how it is taught. There will very soon be at least six Academies run by evangelical Christians, sponsored by Sir
Peter Vardy. The Vardy-sponsored King’s Academy in Middlesborough teaches biblical creationism: Darwin’s theory of evolution is
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portrayed as just one theory and that creationism is at least equally valid.
The United Learning Trust, a subsidiary of the Church Schools Company, is the biggest single backer of the Academies
programme. ULT have pledged funding for Academies in Barnsley, Doncaster, Lambeth, Manchester, Northampton, Salford,
Sheffield and Westminster. ULT’s chief executive, Sir Ewan Harper, has stated that Trust is committed to sponsoring eleven
Academies but may well sponsor more.
ULT's objective is to manage schools which 'offer students a high quality education based on Christian principles of service and
tolerance.'
In March 2006 the Financial Times reported that Lord Bhatia, an independent peer and leading British Muslim, was planning to
open 20 Academies with the help of other corporate sponsors. He was reported to be anxious to be a force for integrating children
of different communities and was holding talks with the United Learning Trust to explore running some Academies jointly with
Christian organisation.
The Church Schools Company was founded as an educational charity in 1883 with the principal objective of creating schools that
would offer pupils a good academic education based on Christian principles. The Church Schools Company set up the subsidiary
United Learning Trust, which shares its head office address, specifically to manage Academies.
The Church Schools Company was recently reamed United Church Schools Trust (UCST). UCST employs in the region of 1200
people, of whom 650 are teachers. UCST currently owns and manages twelve schools across the country. All are governed by the
Governing Council of the Company, supported by a local governing body at each school with the exception of Caterham, which is
governed by a separate body of Trustees, the majority of whom are appointed by the United Church Schools Trust.
The Church of England will control four Academies directly, in Haringey, Bradford, Leeds and Leicester, and the Roman Catholic
Church will have three, in Greenwich, Lewisham and Liverpool.
The Academy in Enfield will be run by a Christian charity called the Oasis Trust, whose website tells us:
"At Oasis, we have a passion for sharing the unconditional love of God with those society has written off. We want to help churches
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and individuals to do the same."
In July 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Oasis had set up an Academies consultancy called Faithworks to
help church groups set up Academies. The Oasis trust was founded by Steve Chalke, a high-profile Baptist minister and television
presenter. The Rev Chalke has said that the Trust is committed to the Faithworks charter which states that members should never
impose their faith on others. He and the organisation have, however, campaigned for faith organisations to be allowed to employ
only people of their religion. Faithworks also provides advice on how organizations can get round anti-gay discrimination laws. It
suggests organizations “committed to upholding the sanctity of sex as being part of marriage” should include this belief in their
standards of staff behaviour.
Concerns have been raised regarding the ability of sponsors to meet the needs of local communities. The King’s Academy in
Middlesbrough teaches biblical creationism along with evolutionary theory. Parents’ groups and teachers have expressed concern
about the ethos of the King’s Academy, the extent of which, they claim, was not made clear.
Where a sponsor is seeking to take over an existing school, the local authority must consult locally and the initial decision is made
by the School Organisation Committee (SOC). An existing non-denominational school may be replaced by a faith-based academy,
leaving parents with little or no choice on the issue. Parents at Abbey Wood School in south-east London, for example, opposed
replacement of their local comprehensive with a faith-based academy and the School Organisation Committee also voted against
the proposal, but was overruled by the Schools Adjudicator, a Government-appointed official.
The Government is also keen to encourage links between the independent school sector and Academies. The independent school,
Dulwich College, has announced that it is to sponsor an Academy in East London. North London Collegiate School in Edgware is
sponsoring an Academy in Hackney, due to open in 2007. Other independent schools which intend to support Academies include
King's School in Canterbury and Oundle in Peterborough. Under the draft Charities Bill for England and Wales, independent
schools not involved in helping their local community could lose their charitable status. Charitable status allows 80 per cent relief
from business rates, and tax relief on investment income and covenanted gifts or appeals. It is also questionable whether
independent schools have the experience to deal with the multitude of social factors facing inner city schools.
In January 2006 the Independent reported that Edison, the largest private sector operator involved with state schools in America,
was having discussions with the Prime Minister over whether to join the Academies programme. The firm has about 1,000 schools
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in the US teaching around 300,000 children.
In August 2005 the Financial Times reported that the Academy Sponsors Trust, set up in 2004 to support companies, churches and
philanthropists approached to part-finance Academies, was to cease operation on 1 September 2005 and be taken over by the
Specialist Schools Trust to become the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. The move will further increase the influence that
Sir Cyril Taylor, chairman of the Specialist Schools Trust and one of the Prime Minister’s key advisors has over education. Sir Cyril
Taylor, the education advisor behind city technology colleges in the 1980s and architect of the specialist schools movement, will run
the Academies programme. The Trust’s new role will be to: seek out new sponsors and brief them on how to establish an
Academy, act as a trouble shooter to help existing sponsors resolve problems, help Academies raise standards once they are
open, including establishing links with specialist schools and perform a media and communications role.
In January 2006 Sir Cyril Taylor, chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, said that his organisation faced
“challenges” in persuading big business to sponsor Academies outside London. He also said that multinational companies were still
shying away from involvement in the scheme.
In April 2006 New Philanthropy Capital, a charity set up to advise donors on how to give more effectively to charity, published their
report “On your marks – young people in education”. The report includes a chapter on Academies and aims to set out the issues
that potential donors should consider before deciding whether to become involved in the Academies initiative.
NPC concludes that given the lack of evidence as to Academies’ overall success caution should be a watchword for sponsors:
“There simply isn’t enough evidence to make a conclusive assessment on whether Academies are a good investment for
donors. Academies show mixed results for their pupils. But there is enough evidence to raise doubts about their cost
effectiveness.”
“Sponsorship of an academy is high risk, and success, if it comes, will not be immediate.”
“Sponsors should also consider that supporting an Academy, given the controversy that surrounds the programme, is a
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commitment that is likely to be played out very publicly.”
Funding
In May 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the cost of the Academies initiative had spiralled to two-and-a-half
times its original budget. The funding of Academies is a key area of concern as it affects not only the Academy involved but can
also have an impact on neighbouring schools. . Each new Academy costs an average of £25m, twice the cost of an average
comprehensive. This means that the current system benefits pupils attending Academies at the expense of pupils attending other
schools in the area, from which funding is diverted away.
Sponsors are expected to provide up to 20 per cent of the capital costs for each Academy with the Government providing the
balance (the Government said that this would be around £8m) and funding running costs. The DfES has said, however, “where the
overall premises costs exceed £10m the relative contributions of sponsors and Government may be negotiated separately,
balancing local need and the overall budget available for the Academies programme as a whole.” In these circumstances sponsors
must contribute at least £2m, but may not necessarily need to contribute the full 20 per cent of the capital costs.
In September 2005 the Times Educational Supplement reported that private sponsors were being offered Academies at knock-
down prices. Philanthropists willing to back a string of Academies were being offered a “four for the price of three” deal as ministers
strived to hit their target of 200 Academies either open or in development by 2010. Sponsors have been told that if they fund more
than three Academies the price per school will be only £1.5m, rather than the standard £2m. The revelation came after it emerged
that the United Learning Trust, an Anglican charity, is paying only £1.5m in sponsorship per school for eight of the 11 Academies it
plans to open. Other documents have revealed that the archdiocese of Southwark will have to pay only £200,000 to sponsor St
Paul’s Academy in Greenwich which opened in September 2005. The Academy, currently on the site of St Paul’s Catholic
secondary, will move in 2007 to new buildings on playing fields at nearby Abbey Wood comprehensive, the school it is to replace.
Greenwich council is to sell the St Paul’s site in 2007 and give £1.8m of the proceeds to the archdiocese so that it can meet its £2m
contribution to the Academy.
In reality actually handing over the money is not an essential condition of getting control of the Academy. An investigation by the
Times Educational Supplement into the accounts of the first 12 Academies found that fewer than half had received all of the
15
£2million pledged by their sponsors.
The sponsor’s contribution does not have to be in cash – Granada Learning in Liverpool, for example, are contributing books,
training for teachers and softwear.
In May 2006 “The Guardian” newspaper revealed that only four of the 27 Academies open so far had received the full £2m pledged
from sponsors. Four Academies that opened in September 2005 had received no cash at all. The sponsors of the most expensive
£38 million Academy, Haberdashers’ Aske’s Knights Academy, Lewisham appear to have only contributed £300,000 to date, and
around £700, 000 to their other Academy in Lewisham.
In February 2007 the National Audit Office published an evaluation report on the Academies programme. The report looked at the
27 Academies opened by September 2005 and found that a year later only 11 had received the £2m the Government originally
specified sponsors should pay to control the schools. Nine had received payments of less than £1m. It reported that Sir Harry
Djanogly had not paid any thing at all to sponsor Djanogly Academy in Nottingham because of his contribution to its predecessor
city technology college. Some sponsors had agreed to pay in instalments, but in four cases – two involving the United Church
Schools Trust – the payments were behind schedule by an average of around £200,000.
The National Audit Office also discovered that the 12 Academies opened by 2003 had on average received an extra £1.6m in start-
up funding by 2005/06. This amounted to an extra £460 per pupil per year and was “substantially higher” than the average
£750,000 extra start-up funding paid to other under-performing secondaries that have been given a “fresh start”. Two-thirds of
Academies were still receiving start-up funding in their fourth year, the auditors found. They recommended it should cease after
three.
Many schools are in need of substantial funding to renovate their buildings and equipment. Academies, however, have already
received more money from the DfES than was originally planned. The Greig City Academy in Haringey, for example, was allocated
funding of £12m for building renovation, in addition to specialist funding and the Government writing off the school’s £700,000
overspend. There is a danger that LEAs will find itself having to make up any shortfall in funding from the sponsor or DfES, at the
expense of other local schools.
Turning an existing school into an Academy is very expensive. The Dulcie High school in Manchester was subject to a several
16
million pound refurbishment programme before the decision was made that it should be knocked down and renamed the
Manchester Academy. In Sandwell the LEA sold the land surrounding the former Thomas Telford school to sponsors but then had
to contribute £1m towards the preparation of the land to facilitate the development of the new Sandwell Academy. In July 2005 the
Government announced that it would be paying off Unity City Academy’s overspend of nearly £1.5m pounds.
In May 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that a total of £425m has been spent on the first 17 Academies, rather
than the £170 million first budgeted. With numbers set to reach 50 by 2007, that bill could rise to £1.3 billion – equal to a third of the
total capital budget for schools this year. Official figures show rising land prices, inflation in the construction industry and ambitious
designs have sent the average cost of each Academy to more than £25m.
In April 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Academies were costing taxpayers up to £50m each. The two most
expensive Academies each received more than £40m in public funds in two years, in building, start-up and running costs. The TES
reports that a further eight have cost at least £25m. As well as building costs of up to £35m, the accounts of the first 17 open
Academies reveal that “start-up” overheads for eight of the new schools were more than £1m. Overheads at three Academies ran
to more than £2m. Bexley Business Academy is the most expensive of the new schools. It took £46.3m in public-sector grants
between 2001-4. Costs for the 2004-06 academic years are likely to bring the total bill above £50m. At the West London Academy,
which opened in 2003, the total bill to the taxpayer for the three year period 2002-05 is £45.9m. Mossbourne Community Academy
in Hackney received £29m in government grants in 2003-05, despite only educating 210 pupils in 2004.
Neighbouring schools could be left to foot the bill for the new Academies after it emerged that the Government wants local
authorities to use money earmarked for school refurbishment to expand the programme. Local authority leaders have accused civil
servants of threatening to withdraw their council’s share of £2.2bn capital investment unless they agree to spend some of the
money on Academies.
The fact that Academies receive considerably more both in terms of capital and revenue funding than community or foundation
schools means that they have the potential to destabilise local admissions by sending the message to parents that, because of their
preferential funding and independent school status, Academies are better than maintained schools. Figures released by the
Academy Sponsors Trust in April 2005 showed that nationally 4,730 children named Academies as their first-choice school for
2004-05. They were competing for 2,918 places.
17
Academies are independent schools, and therefore outside the responsibility of the Local Education Authority. The existence of
Academies, particularly in small LEAs, such as some of those in London, where a large number of Academies are planned, makes
it very difficult for LEAs to plan and provide a coherent and comprehensive education system for its pupils. Further, Academies
damage the operation of local democratic accountability and make it difficult for parents to make representations or seek advice on
educational issues from their elected councilors.
LEAs’ planning will be further affected because of the distorting effect on admissions in other schools, as there will often be a
considerable time-lag between the closure of a school and the opening of a new Academy with full capacity for all year groups.
Neighbouring schools will experience significant fluctuations in their pupil numbers during this process, which would be multiplied if
several Academies were in the vicinity.
Admissions/Selection
Academies have the potential to disrupt fair and efficient admissions arrangements within authorities and in neighbouring
authorities. Their establishment gives parents the perception that the Academy is the “best” secondary school in the area
irrespective of the quality of other schools. Their designation and the extra resources given to them can act as a magnet for parents
attracted by the sales pitch of such a designation, irrespective of the achievements of nearby secondary schools. This perception is
enhanced by high profile publicity such as the Prime Minister’s visits to the Bexley Academy and Capital Academy in Brent. Many
Academies are oversubscribed. More than 800 pupils applied for 180 places at the City of London Academy, opened in September
2004.
There is evidence to suggest that Academies are “cherry picking” more academically successful pupils and are refusing to admit
children from more disadvantaged backgrounds and/or children with special needs. Schools in the same catchment area are then
forced to accept these pupils, putting additional pressure on schools in the surrounding area. In Bristol, for example, where the St
George Community College is due to reopen as an Academy, glossy leaflets have been distributed advertising the new school but
these have only been distributed in the more affluent areas of Bristol. The school has since denied that it is attempting to attract
pupils from more prosperous areas. The Greig Academy in Haringey experienced difficulties in recruiting pupils and targeted the
leafy suburbs rather that the neighbourhood area of Tottenham.
18
Although Academies are represented on local admissions forums they are responsible for their own admission arrangements,
subject to approval by the Secretary of State. The likelihood is that Academies, unlike other secondary schools, will use the
capacity to select up to 10 per cent of pupils by aptitude. Selection by aptitude can undermine the operation of a comprehensive
education system and re-introduce the damaging selection process. Pupils with special educational needs, those who are learning
to speak English as an additional language and those whose home circumstances are difficult, could be further disadvantaged in
these situations.
Academies have a duty to accept special needs pupils if they are named in their statement as the school most suitable for their
needs. Local authorities, however, do not have the power to name an Academy without its consent, even if it is convinced that it is
the best place for the child. If the two sides fail to reach agreement the final decision rests with the Secretary of State, although
parents can appeal to a special needs tribunal if they are unhappy.
An article in “Children Now” (15.3.06) highlights the drop in numbers of pupils with SEN at two of the more academically successful
Academies compared with their predecessor schools. In Walsall Academy the numbers fell from 41 per cent to 8 per cent; the City
Academy Bristol fell from 46 per cent to 28 per cent. Of 14 Academies, the total percentage of children with SEN had fallen at 7
academies; the percentage of children with statements had fallen at 8 academies.
In July 2005 the Times Educational Supplement reported that official figures shown to Parliament showed that most Academies had
fewer disadvantaged pupils from the schools they replaced and had persuaded parents from outside their local area to choose an
Academy for their child. One in ten Academy pupils comes from outside the local authority in which the school is situated and only
a quarter of pupils live in its ward. In eight out of the 13 Academies which directly replaced another school, the proportion of
disadvantaged pupils had gone down. Walsall Academy experienced the biggest drop. More than half of pupils at TP Riley, its
predecessor, were eligible for free school meals in 2003. This fell to 26 per cent in 2004 and 16 per cent in 2005.
A number of Academies are sponsored by religious organisations and have admissions policies and a Christian ethos similar to
those of faith schools. The facility to give priority to children of a particular faith means it is possible for these schools to refuse
places to local pupils.
Whilst there is so far little evidence that direct selection has been used in the majority of Academies to date, the admission
19
proposals for Sandwell’s Academy, for example, are rigid in terms of categorising pupils into ability bands. This policy is likely to
lead to a situation where a child is denied a place in their neighbourhood school.
In May 2003 it was reported that secondary head teachers in Sandwell, whose schools specialise or intend to specialise in the
Academy’s chosen specialism (sport and business studies), saw the Academy as direct competition, both in terms of staff retention
and pupil admissions. Therefore as a direct consequence and to counter the competitive nature of the Academy, a number of
secondary head teachers were considering approaching their Governing Bodies with proposals that governors consider changing
admission policies of their establishments to select up to 10 per cent of their pupils to fill the specialist places.
All-through Academies
The Government has introduced legislation to allow “all age” Academies educating both primary and secondary pupils, and for 16-
19 Academies. The West London Academy in Ealing, for example, also provides primary and pre-school education. The Business
Academy, Bexley had initially been established as an 11-18 school but the governors plan to extend the Academy to make it a 4-18
school. In Lewisham there is a proposal to establish a 4-16 Academy. In Islington there are plans to establish a 5-16 Academy with
possible post 16 education. Leicester City plans to establish a 3-16 Academy. The expansion of all-through Academies could lead
to the closure of local primary and nursery schools.
A recent development is that of “all-through” academies, educating primary and nursery age pupils as well as secondary, which
involve the closure of existing primary as well as secondary schools. Bexley is one of the first academies to pursue this option and
considerable unease has been reported among the staff of the primary schools. As well as the considerable impact of such
changes in terms of teaching and support staff, this development brings the Government’s diversity agenda and the involvement of
the private sector into primary and early years education which is a retrograde step.
Curriculum
The Government has said that Academies “can combine a greater flexibility over the curriculum with the sponsorship and expertise
of religious, private or voluntary sector contributors to raise the achievements of pupils.” Doubts have been raised about the
20
compatibility of flexibility with the provision of a broad and balanced curriculum, particularly if this is influenced by sponsors. For
example Professor Alec Reed, sponsor of an Academy in Ealing is also the founder of a charity, the Academy of Enterprise, and
has stated that enterprise will be integrated into all aspects of the curriculum. Bexley’s Business Academy aims to fit the National
Curriculum into a four-day week. Friday will be devoted to business skills.
The Academy in Bristol focuses on vocational courses of study such as catering and hotel work. Parents have expressed a
number of concerns over the move to vocational courses and fear that their children will not have equality of opportunity to follow
academic courses.
A network of 12 vocational Academies was announced in early October 2005 to provide “plasters, plumbers and bricklayers of
tomorrow”.
The Business Academy, Bexley, fits the National Curriculum into a four-day week. Friday is devoted to business studies. The
school has its own mini stock exchange and trading floor. This begs the question of whether it is desirable for pupils to be drawn
into the competitive “world of work” at the age of 11, or even earlier with the “all-age” Academies.
Few of the announced Academies have an arts subject as a specialism. The majority specialise in business, technology, enterprise
or ICT, reflecting the interests of sponsors who have been actively encouraged by the Government to participate in the Academies
programme. Overtime this trend could distort the curriculum on offer to all pupils.
Governors
Academies threaten the role and responsibilities of school governing bodies as representatives of the local “stakeholders” in a
school. Initially sponsors were “invited” but not obliged, to include LEA or elected representation on school governing boards.
Academy governing bodies are only required to have to have one member of the LEA on the governing body. Sponsors, on the
other hand, may want to ensure that sponsor governors have a majority on the governing body.
For example, in August 2002, an article in the Times Educational Supplement stated that eight of the 13 governors at Capital City
Academy in Brent would by appointed by its sponsor, Sir Frank Lowe.
21
There is no requirement for teaching staff to be included on the governing body. Teaching staff will not be included on the
governing board of Walsall’s Academy but will have a governor to represent their interests. Teachers will have to have their
application cleared through the Head if they wish to have an interview with the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the Governors.
Pay and conditions/Transfer Rights/Negotiating Rights
This is the greatest area of concern for NUT members currently working in schools to be replaced by Academies and those who will
be employed in the future. Academies independent status means that they have the potential to threaten teachers’ job security,
salaries and conditions and service. They can operate outside the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) and
Burgundy Book. The DfES states that it is “the responsibility of the Academy to agree levels of pay and conditions of service with its
employees and to employ appropriate staff numbers.”
The Greig City Academy, in Haringey, for example, experimented with a new contract for teachers, requiring them to teach
additional lessons per week based on a school year of 1400 hours. The new contract caused significant difficulties for staff and the
majority of original teaching staff left.
Bexley Business Academy also operates a longer day and it has been reported that teachers are not receiving a proper lunch
break. They are given 30 minutes, during which time they have to supervise children.
In Bristol teachers had originally been told that their terms and conditions would not change when the school opened as an
Academy but the Head is now planning to extend the hours the school will open. This is being sold to teachers as an opportunity to
work some sort of “flexi time”.
Concerns have also been raised regarding the influence that sponsors will have on the appointment of teachers. The Times
Educational Supplement reported that concerns had been raised that the Kings Academy in Middlesbrough, sponsored by the
Vardy Foundation, was appointing teachers because of their religious beliefs. Some staff members from the schools that it is
replacing have accused the Academy of bias towards Christian teachers.
22
Currently, union recognition exists in 11 Academies (although not all have signed formal agreements). There is no recognition or
collective bargaining machinery in three (Bexley, Walsall, Kings).
The intense work required staff in launching an Academy will undoubtedly divert attention from teaching and learning. There are
also intense pressures on teachers to deliver quick wins in terms of increased exam results. This has led to reports of high turnover
of staff in some Academies – an indication that retention of staff, and thus the destabilising effect on pupils’ education, is a cause
for concern.
Unity City Academy in Middlesbrough has had three head teachers since it opened in 2002 and spent £250,000 on supply cover in
2004 due to long-term absence from stress. OFSTED reported that up to a third of staff were absent at any one time.
The Times Educational Supplement in May 2005 reported that six out of twelve Academy heads had resigned in the first 18
months.
Support to Divisions
The Union continues to provide support to divisions and associations on Academies issues. The briefing for division secretaries on
privatisation held in October 2005 included sessions on Academies. The Union has also set up an Academies Task Group to
provide advice and information on campaigning against Academies. Detailed guidance on Academies has been sent out by circular
and been put on the NUT website.
The Union has also produced an Academies campaign pack to support divisions and associations in campaigning against planned
Academies. The campaign pack is located on the Union’s website and will be constantly updated to reflect continuing
developments.
The majority of the information contained in the attached summaries has been obtained from divisions and divisions will be
encouraged to continue to keep the Unit informed of developments.
23
Academies
Around 70 Academy Partnerships have been announced to date by the DfES. This digest of information was updated by the
Privatisation in Education Unit in March 2007.
LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

replaced/ Name of Range
Academy (where
announced)
Barnet The Edgware School Business, Enterprise £1.5m to be provided by Announced July 2001
and Technology Peter Shalson, Chair of Open September 2004
The London Academy 11-19 SGI Ltd, a venture
capital company.
Additional funding will be
contributed to the
Academy from the sale
for redevelopment of
part of the predecessor
school site.
NUT concerns/additional information
The venture is closely tied to the redevelopment of a housing estate and the sale of half the playing fields.
The Division met with the Principal of Edgware School in July 2002 to discuss developments regarding the establishment of the
London Academy. The principal had originally explored the possibility of a PFI bid to replace the schools buildings. He had had no
success with this and had approached the DfES regarding Academy status. Andrew Adonis at Downing Street had suggested Peter
24
Shalson as a sponsor.
The principal has said that there is no intention on the part of himself or the sponsor to depart from national pay and conditions of
service for teachers. He stated that he was interested in discussing the pattern of the school year and day but stressed that this
would be within the provisions of national conditions of service. He would like the Academy to be open for 6 hours each day rather
than the current 5 and might consider paying for childcare if the pattern of the school year caused any difficulties.
The Academy will recognise all trade unions currently recognised by Barnet LEA.
The Division has also been assured that the Academy will not select by ability or seek in any way to alter the make-up of the school
population. The catchment area will remain the same and the sibling link will be maintained.
The Academy will have a language and speech therapy unit for pupils with Special educational needs.
The funding agreement has not yet been signed and is in part dependent upon planning permission being granted. It is hoped that
it will be signed in August or September at which point the Trust will be established. Full planning permission is not expected to be
granted until November 2002.
The sponsor has agreed that the current Principal of Edgware School should be the Principal of the Academy. It has also been
agreed that there will be two teacher representatives on the Governing Body.
It is intended that the Academy will open in September 2004 and closure notices for the current school have been issued
Peter Shalson donated more than £5,000 to the Labour Party in 2001.

Academy (where
announced)
25
Barnsley Elmhirst School Business and United Learning Trust Open September 2006, moved to new
enterprise (The Church Schools building in September 2006
Barnsley Academy 11-18 Company)
In January 2004 the Division reported that Barnsley LEA was consulting on the reorganisation of schools provision in the
Worsburough/Kendray area. Under the proposals the Worsbrough Bank End Primary School, Kendray Primary School and the
Elmhirst Secondary School would close and be replaced with an all through Academy (3-19). The proposed sponsor of the
Academy is the United Learning Trust.
In October 2004 the proposals appeared on the DfES Academies in development website. The Academy will provide 900 places for
11-16 year olds and a further 250 places for a sixth form. It will specialise in business and enterprise and is due to open in
September 2006.
The Academy consultation document states that two sites are being considered for the Academy: A - the site of the Elmhirst School
,B - the site adjacent to Worsbrough Bank End Primary School.
In May 2005 the Times Educational Supplement reported that parents’ views on whether the Academy should go ahead were being
ignored. An independent report said 48 per cent of people replying to a questionnaire said they were opposed, 13 per cent said
they were unsure and 39 per cent in favour.
In March 2006 Elmhirst School was taken out of special measures and placed under ‘notice to improve’ (TES, 08/06).

Academy (where
announced)
Bermondsey Aylwin Girls’ School Enterprise Lord Harris (carpet Announced January 2005
magnate) to provide Due to open September 2008 but could
26
Harris Academy 11-18 Girls £1.5m towards capital be earlier if circumstances allow
costs
Open September 2006
In October 2005 the Division reported that the council had agreed to consult on the proposal to close Aylwin School as an LEA
maintained school from August 31 2008 in the context of the proposal to establish and Academy from September 1 2008.
In 2005 Ofsted said that it had ‘every confidence’ that Alwyn Girls’ School could build on its ‘considerable strengths’. (TES,
04/08/06).
The Harris Academy at Aylwin will have an agreed admission number of 180 girls. It will be an 11-18 school with 180 places in each
of Years 7-11 and 250 places for girls aged 16-18 giving a total roll of 1150.

Academy (where
announced)
Bexley Thamesmead Business and David Garrard, the Chair Announced March 2001. Opened Sep
Community College Enterprise of Minerva Plc, property 2002
investment and
The Business All age Academy development group and
Academy Chairman of the Garrard
Education Trust, is to be
personal sponsor
donating £2.4 m towards
27
the Academy
The architect Lord Norman Foster was involved with the redevelopment of Thamesmead Community College.
The Business Academy is operated by 3Es Enterprises which already runs three state schools in Surrey.
Concerns raised with the Union nationally over pay and conditions. Whilst Bexley’s consultation document does state that the
TUPE regulations would apply to all transferred teachers, it does not state whether the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions
Document would be applied or whether it is proposed that a separate structure be introduced. Clarification is needed on whether all
staff from Thamesmead Community College would be transferred to positions in the new Academy. Clarification also needed over
regarding the possible adaptation of responsibilities and work practices to reflect the requirements of the Academy. Doubts raised
over the ability of the Academy to provide a broad and balanced curriculum – concerns regarding the extent Business and Industry
will influence the development of the proposed curriculum. The Academy aims to fit the National Curriculum into a four-day week
and devote Friday to business related studies. There are also plans to install a mini stock exchange and trading floor on the
premises. Another area for concern is that the composition of the governing body is heavily biased towards sponsor Governors.
There are plans for the Academy to have its own low-rent housing development as a way of attracting new staff and keeping
existing teachers. It plans to build 30 houses on site or on surrounding land, to be rented out to staff at “no more than the cost of
mortgage interest”.
The Business Academy opened on the 12 September 2002. Eight hundred pupils started at the school, which will accommodate
1,350 pupils aged 11-18 when it is full.
The school day is longer than most to allow the National Curriculum to be covered on Monday to Thursday, leaving Friday free for
business skills. The day begins at 8.20am. After an hour of lessons, pupils get a 25-minute break for breakfast. Lunch lasts half an
28
hour, with the day finishing at 3.45pm.
The Division has reported that teachers who were transferred from Thamesmead Community College to the Academy were
transferred under TUPE arrangements on their existing pay and conditions. They were offered the choice of transferring to a new
Academy contract but none chose to do so. Teachers new to the school were given the Academy contract.
It has been reported that teachers at the Academy are not receiving a "proper" lunch break. They are given 30 minutes, during
which time they have to supervise children.
Much of the new highly acclaimed building designed by Sir Norman Foster is not ready and many teachers are still working in the
old building. Bexley LEA has decorated the corridors and communal areas but it has been reported that teachers themselves went
in and painted their own classrooms at weekends. Whilst there has been a great deal of publicity about the schools IT facilities
most teachers do not yet have access to a computer.
In February 2003 an advertisement appeared in the TES for experienced teachers and NQTS to work at the Academy. The
advertisement stated that salary was by negotiation.
In February 2003 the Division reported that the Academy had published a joint consultation with Bexley Council and 3Es to open a
primary section at the Academy from 1 September 2004. Bexley Council has agreed in principle to the development of a 4-11
primary provision at the Academy, subject to consultation and the provision of secondary funding by the council. The Council plans
to close two local schools, Abbey Primary School and Southlake Primary School from 31 August 2004. Both schools are in
challenging circumstances and have been identified by OFSTED as needing improvement.
The consultation document states that TUPE will apply to all staff transferring to the Academy from the two primary schools. It also
states that recognised trade unions and professional associations will be consulted throughout the transfer process.
The council has also agreed that the Academy should manage a neighbourhood nursery catering for up to 90 children. 3E’s
Enterprises, which project manages the Academy will also manage this project. The company, a subsidiary of Kingshurst CTC is
responsible for the management of three secondary schools in Surrey. It does not have experience of primary or early years
29
education.
The Academy became an all age school in September 2004.
The Academy recognises teachers’ rights to belong to the Union but this is as far as their recognition goes. The Division has
reported that the Academy sees itself as an independent school and as such does not believe that it has to negotiate with Unions.
The Division has reported that the LEA allows no facilities time for representation/support/communication meetings with NUT
members at the Academy. Whilst the NUT does not currently have a large membership at the Academy it does have a number of
members at the primaries, Abbey and Southlake. The Division is to write to the Academy asking for full union recognition and to ask
for payment for facilities time.
David Garrard is a trustee of the Police Foundation and joint chairman of the International Centre for Children’s Studies.
The Division has reported that the Academy is attracting children from more affluent areas rather than Thamesmead.
In October 2003 the Division reported that the papers had been signed for two primary schools to be amalgamated into the
Academy.
In February 2004 the Division reported that serious concerns had been raised regarding 3E’s treatment of staff at Abbey and
Southlake primary schools. Staff at the school felt that 3E’s was trying to discourage them from moving to the school. They
appeared to be interviewing job applicants for the Academy which goes against TUPE regulations. Some staff with children in
secondary schools, particularly those children in Greenwich schools, were
told that they might look to work elsewhere due to the clash between a three and a six term year. Staff also felt that they were
being talked down to and patronised. The Unison representative has written to the LEA on these issues and has requested that
3E’s indicate their intentions regarding staff at the primary schools.
In its first year, the Business Academy achieved an increase in pupils attaining 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE from 7 per cent in
2002 to 21 per cent in 2003.
Having never needed a sixth form at the predecessor school, over 80 pupils (aged 16+) requested to stay on at the school in
2003.04. A sixth form was formed. The Academy expanded in September 2004 to become a 4-18 school including a
30
Neighbourhood Nursery.
In December 2004 OFSTED was damning about the quality of teaching and learning at Bexley Business Academy, where much
publicity had been given to spending one day a week on the school’s “City Trading Floor” with teaching of the National Curriculum
limited to the other four days.

Academy (where
announced)
Blackburn with Darwen Moorland High Business and Rod Aldridge, Executive Announced in October 2004
Darwen School enterprise Chairman of Capita is
contributing towards
Academy will be a new 11-19 capital costs through the
build Rodney Aldridge
Charitable Trust
In October 2004 the DfES Academies in development website featured proposals to establish an Academy to replace Elmhirst
School. The Academy will provide 1,200 places for 11-16 year olds, and a further 400 places for a sixth form.
In March 2005 the Times Educational Supplement revealed that the Government had serious concerns about allowing Rod
Aldridge, Chairman of Capita, to sponsor the Academy. Civil servants warned Rod Aldridge of a potential conflict of interest over his
investment in the new school. The warning is disclosed in documents released under the Freedom of Information Act that also
reveal officials admitting they are “under pressure” over plans to launch 200 Academies by 2010. In 2001 Capita won a £190m 15
year contract with Blackburn with Darwen council to support regeneration.
31
Academy (where
announced)
Bradford (i) Bradford Cathedral Business and Toc H (a national Announced January 2004.
Community College enterprise community support Due to open in September 2007
11-18 charity) and the Church
Bradford Cathedral of England
Academy

In January 2004 the “Times Educational Supplement” reported that an international charity, which runs three schools in India was to
provide £1m sponsorship for the Academy. London based Toc H, founded during the First World War to bring comfort to soldiers,
will provide £1m sponsorship. It will work with the Anglican diocese of Bradford to plan changes. In February information regarding
the Academy appeared on the DfES’s Academy website. The Academy had originally been due to be sponsored by Dixon’s City
Technology College.
In November 2005 the Division reported that the proposals with the Church of England and Toc H were still going ahead.

Academy (where
announced)
Bradford (ii) Dixons City Product design and the Dixons City Technology Announced April 2004
Technology College performing arts College providing Open September 2005
11-19 sponsorship of £395,000
Dixons City Academy
32
In April 2004 the DfES Academies website stated that there was a proposal to replace Dixons CTC with an Academy. It will be
sponsored by Dixons CTC which will be providing sponsorship of £395,000. Previous proposals published on the DfES website
(see information on
Cathedral Academy above) had stated that Dixons CTC was to merge with Bradford Cathedral College to form an Academy. This
has now fallen through.
The Academies establishment will involve both a refurbishment of the predecessor school and new buildings – the Academy will be
located on the site of the predecessor school and is due to open in September 2005.
In November 2005 the Division reported that the authority was under pressure from the DfES to set up another four Academies.
There are no concrete proposals as yet but the division has visited the schools likely to be targeted and talked to staff about the
implications.

Academy (where
announced)
Brent (i) Willesden High School Sports Sir Frank Lowe, chair of Announced September 2000. Open
11-18 the Lowe Group and September 2003
Capital City Academy Octagon Sports
Marketing, has pledged
support of up to £2.6m.
Architect Lord Norman
33
Foster has agreed to
make a pro bono
contribution to the
development of the
building
In October 2000, the Brent Association passed an emergency motion warning that the governing body of a Academy would have
rights of hire and fire, determination of conditions of service, rates of pay and working hours and terms for teachers. The motion
also warned that governing bodies would be able to set unpublished admissions and exclusion criteria for pupils. It demanded that
Brent LEA’s decision to move forward with the creation of an Academy be rescinded and that a proper consultation take place
before any further move is made. A national deputation to the LEA took place in December 2000.
In August 2002, an article in the Times Educational Supplement stated that eight of the 13 governors at Capital City Academy in
Brent would be appointed by Sir Frank Lowe who will appoint seven sponsor governors plus a local community governor. Parents,
teachers and other staff will each elect a single representative, with the LEA appointing another member.
Sir Frank Lowe has stated that sixth-formers will switch to the baccalaureate in 2008.
Sir Frank Lowe donated £25,000 to Labour MP Frank Dobson’s bid to become London Mayor in 2000 and is also a Labour Party
donor. He received a knighthood in 2001.
The DfES website states that Capital City Academy is oversubscribed.
In April 2004 it was reported that the Academy had ran into financial difficulties and seven staff redundancies were announced. The
headteacher has resigned after less than a year in charge. In May 2004 Sir Frank Thomas wrote a letter to the Times Educational
34
Supplement stating that there was no crisis at the Academy and that voluntary redundancies were taking place for reasons of
organisational effectiveness.
In July 2004 headteacher Frank Thomas left the Academy for personal reasons, insisting his departure was unrelated to a move to
make seven staff redundant.

Academy (where
announced)
Brent (ii) The Stadium Academy Citizenship Andrew Rosenfeld Announced May 2006. Due to open
will be a new build and 3-18 September 2009.
will be located at
Wembley Park.
In September 2005 the division reported that it would be demonstrating against a proposed second Academy in Brent. The
Academy would be built on the site of Wembley Sports Ground, sponsored by Andrew Rosenfeld, CEO Minerva plc.

Academy (where
announced)
Bristol (i) St George Community Sports Sponsored by local Announced December 2001. Open
35
College 11-18 consortia, including September 2003
Bristol City FC,
The City Academy University of the West of
England and Bristol
Business West.
Proposal to re-develop the existing campus and off site playing fields of St George Community College. Initial estimates suggest
that up to £8m investment would be required to deliver the key objectives of the proposals. The sponsors are seeking to increase
capital investment to £12m. The City Council is fully supportive of St George Community College becoming an Academy.
Other sponsors contributing to capital sponsorship are the Wallscourt Foundation (a foundation of the University of the West of
England) the Wheels Project, the Dawn Trust and the Travelling Light Theatre Company. Further sponsorship from Chase Fleming
and other Trusts has also been committed.
In October the Division reported that he headteacher of St.George Community College had been seconded from his post for a year
to set up the Academy. The Division is having regular monthly meetings with him and Adrian Taylor who is managing the project.
Adrian Taylor was also involved in managing the Brent Academy. The Division is very dissatisfied with the meetings so far - the
head spends a lot of time expunging his visions for the Academy but very little time giving answers to questions about members
pay and conditions. The Head of St George’s had originally stated that nothing would change but is now planning to extend the
hours that the school will open. This is being “sold” to teachers as an opportunity to work some sort of “flexi time”. Teachers have
been told that they will not have to work outside normal hours if they do not want to. The Head has also said that there will be no
compulsory redundancies and has come up with a staffing structure which accommodates everybody. The Head has told staff that
he plans to give them pay increases as he hopes to be able to pay them on higher points on the salary scale.
The Academy will be organised as a series of “learning villages” into which the subject areas will be integrated - it will offer
vocational courses of study such as catering and hotel work. The main focus will be on sport - there will be 40 young footballers
from Bristol City FC who will receive post 16 education, BCFC trainers will be taking over the physical side of their education and
will also help develop the skills of other students. Glossy leaflets have been produced “A New School for Bristol” - they have been
36
distributed only in the more affluent areas of Bristol with the free local newspaper. At The moment the school is very firmly in the
inner-city area with an extremely high number of black and other minority ethnic students, black parents have expressed a number
of concerns about the stereotyping of black pupils as in sporting roles and several have expressed concerns about the
disapplication of the national curriculum and move to vocational courses, they fear that their children will not have equality of
opportunity to academic courses. The Division has reported that the Chair of the Trustees is quite openly hostile to TU reps and
that there is beginning to be a lot of “passing the buck” going on - for example when the Division asked about conditions of service
issues they were told it would be up to the board of trustees to determine.
In November the Division reported that Adrian Taylor, manager of the Academy project, had not had his contract renewed. A new
manager is being sought.
The Academy has a SEN Unit for pupils with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties and physical disabilities.
Parents do not have to pay for the cost of school uniform as one of the school’s sponsors has donated around £90,000 to kit out all
1,240 pupils this term with a 17-piece uniform and sports kit.
In June 2005 the Times reported that a public school would be establishing links with the Academy. Millfield, whose prep school
was attended by Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, would be forming a partnership with the Academy. The paper reported that
the £19,000 a year school and the Academy plan to work together in sport, the performing arts and staff development.

Academy (where
announced)
Bristol (ii) Withywood School Business and Society of Merchant Announced on DfES website October
enterprise Venturers 2004
Academy will be a new Due to open September 2007. In May
build 11-18 2006 it was announced that the
37
Academy would be opening in 2008.
In December 2004 an article appeared in the Bristol Evening Post regarding concerns about the Society of Merchant Venturers
involvement in the Academy proposals. The Merchant Venturers, is a very secretive local charitable society with roots in the slave
trade. It runs two local independent schools.

Academy (where
announced)
Bristol (iii) Oasis Hengrove Performing and visual Oasis Trust Due to open September 2009
Academy arts
Hengrove Community 11-19

Arts College
In October 2005 details of the above Academy appeared on the DfES website. The Academy will replace Hengrove Community
Arts College in South Bristol. It will have 960 places for 11-19 year old students.
In February 2007 the division reported that proposals to merge a newly opened primary school with the planned Oasis Trust
Academy to form an all-through 3-18 Academy were unlikely to go ahead. Parents and Bristol NUT campaigned against this
proposal. The Council has said that it is unlikely to go ahead since over 70 per cent of respondents had rejected the proposals.
38
Academy (where
announced)
Coventry Woodway Park School Business and Bob Edmiston Due to open September 2009
Enterprise 11-18
In June 2005 the Birmingham Post reported that businessman and evangelist Bob Edmiston hoped to sponsor a new school in
Coventry which would be based on a Christian ethos. Warwickshire-based Mr Edmiston, whose IM Group has made him one of the
richest men in the country, is already sponsoring the Grace Academy in Solihull. There are now plans to replace Woodway Park
School in Coventry with a similar Christian-based Academy. The entrepreneur who made his money importing cars and is
estimated to be worth between £300-£400m has said that he wants to create three Academies in the West Midlands.
The proposals are being opposed by local Liberal Democrats and Labour MP Ken Purchase.
39
A second Academy is proposed as a replacement for both Sidney Stringer and Barr's Hill schools, and will form part of the
proposed Swanswell Learning Quarter which will be located to the west of Primrose Hill Street on a site formally occupied by
high-rise blocks and in close proximity to Sidney Stringer School. The proposed opening date would be September 2008 or
September 2009. The council has stated that it has been in discussion with the DfES and with potential sponsors for the
Swanswell Academy but at this stage has not been able to secure a funding arrangement. It has been agreed with DfES that
a consortium for sponsors can be established which will include representatives from the City Council, Coventry University
and City College and that this grouping of public sector partners can put forward up to 20% of the £2 million total sponsorship
required. Other partners to join in this consortium are being actively sought.

Academy (where
announced)
Croydon (i) Stanley Technical High Business and Lord Harris of Peckham Due to open September 2007
School for Boys. enterprise with Design and the Whitgift
and Technology Foundation providing
funding of £2m
11-18
In July 2003 DfES Academies website stated that a mixed 11-18 Academy was planned to replace the Stanley Technical High
School for Boys. The Sponsors, Lord Harris of Peckham and the Whitgift Foundation, have committed £2 million. Lord Harris has
also pledged support of at least £2m for the Academy at Peckham, Southwark.
In May 2004 the NUT put in an objection to the closure of Stanley Technical High School to make way for an Academy.
Using the results of a standardised non-verbal reasoning test pupils will be allocated to one of nine groups.
40
Academy (where
announced)
Croydon (ii) BRIT School for the Performing Arts The British Recording Announced May 2006
Performing Arts and Industry Trust (BRIT) open September 2007
Technology 14-19 (also sponsor of current
school)
BRIT Academy
Proposal to establish a 14-19 Academy to replace the existing BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology on the existing site
in Selhurst, Croydon. The Academy will cater for 920 students in total.

Academy (where
announced)
Derby Landau Forte CTC Technology and Landau Foundation -The Announced May 2006
Business Enterprise existing trust have Open September 2006
Landau Forte College committed sponsorship
11-18 towards the capital cost
of the project
41
Academy (where
announced)
Doncaster Thorne Grammar Business and Vardy Foundation Open September 2005
School enterprise providing sponsorship of
11-18 Academy up to £2m
Trinity Academy Also known as the
Emmanuel Schools
Foundation
In March 2002 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Doncaster council planned to rebuild Thorne Grammar School as
an Academy using money from the Vardy Foundation. The Vardy Foundation has stated that the school would be open to pupils of
all religions, although it would have a “backdrop of Christian values”. The TES reported that Thorne grammar school’s former
headteacher had claimed that he was put under unfair pressure to resign last year due to the authority’s plans to make the school
an Academy.
The DfES Academies website states that the Academy will be a new build 11-18 school on the site of the predecessor school
(Thorne Grammar School).
In December 2003 the Division reported that a transfer agreement between Doncaster council and Doncaster Academy had been
published. The document states that there will be no faith requirements for staff employed at the Academy. Developments at the
Vardy sponsored King’s Academy in Middlesbrough however indicate that this may not be the case.
The transfer document also states that the Vardy Foundation has submitted a planning application for the new Academy and refers
to the development of land belonging to the previous school for residential units, either for sale or for rent.
42
Concerns have been raised over the future of the Youth Centre which is currently on the school site. The transfer agreement states
that the Youth Centre will have to be cleared to allow the new Academy to be built. The Vardy Foundation has said that it does not
see Youth Service provision as being appropriate on an Academy site. This is likely to have significant implications for pupils.
Restrictions will also be placed on Doncaster College’s use of the premises. The College has a strong historical connection with the
school. The clearance of the Youth Centre and the restrictions on Doncaster College will be a loss to the community and go against
the Government’s promotion of Academies as a provider of services to the whole community.
In February 2006 the Independent reported that a number of parents at the school were unhappy about the school’s strict
disciplinary code. Pupils caught smoking are suspended for the first offence, given a final warning for the second and expelled for
the third. Parents claim the code, introduced with the new school, is aimed at weeding out difficult children who will damage
Trinity’s hopes of academic success.
In 2006 just over 34 per cent of students gained at least 5 C grades. When Thorne Grammar, the comprehensive school it
replaced, closed in August 2005 its headline pass rate was just over 35 per cent. The Academy insisted that the results actually
represented a significant success as the students involved had not been predicted to do as well as they had.
Discipline, exclusions and informal exclusions on breaches of uniform and appearance rules at the above Emmanuel Schools
Foundation Academy was featured in the Times Educational Supplement on 12 January 2007. Apparently a letter to a parent
revealed that the DfES had drawn the principal’s attention to the fact that informal exclusions were not compatible with the
department’s guidance. The following week’s TES said that the DfES backed the school’s right to send pupils home for not wearing
the correct uniform.

Academy (where
announced)
Ealing The Compton High Enterprise and Sports Alec Reed, CBE, Open September 2003
School and Sports 4-18 Academy founder of the
College and Northolt employment agency
Primary School Reed Executive has
43
pledged support of £2
The West London million.
Academy
The Academy project has the backing of Ealing council, which volunteered for an Academy, welcoming the extra £10m of extra
funding. Alec Reed is the founder of a charity, the Academy of Enterprise, which he set up in 2000 as he believed that the
education system did not prepare pupils for the outside world. In their expression of interest Alec Reed and the London Borough of
Ealing have stated that enterprise will be integrated into all aspects of the curriculum, whereby all teaching staff understand the
contribution that enterprise can make to all subjects. He is reported to have said that he wants every child to see itself as “Me PLC”.
Alec Reed gave the Labour party more than £5,000 in 1998 and 1997. He is chairman of Reed Executive, which owns Reed
Employment, one of the UK’s biggest recruitment agencies. Reed Employment runs the Government’s New Deal projects in the
Hackney and City area of north London. He is also Professor of Innovation at Royal Holloway College, University of London and
visiting Professor of Enterprise at London Guildhall University.
The Academy shares its campus and is integrated with the special and primary school. Sure Start and Adult education provision
are also located on the site. The Academy will work with the Ealing ‘Excellence in Cities Partnership’ which includes all maintained
secondary schools in the borough. The expression of interest states that where applications outnumber places the following criteria
will be applied in the following order: “Preference shall be given where there is a brother or sister who will be attending the school at
the time of admission; exceptional medical or social circumstances shall be considered; walking distance from the child’s home to
the school measured by the nearest safe pedestrian route”. An article in “The Independent” on 29 November 2001 stated that the
new school is strongly opposed by the local branch of the NUT, which represents most of the teachers at the school.
An article in the Times on 14 July 2002 reported that the Headteacher appointed to run the Compton Academy would earn in
excess of £100,000, plus benefits worth up to £20,000. The post was due to be advertised in “The Times Educational
Supplement” in the week beginning 17 June 2002.
In October 2002 it was reported that Alistair Falk, Headteacher at the King Solomon High School in East London, had been
44
appointed to run the Academy. Both Alistair Falk, the new headteacher, and sponsor Alec Reed are keen to pursue an admissions
policy of ten per cent by aptitude.
In November 2005 the Independent newspaper reported that Alistair Falk had been replaced after his management style was
criticized by Inspectors. He has been moved by the school’s sponsor Alec Reed, to an administrative position in an education
foundation.
In February 2003 the Times Educational Supplement reported that pupils at the school would have a designated classroom and
would have the majority of their lessons in one room with teachers moving between classrooms.
Instead of key stages pupils will follow 9-13 and 14-19 curricula. This is designed to allow pupils to proceed at different paces and
give the option of an extra “foundation year” to pupils who find the jump from GCSE to A-level difficult.
Sure Start and Adult Education provision are also located on the site as is an LEA maintained special school.
OFSTED expressed “serious concerns” about the standard of education the Academy provided after a two-day visit in June 2005. It
criticised high rates of exclusion, inconsistent behaviour policies and an unsatisfactory curriculum lacking breadth and balance.
There were 265 fixed term exclusions in one year, more than treble the previous year, and 20 pupils permanently expelled.
OFSTED said that not only were the number of suspensions very high, but decisions had not been uniformly applied.
The West London Academy has since been inspected for a second time in March 2006 and has been found to be inadequate, with
the academy’s performance continuing to be monitored. Improvements had been made since the previous inspection in July 2005
(which led to the departure of the Academy’s highly paid principal to another post connected to the sponsor, Sir Alec Reed). The
new principal was praised by inspectors. Pupils made satisfactory progress at Key Stage 3 but both GCSE and A level results fell
between 2004 and 2005.
In September 2005 pupils missed a weeks lessons after the new buildings, costing £37m were declared unfit for use.
The funding of the Academy is detailed in the promotional material for the West London Academy. It states that the £37m Academy
has been funded through: £5.1m from Ealing local education authority to build the John Chilton complex (school for primary and
45
high school students with special needs), £600,000 from the Learning and Skills Council to provide accommodation fro the adult
and community learning service, £200,000 from Sure Start to provide the nursery, £200,000 from Active Ealing for the fitness suite
and £2.5m from Alec Reed.

Academy (where
announced)
Enfield New school Business and Oasis, a Christian trust Due to open September 2007
enterprise
Oasis Academy 11-19
In July 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the Christian charity, the Oasis Trust, would be sponsoring an
Academy in Enfield, north London which will open in 2007. The Oasis Trust has stated that its Academy would be open to children
of all faiths and would not try to convert pupils. The trust has stressed that the Academy would be open to children of all faiths and
would not try to convert pupils. The trust was founded by Steve Chalke, a high-profile Baptist minister and television presenter. The
Oasis Trust has set up a consultancy called Faith Works to help Christians set up Academies. The group has campaigned for faith
organisations to be allowed to employ only people of their religion and provides advice on how to avoid anti- (homosexual)
discrimination laws. It suggests that organisations “committed to up-holding the sanctity of sex being part of marriage” should
include this in their standards for staff behaviour.
Details of the proposed Academy appeared on the DfES website in October 2004.
The “Times Educational Supplement” (25 August 2006) reported that the Oasis Academy, due to open in September 2007, faced
opening in mobile classrooms as the budget for the school would not cover building costs. The leader of the Council said that the
46
DfES were refusing to release the additional £4 million needed to complete the work, which is in addition to the £29.9 million
committed in the Funding Agreement.

Academy (where
announced)
Greenwich St Paul’s Roman Sport and enterprise Archdiocese of Open September 2005. New building
Catholic Voluntary Southwark will be completed in 2007
Aided Secondary
School
St Paul’s Academy
Proposal to establish a new Academy in Abbey Wood. The DfES Academies web page states that the new Academy will replace St
Paul’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Secondary School and be situated on the site of the existing Abbey Wood School.
In September 2005 the Times Educational Supplement revealed that the archdiocese of Southwark will have to pay only £200,000
to sponsor St Paul’s Academy. The Academy, currently on the site of St Paul’s Catholic secondary, will move in 2007 to new
buildings on playing fields at nearby Abbey Wood comprehensive, the school it is to replace. Greenwich council is to sell the St
Paul’s site in 2007 and give £1.8m of the proceeds to the archdiocese so that it can meet its £2m contribution to the Academy.

47
Academy (where
announced)
Hackney (i) New School Technology Clive Bourne, Life Announced January 2002. Open
11-19 President of cargo September 2004
Mossbourne company Seabourne
Community Academy World Express, will
contribute £2m.
The Academy is to be built on the site of Hackney Downs School, which was closed in 1995 when it was dubbed the worst
comprehensive in the country. On 17 January 2002 “The Guardian” stated that a spokesman for the Hackney Teachers
Association, said that the school would cost £20m to build. Lord Richard Rogers will design it.
An article in “The Independent” on 25 February 2002 stated that Hackney Council plans to sell the playing fields of the former
Hackney Downs School.
Clive Bourne donated £10,000 to Frank Dobson’s bid to become London mayor. He is also founder of the New Docklands Museum
and a JP.
In February 2003 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Sir Michael Wilshaw had been appointed to lead the
Mossbourne Community Academy. Currently headteacher of St Bonaventure’s school in Newham, he was knighted for services to
education in 2000.
In May 2003 the Daily Telegraph reported that the high performing London girls’ school, the North London Collegiate, would be
helping to set up and run the Academy. Bernice McCabe the school’s headmistress said that she would be helping to select a head
for the Academy and would be assisting in establishing its ethos and education agenda.
The Academy will open with Year 7 pupils only. It will eventually serve 900 pupils aged 11-16.
48
The DfES Academies website states that the “Academy is planning to accept pupils with a Statement of Special Needs for Autism,
whereas other headteachers are reluctant to do so (as informed by The Learning Trust).”
In May 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the actor Sir Michael Caine and Harold Pinter, the playwright, are
backing the new Academy to built on the site of their old school. Both will be patrons of the Academy.
More than 500 children have already taken entry tests to win one of the 180 places at the Academy. Figures released in April 2005
by the Academy Sponsors Trust show that Mossbourne is heavily over subscribed. In September 2004 the number of applicants
who named the school as their first choice exceeded the number of places by a ratio of 3 to 1.
In April 2005 the Times Educational Supplement reported that teachers had already expressed concern that the new building
(opened March 2005) would not be able to cope with the 900 pupils it was supposed to accommodate. Graham Cox, vice-principal
of Mossbourne, said that architects did not always appreciate how much space children needed.
The Times Education Supplement of 9 March 2007, carried a very positive article about the Mossbourne Academy. “If he
(Principal, Sir Michael Wilshaw) succeeds (in raising test results), he will have achieved the holy grail of English education: an inner
city comprehensive with a “tough” intake achieving results up there with the leafy suburbs.”

Academy (where
announced)
Hackney (ii) Proposal to replace Medicine and Jack Petchey Announced February 2004
Kingsland School healthcare Foundation Open September 2006 (Year 7 pupils
(closed August 2003) 11-18 only)
The Petchey Academy
49
In March 2003 the Division reported that Hackney Learning Trust’s consultation on secondary strategy outlined plans to open a
second Academy to replace Kingsland School.
In February 2004 information on the Academy appeared on the DfES Academy website.
The Academy will open with Year 7 pupils only in 2006. The Academy will eventually admit 900 pupils aged 11-16 and a further 300
in the sixth form.
The Academy will work with London medical schools and hospitals to encourage pupils to consider careers in medicine. It will focus
on health, having a training kitchen and restaurant where students can cook meals and sit around a table to eat them. Hackney
Council suggested Petchey Academy’s medical specialism, with the intention of ‘breaking the traditional mould that medicine is a
career only for people from affluent backgrounds and give more young people from deprived backgrounds in Hackney the chance’.
(TES, 04/08/06)

Academy (where
announced)
Hackney (iii) New school built on 11-16 UBS (financial services Announced February 2004
site of Laburnum maths and music company) Open September 2007
Primary School which
closed in August 2003
50
The Bridge Academy
Proposal to build a new Academy on the site of the Laburnum Primary School in Shoreditch. The Academy will open in 2006 and
will admit 900 pupils aged 11-16 and 250 in the sixth form. UBS is the first financial services company to sponsor an Academy.
The first intake of students will be in September 2007. The school will start with 180 year 7 students, growing
with each year’s intake, until it reaches capacity in 2013 with 1150 students, including 250 6th form students. In
its first year the school will open in specially designed temporary buildings

Academy (where
announced)
Hammersmith Burlington Danes C of 11-18 Absolute Return for Kids Open September 2006 – didn’t open
and Fulham E 11-16 School Arts and maths (ARK), education
charity. To be run in
Burlington Danes partnership with the
Academy diocese of London.
The school will work with the local Lyric theatre and the BBC, and plans to open its own 300-seat theatre.
The 1,200-pupil academy will be divided into four distinct small ‘schools’, emulating US charter schools. ARK has flown in Jay
Altman – a teacher who pioneered charter schools in New Orleans in the early 1990s – as education director. (TES, 04/08/06)
Burlington Danes school was put in special measures in July 2004 and came out in May 2006. Ofsted said that “behaviour and
51
attitudes had improved significantly”.

Academy (where
announced)
Haringey St David and St ICT The Greig Trust has Announced October 2000. Opened
Katherine CE High 11-18 provided funding of September 2002
School £1.5m and the Diocese
of London has provided
The Greig City £500,000
Academy
Sponsored by the Church of England, this was to be known as the First Academy and was due to be launched in September 2001.
Problems with land transfer arrangements, rejected by the Charity Commission in summer 2001, have delayed its opening to
September 2002. The Academy will now open as the Greig City Academy after the local charity sponsor, the Greig Trust. As a
voluntary aided school, St David and St Katherine CE High School has had a long association with the Greig Charity, founded by
the grocery company. Funding of £12m has been allocated for building renovation, in addition to the specialist schools per capita
amount of £123 per pupil and the Government writing off the school's £700,000 overspends.
The DfES has said that Greig City Academy will have an admissions policy and Christian ethos very similar to that of a maintained
faith school.
A number of concerns have been raised with the Union regarding teachers’ pay and conditions and job security. There has been a
massive turnover of teachers, with 58 leaving in the last 12 months. New staff have been recruited largely from FE and from
overseas. They were not therefore acquainted with the teachers' pay and conditions document. The Division has had to spend
52
considerable time briefing members on what would be fundamental expectations in other schools. Despite the turnover, the number
of members in the school has doubled, following regular visits by local officers to the school.
The Division lobbied to ensure that the overspend would be written off by Government rather than from the LEA schools budget. A
governing body has been established with representatives from the Greig Trust (As an independent school, this is not a shadow
governing body), the Diocese, and the London Diocesan Board. It has been under pressure from the DFES to prevent contracts
incorporating the Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document. It sought to introduce a contract based on 1400 hours instead of 1265
in return for additional payment. Two years of negotiation by the Division with the support of regional office and the threat of ballots
for action resulted in a shift by the Governing Body to offer all teachers two types of contract, one based on the Teachers' Pay and
Conditions Document and one based on 1400 hours with additional payment. There is also to be in both contracts a clause by
which a teacher can by May 31st for the following September opt to move to the other type of contract. The majority of teachers
have opted for the Teachers' Pay and Conditions type contract.
Further discussions on the detail of the contract are taking place. The Division is also meeting the Governing Body of the School of
St David & St Katharine to establish under TUPE the status of all local agreements and conditions of service to be incorporated in a
schedule to the contract (As a VA school, they are seeking to deny that any of these apply). There has however been a unilateral
decision to vary the pay date and delays in progressing outstanding payments to teachers, which the Division is also seeking to
resolve.
Following negotiations in the summer holiday with the Academy Governors final agreement was reached on the wording of the
contract. All teachers at the school, new teachers as well as those transferring are now being given a choice between clauses
based on the Pay and Conditions Document (TPACD) or 1400 hours. The Division is advising members to sign subject to
agreement on job descriptions and accurate letters of appointment setting out management allowances (there are reported to be a
considerable number of members for whom these are outstanding).
The Governing body has agreed in principle to incorporate local agreements for new as well as well as existing teachers. A joint
exercise has started between the LEA and the Teachers’ Panel to revise and update all local agreements. They will then be put to
the Governing Body.
53
The Division has reported that the headteacher of Greig City Academy is now directing the teachers on the TPACD contracts to
teach the three additional lessons per week formerly taught only by those on the 1400 contract. An analysis of his time budget
shows that he is thereby attempting to direct more than 1265 hours per year for teachers who have opted for the TPACD clause
and is thought to be using this as a lever to persuade teachers to opt for the 1400 hour contact. The Division has arranged to meet
with the school to discuss the situation in more detail.
In September 2002 the “Times Educational Supplement” reported that the Academy had been forced to launch an advertising
campaign for pupils. Advertisments encouraging parents to enter their children for Year 7 had been distributed outside
supermarkets shortly before its official opening. It also put 16,000 leaflets through letter-boxes and hired a man to walk through
Haringey wearing an electronic display board. The school has a capacity for 215 pupils in Year 7 but is believed to be well below
this. This is thought to be due to the troubled history of the school that it replaces.
The LEA is reported to have around 200 refugee and Asian pupils without a school place but the Academy has refused to take
them.
In October 2002 the Division reported that an associate headteacher had been brought in to help run the school.
The Division has met with the Governors and Principal to ask that time budgets for the current school year are adjusted to ensure
that teachers on TPACD contracts are directed for no more than 1265 hours and that those on the 1400 hour contract are directed
for no more that 1400 hours. The meeting was unproductive. Requests for a further meeting have been ignored. The Division has
therefore approached the Union's Action committee who have agreed that an indicative ballot of members for sustained
discontinuous strike action should be held.
A meeting at the school for NUT members with Division representatives was called to outline the Union's strategy on directed time.
The Principal asked the Division for details of the content of the meeting before he would give permission for the meeting to take
place. The Division declined to enter into discussion on this with the principal and held the meeting (which was exceptionally well
attended) in an adjacent hostelry. Members voted unanimously in support of a ballot for strike action.
In April 2003 the Evening Standard reported that an unofficial OFSTED inspection had found that more than one in four lessons at
the Academy were below standard. OFSTED reported that 26 per cent of lessons were “poor” and stated that improvement in pupil
54
achievement and progress “needs to be greater and more rapid”. A new chief executive, David Triggs, principal of the Greensward
College in Hockley, Essex, has been drafted in by the DfES to start work after Easter 2003.
The situation at the school has improved under new management. The new principal has recognized the need for close working
relationships with the Union and constructive talks have been taking place on the contracts issue. As yet there are no finalised
proposals.
In 2003 Greig City Academy achieved an increase in pupils attaining 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE from 25 per cent in 2002 to
35 per cent. With a value added score of 101.2, the Academy is in the top 25 per cent of schools.
In November 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that there had been a fall in the percentage of pupils gaining five or
more GCSEs A*-C. Its new headteacher ,Paul Sutton, is the Academy’s third head since it opened in 2002.
The Academy buildings are still not finished because of slow progress on the inner city site.

Academy (where
announced)
Herefordshire Hereford Waldorf 5-16 + Early years Steiner Schools Waldorf Announced October 2005 due to open
School nursery places for 3-4 Fellowship September 2007
year olds
Natural Environment
55
The proposed Academy will replace and slightly expand, the existing Hereford Waldorf School. It will cater for 286 pupils aged 5-16
with an additional 15 full time equivalent Early Years nursery places (for 3-4 year olds). In the longer term the school plans to
extend to age 18, with up to 54 more students.

Academy (where
announced)
Hillingdon (i) Evelyns Community Science and Barry Townsley, Announced December 2000.
School Technology Chairman of Insinger Open September 2004. Moved to new
11-18 Townsley Stockbrokers buildings September 2005
Stockley Academy will donate £1.5m.
Also involvement from
other parties
The DfES press release (published December 2000) states that additional sponsorship is being provided by CISCO, who will be
siting a CISCO networking Academy at the school, and Brunel University who have agreed to support both the staff and pupils with
access to their resources. It mentions that other local business support includes HASBRO, one of the world’s largest toy and
games companies, which will be providing literacy mentoring, Jarvis Plc and BAA.
Barry Townsley donated £10,000 to Frank Dobson’s bid to become London mayor. He also chairs the UK branch of Israel’s
Weizmann Institute of Science.
56
Academy (where
announced)
Hillingdon (ii) John Penrose School 11-18 rural Academy David Meller and Announced 2003
with a sports Watford Football Club Open September 2005
Harefield Academy specialism pledged support of up to
£1.5m
In December 2001, the Regional Office received information about a second Academy proposed for Hillingdon. The school
concerned is John Penrose School. The sponsors of the proposed Academy are likely to be the Directors of Watford Football club.
The proposal will involve close links between the Club and the school. Training facilities would be developed at the school, which
would be used, jointly by Watford Football Club and the school. The Academy would provide post-16 education for the Club’s
young professional players.
It is thought that the reason the proposal is for Hillingdon, rather than Watford or the surrounding areas, is that Hertfordshire LEA is
not enthusiastic about the proposal. The Division has confirmed that the proposal is likely to go ahead and to be an all-through
Academy (5-18). Initial reaction from the staff at John Penrose School has been supportive. The infant school needs rebuilding and
becoming an Academy is seen as a means of obtaining the funding for the new building.

Academy (where
announced)
Hillingdon (iii) New Academy on site 16-19 mathematics, HSBC Education Trust Announced January 2005
of Brunel University science, engineering and Brunel University Due to open September 2007 – Plans
and technology have now been shelved
57
The Academy will cater for 800 students aged 16-19. Local headteachers are unhappy about the proposals and believe that the
Academy would threaten school sixth forms in Hillingdon if they lost students to it. The authority already has two Academies –
Stockley and Harefield which are based at schools with a 16-18 age range.
In March 2006 Brunel University has shelved plans to build an Academy for 16-19 year olds on its campus because it has
more pressing needs for its land. The other site offered is on green belt land and would have to go through an extended
planning process to gain building permission

Academy (where
announced)
Islington Mary Magdalene 5-16 with possible post London Diocesan Board In development – information appeared
Primary School 16 facilities for Schools on DfES website in February 2004
Due to open September 2007
New academy Humanities and
Citizenship
The consultation on the London Diocesan Board sponsored Academy is being managed by 3Es. In April 2005 the Islington Tribune
newspaper reported that local parents had said that the consultation process for the Academy was is flawed and 3Es have admitted
problems with the distribution process. Parents have disputed the figure that there was 60 per cent support for the Academy
proposals. They claimed the “yes” vote for the Academy did not represent the feelings of the majority of parents and said that out of
the 400 returned papers which they checked, 80 per cent opposed the Academy proposal. The London Diocese of the Church of
England and 3Es denied the consultation result was unrepresentative and maintained that it was undertaken thoroughly and
ethically. However, it has been revealed that multi-occupancy homes received only one consultation paper each and that
photocopies of the questionnaires were accepted.
58
It is proposed that the Academy will have 30 per cent of places for “practising Christians” and 70 per cent “open” places for all
pupils, irrespective of their faith.
The Academy proposals would involve the closure of the popular Mary Magdalene Primary School.
In September 2005 it was reported that the Academy proposals had been given the go ahead despite 650 people signing a petition
against the scheme.
In April 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that parents were trying to block the Academy proposals on the grounds
that it would threaten children’s human rights. Lawyers have applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the decision to close
St Mary Magdalene primary school. Papers submitted by Matrix chambers say that the “closure of the primary school could lead to
a reduction in the rights and protections afforded to pupils and parents”. Parents argue that there is a risk that children’s access to
fair rules over admissions, exclusion, special needs and discipline will be under threat. The test case, which seeks a review of the
decision by the Office of the Schools Abjudicator to close the primary, could have huge bearings on government plans to create
200 Academies by 2010.
In May 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that a senior judge had agreed to hold a judicial review into the decision
to close St Mary Magdalene primary school.
The Church of England, which is sponsoring the Academy, has said that it does not expect the hearing to delay plans to open the
Academy in 2007.
In August 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that The High Court had ruled that the Academy should proceed,
disagreeing with campaigners’ claims that they would erode children’s human rights.

Academy (where
announced)
59
Kensington New school Science Local authority and Announced October 2005 due to open
and Chelsea 11-18 Academy London Diocese Board in September 2009
for Schools
The DfES website states that the new Academy will be sponsored by the London Diocese Board of Education and in close
partnership with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The Academy will have 810 places for 11-16 pupils and a further
250 places for sixth form study.
In March 2007 the Evening Standard reported that the Chelsea Academy could become the most expensive school to be built in
London. The Academy had an original budget of £38m but Kensington and Chelsea council will effectively have to sign a blank
cheque to cover budget over-runs that could be millions of pounds. Council papers also show that the new buildings will be at least
a year late. The Academy was due to open in Lots Road in September 2009 but the first pupils will be housed in temporary
classrooms as the buildings will not be ready until September 2010. A report to Kensington and Chelsea’s Conservative cabinet
said the council would have to cover 30 per cent of “temporary accommodation and additional design fees”.
An active campaign involving parents, teachers and the division is underway in Kensington and Chelsea to fight the proposed
Chelsea Academy, which is a new school on a constricted site on a busy road.
Academy (where
announced)
Kent (i) Ramsgate School Business and the Roger de Haan, Chief Open September 2005
performing arts Executive of Saga
The Marlowe Academy Holidays providing £1m
11-18 Academy of sponsorship through
family trust. Kent LEA is
also supporting the
project form capital
60
receipts. Pfizer, the
drugs group, has
contributed a further
£1m towards an
endowment fund for the
school.
In October 2002 the TES reported that Roger De Haan, the chairman of Saga had offered £1m towards the cost of building an
Academy in Ramsgate. Saga is based in Folkestone where it employs 2,000 people. It is building a new office block in East Kent,
bringing in another 750 jobs.
The Division has reported that the school to be replaced would be the Ramsgate School. It has been in serious weaknesses
although has now come out and it has poor results at GCSE. The Authority has tried to turn it around by “re-branding” it several
years ago and by bringing in a very successful Headteacher. She has now retired and the notion of closing the school and
reopening it as an Academy is now being floated. Staff at the school are reported to be generally supportive of the proposals.
It is proposed that the Academy will be a total rebuild and located on a new site. The Division has reported that the DfES is not
supportive of the new site proposals and will only support the proposals being on the current site.
The Academy would specialise in business and the performing arts. It is anticipated that ten per cent of the new Year 7 cohort will
be selected on the basis of their aptitude for the Academy’s specialism.
In August 2003 the Evening Standard reported that three out of four teachers at the Ramsgate School had been told by the acting
headteacher, Mario Citro, that they had two months to improve after the start of the new term or face the sack. The previous head,
Nick Hunt, resigned in May 2003 after OFSTED declared that the school was failing, to be replaced by two heads seconded from
other successful Kent schools; Mario Citro from Castle Community School in Deal and Keith Hargreaves from Canterbury High
School. The Evening Standard reported that when the new term started each teacher would be given the opportunity to agree
targets for improvement. If they fail to hit them they will be placed on a “fast-track” procedure, which will result in dismissal if they do
not improve in a further four weeks.
61
In October 2003 the Times Educational Supplement reported that since the threat to introduce fast-track capability proceedings five
teachers had resigned and left, one was due to leave shortly and three were leaving after Christmas. Another three were on sick
leave. The Ramsgate School had had to draft in youth workers to cover the resulting staff shortages, two of whom were not
qualified teachers. The school also had another five unqualified staff working as teachers.
The division has since reported that after Kent Division declared a collective dispute about proposals to use “fast track” capability
procedures and, after representations, the threat was withdrawn. Of the 12 teachers originally threatened with dismissal, 2 faced
capability proceedings but were given additional time to prove their competence. None were actually placed on fast track
procedures.
Keith Hargrave, executive head of the Ramesgate School has stated that the unqualified staff are under supervision and are only
temporary. The 12 teachers originally threatened with dismissal were having their futures decided during interviews. Of the first six
interviewed none have been put on the fast track to dismissal. Two were facing capability proceedings but had been given an extra
four weeks to prove their competence.
The proposed opening date for the Academy is 2005. The school will cater for 1100 pupils.
The Ramesgate School’s GCSE results improved significantly in the summer of 2005 before the school became an Academy.
In May 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Ian Johnson, former head of a struggling Oxford secondary, would
become principal of the Marlowe Academy.
In November 2005 the Division reported that Ian Johnson had moved a number of his staff from his old school into senior positions
at the Academy.
In February 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the Marlowe Academy would be allowing small businesses to be
set up at the Academy as part of a plan to give pupils first-hand experience of industry. Business units will be built into the school
and rented out to local firms, providing extra cash or the school.
62
Academy (where
announced)
Kent (ii) Channel School Media arts and Roger de Haan In development. Due to open in
Folkestone Academy European culture providing sponsorship of September 2007
£2m and the King’s
11-18 Academy School, Canterbury.
The DfES Academies website states that the proposed Folkestone Academy will replace the Channel School (11-16). It will be a
new build 11-18 school. Roger De Haan, chairman of Saga holidays has pledged support of £2m for the proposed Marlowe
Academy in Kent. The King’s School Canterbury will contribute £250k a year in kind in the form of shared curriculum materials and
joint arts ventures.

Academy (where
announced)
Kent (iii) Leigh CTC will convert Technologies, Kent LEA providing Due to open as an Academy in
to an Academy. business and funding of £2m September 2007
Academy will be a new enterprise and sport
build
63
The Academy will cater for 1500 pupils.

Academy (where
announced)
Knowsley North Huyton Academy 11-16 Jointly sponsored by the Due to open in September 2008
Environment Anglican Diocese and Announced on DfES website in October
Catholic Archdiocese of 2005
Liverpool
The DfES website states that the Academy is part of a whole are reorganisation of education in Knowsley and will contribute to the
regeneration work of the North Huyton New Deal for Communities.

Academy (where
announced)
Lambeth New School will be Business and United Learning Trust Announced September 2000. Church
sited on the former enterprise with a (subsidiary of the Schools Company announced as
Henry Thornton School language specialism Church School’s sponsors January 2002. Open
in Clapham. 11-18 Company) providing September 2004
funding of £2m
Lambeth Academy
Lambeth’s new Academy will meet a need for additional secondary school places. It was originally due to be sponsored by CfBT
64
Education services who announced in January 2002 that they could not afford a £2 million donation. The Church schools
Company’s involvement came after the company’s Chief Executive Ewan Harper met Andrew Adonis: “I went to Number 10 and
was told a Academy had been announced in Lambeth but the corporate sponsor had dropped out. We were asked if we would be
prepared to take it on.”
The United Learning Trust is a subsidiary of the Church schools Company. Dame Angela Rumbold, Minister of Education in the late
1980’s, chairs the Trust. The United Learning Trust is sponsoring Academies in Lambeth, Manchester and Northampton. It plans to
create 10 Academies. The Church Schools Company has stated that it does not possess a cash generating foundation and that it
does not have the money to sponsor new schools without the help of individuals, trusts and businesses.
In January 2001 an article in the “Financial Times” said that local campaigners were angry at the Church School’s involvement and
would rather have a millionaire private sponsor. The “Financial Times” went on to say that the CSCo runs eight private schools,
including Guildford High School for Girls. While its schools have a Christian ethos, it plans open entry at Lambeth and considers its
historic name a “misnomer”. The paper states that CSCo has ambitions to run several Academies and is keen to encourage other
independent schools to enter the new market. It plans to use Internet technology to link the new Academy with its existing schools.
Whilst the Church Schools Company’s share of the funding for the Lambeth Academy comes to £2m the money will not come from
its own funds. Various private trusts have pledged more than £1m and some parents have made donations. In the last decade the
company has invested £25m in buildings, facilities and information technology.
In February 2003 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Pat Millichamp, currently headteacher at Risca Community
comprehensive school, Caerphilly, had been appointed principal of Lambeth Academy.
The Academy will be designed to take account of pupils with visual impairments.
The Union has been having regular meetings with the United Learning Trust in relation to teachers’ contracts and the educational
aspects of the Academies being sponsored by ULT (including the Manchester Academy which has been in operation since
September 2003) with further meetings scheduled to continue into next year. The teachers’ organisations are continuing to press
ULT on contractual issues, particularly on working time and non-contact time.
65
Academy (where
announced)
Leeds Agnes Stewart and Design and Church of England and Announced September 2002
Braim Wood schools construction Intercity Companies Open September 2006
11-18
The David Young
Community Academy
The Anglican Diocese sponsored Academy will be a new school and will replace the inner city Agnes Stewart school which has
been threatened with closure. In June 2001 an article in “The Times Educational Supplement” said that the planned September
2003 opening had been put back, due to difficulties in attracting sponsors to help finance the Academy. The Academy is now likely
to open in 2004.
Braim Wood school was rated satisfactory by Ofsted in 2001 and results have risen steadily since (TES, 04/08/06).
In November the Division reported that the proposal to establish an Academy was now out for formal consultation. The
implementation timetable envisages Agnes Stewart and Braim Wood schools closing in July 2004 but the Academy being ready in
September 2005. In the intervening period the Academy would exist on two sites run by the new board of trustees.
The public consultation over the establishment of the Academy has raised a number of serious issues. Braim Wood is an all boys
community school, Agnes Stewart is a Church of England voluntary-aided school. There is very strong opposition amongst Braim
Wood parents and staff to the removal of their option of all boys education and to the suggestion that the Academy might be a faith
school. Education Leeds’ proposals state that the Academy would not be a Church of England faith school but would have a
distinctly Christian ethos. Braim Wood, however, has a significant number of Muslim pupils and they have objected to this.
66
In April 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that a parent was awarded £250 in compensation after her son was
denied a place at the Academy. The mother complained after her son was one of 54 children from the two closing schools refused
a place promised by the council at the new Academy. Parents had been told in writing that children would be admitted, even though
Academies control their own admissions numbers.
Parents of 240 Leeds children starting secondary school in Autumn 2006 made the Academy their first choice, with just 180 places
on offer.
In August 2006 the Yorkshire Post reported that Education Leeds, the body running the city’s schools, had lodged a formal protest
with the Government over the David Young Community Academy’s plans to use “fair banding” in deciding which children got
places. Lord Adonis rejected its concerns, branding them “unreasonable”. Fair banding sees pupils tested and placed in one of a
number of ability bands with the school taking set numbers from each band. Critiques argue that it is a covert selection process
used by schools to take more high-performing pupils than they would normally get at the expense of local children. Education
Leeds warned the Government fair banding could see children living “very close” to the new school miss out on a place.

Academy (where
announced)
Leicester City New school Business and Jointly sponsored by In development
Enterprise, delivered Leicester Diocesan
with a strong emphasis Board for Education and
on food technology Samworth Brothers
(Holdings) Ltd.
3-16
67
In 2002 the Division reported that an Academy was planned for the City of Leicester. The council closed six schools three years
ago as part of a £26m overhaul to tackle poor standards and cut surplus places. Many schools are now over-subscribed. It is
proposed that one of the schools will be re-opened as an Academy for three to 19-year-olds. As the Academy would be a new
school it would be drawing from other neighbouring schools. The Division has contacted local schools to inform them of how they
would be affected.
The Division has met with the Director of Education and has reported that whilst the council is currently consulting on the proposals
they do already appear to be quite far down the road with the plans. The Director is from the DfES and is believed to be very keen
on the initiative.
In May 2002 the Division wrote an open letter to Ross Willmott the Leader of Leicester City Council regarding the councils
proposals for an Academy. The letter was copied to all Leicester City Councillors and stated that the plans for an Academy were
divisive, dishonest and would drive teachers out of the city. Other teaching unions are also reported to be against the plans.
The plans for an Academy have now gone to an independent review.
In February 2003 it was reported that the NUT and other teaching unions were to hold a vote of no confidence in Leicester City
Council’s Director of Education, Steven Andrews, and the councillor in charge of education, Brian Roberts.
The Council has hired private consultants to canvas parents on the proposed Academy

Academy (where
announced)
Lewisham (i) Proposal to replace St Business and Archdiocese of Due to open in September 2007 – some
68
Joseph’s Academy and enterprise Southwark and the De delays partly due to planning objections
Our Lady of Lourdes 4-16 Academy La Salle Brothers from local residents.
Primary School
St Matthews Academy
Proposal for a 3-16 Academy to replace St Joseph’s Academy and Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School. The Archdiocese of
Southwark is also sponsoring the proposed Academy in Greenwich. The school will be mixed, replacing the boys only St Josephs.

Academy (where
announced)
Lewisham (ii) Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation to have Haberdashers’ Livery Opened September 2005
City Technology shared specialism of Company
College information and
Haberdashers’ Aske’s communications
Hatcham College technology combined
Academy with sports science at
Malory and music at
HAHC
11-18
Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College (HAHC) already has a separate admissions policy to LEA schools. The schools use a
69
separate banding process to that used by the community schools in the borough which has, historically, allowed HAHC to select a
more academically able intake.
A letter in the Times Educational Supplement (24.2.06) exposed the distance from school critieria used by the Haberdashers’
Aske’s Hatcham College, Lewisham as favouring middle class families by using distance from one of its two sites only. The letter
also points out that the Academy has changed its specialism from technology to music to enhance its intake of able pupils.
At the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust Conference (30 November 2006), Sir Cyril Taylor cited the improved examination
results of the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Knights Academy (formerly Malory School) in Lewisham as rising from 9 per cent (5 A-C
GCSE) in 2005 to 29 per cent in 2006. Lewisham Division reported that some of this improvement was due to entering pupils for
GNVQs: the improvement for 5 A-Cs including maths and English was 6.9 per cent to 14.4 per cent. He also reported that pupils at
local primary schools were no longer getting places at what would have been their local secondary school. Both Haberdashers’
Academies were listed in the top 12 most oversubscribed schools in an Evening Standard survey (21 December 2006).

Academy (where
announced)
Lewisham (iii) Malory School has Federation to have Haberdashers’ Livery Opened September 2005
been replaced by shared specialism of Company
Haberdashers’ Aske’s information and
Knights Academy communications
technology combined
with sports science at
Malory and music at
HAHC
11-18
70
Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College (HAHC) already has a separate admissions policy to LEA schools. The schools use a
separate banding process to that used by the community schools in the borough which has, historically, allowed HAHC to select a
more academically able intake.
The Academy is currently based in temporary buildings. In February 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the new
Academy building would cost more than £38 million to build, making it the most expensive school in the country. Ministers have
singed off a funding package for the new building, expected to cater for 1,300 pupils and due to be completed in May 2007. This is
almost three times that devoted to other new state schools. The Haberdashers’ Livery Company, is contributing only £295,500 to
the overall costs. The Times Educational Supplement reported that the reason for the Government agreeing to this small sum was
because of the company’s “educational expertise” and its £704,500 contribution towards the £7m cost of converting Haberdashers’
Aske’s Hatcham from city technology college to Academy.
A letter in the Times Educational Supplement (24.2.06) exposed the distance from school critieria used by the Haberdashers’
Aske’s Hatcham College, Lewisham as favouring middle class families by using distance from one of its two sites only. The letter
also points out that the Academy has changed its specialism from technology to music to enhance its intake of able pupils.
The National Audit Office report on Academies, published in February 2007 revealed that the steering group overseeing the
building of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Knights Academy had decided to deomolish and rebuild a perfectly good sports hall to avoid a
£4.25m VAT bill. The sports hall, part of the predecessor school was described as “fairly good” by auditors. But keeping it would
have meant the whole project being classed as a refurbishment, leading to the whole project being classed as a refurbishment,
leading to full-rate VAT charges. The tax does not apply to new buildings. At a total cost of £40.4m, the Academy is the most
expensive to be built so far.

Academy (where
announced)
Liverpool (i) Anfield and Breckfield Business and Liverpool University and Announced January 2002
71
Schools Enterprise Granada Learning, an
11-18 educational trust. Open September 2006.
North Liverpool City
Academy A third sponsor, Stanley
Fink, Chief Executive of
Man Group plc, will
contribute to the building
phase of the project.
In May 2006 the DfES Academies website listed there being five Academies proposed for Liverpool. Details were not given of all
the proposed Academies.
Breckfield School is in Special Measures but became one of the ten most improved schools last year, with a 29% rate of A* to Cs.
However, it is faced with steadily falling rolls because of depopulation. Anfield School is a popular and over subscribed school of
around 1100.
In 2003, Ofsted said that Breckfield was making ‘satisfactory progress’ and Anfield was ‘effective’. (TES, 04/08/06)
The Academy will provide 1350 places for pupils between the ages of 11-16 and will provide additional places for students who stay
on into the sixth form both for academic and vocational courses.
There is strong opposition to the scheme from parents who feel that they are being blackmailed over the closure of the schools.
Parents have been told that there will be no repairs to the existing schools if the Academy does not go ahead. On 26 January 2002
an article appeared in the Liverpool Echo regarding the proposed Academy and the local NUTs’ response. On 6 February a letter
from the General Secretary was published in the Echo confirming the reasons for the Union’s opposition to the Academy initiative.
The Division has sought advice on the procedures for the closure of the existing schools and on pay and conditions issues. The
Academy project manager has said that teachers’ conditions will be protected under a TUPE transfer and that they are not looking
72
for redundancies.
North Liverpool Academy was originally due to be sponsored by millionaire businessman Cyril Dennis. In March 2002 ‘The Times
Educational Supplement’ reported that Cyril Dennis had withdrawn his bid following threats of violence to him and his family. A new
sponsor is now being sought.
The 3Es company, is reported to be giving advice on how the Academy should operate but has denied that it is the sponsor. The
3Es company is an offshoot of the Kingshurst CTC, which is responsible for the management of two LEA secondary schools in
Surrey under contract. The company is also operating the Bexley Business Academy.
In November 2002 the Division reported that the Academy had been approved by the City Council. Parents, councilors and officers
are reported to be against it but it is being pushed as it is seen as the only way to obtain funding.
In December the University of Liverpool announced that it would take over sponsorship of the Academy. Granada Learning, an
education resources company will lead the trust set up to run the Liverpool Academy. A spokesperson for the company confirmed
the sponsors would be jointly committing £2.75m to the project, but some of that contribution would be made in books, training for
teachers and lesson planning software rather than cash.
In November 2005 the Division reported that many members were at risk of redundancy with the Academy employing new staff and
TUPE not being applied.
In May 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that around 26 staff at Anfield and Breckfield comprehensives which are
due to close in the summer to make way for the new Academy, are being made redundant. The DfES is part-funding severance
payments.
In May 2006 The Times Educational Supplement also reported that some new Academy staff with teaching responsibilities would
be paid a fraction of an experienced teacher’s wage. An advertisement on the Academy’s website for a “dance instructor/teacher”,
who would “teach dance through the age range and organise exhibitions and shows” offers a salary of just £15,000. Three pastoral
“head of house”, posts are advertised at £18,000. The Academy says these “specialist support roles” will “not necessarily” be filled
by teachers.
73
Academy (where
announced)
Liverpool (ii) Our Lady’s Roman Science and the Diocese of Liverpool, will Announced September 2002
Catholic School. environment contribute £2m, with the Open September 2005
Roman Catholic
The Academy of St 11-16 Archdiocese of Liverpool
Francis of Assisi contributing £250,000
In May 2006 the DfES Academies website listed there being five Academies proposed for Liverpool. Details were not given of all
the proposed Academies.
A second Academy is proposed for Liverpool. An “ecumenical” bid has been received from the Church of England and the Catholic
Church. The Academy would replace a very small threatened Catholic School but would aim to double pupil numbers. This bid has
given the LEA some concerns as in a situation of surplus secondary places it might cause problems.
In January 2004 the BBC reported that the Academy had sparked local opposition because it threatened park land. If it gets the go-
ahead the current plans for the Academy will encroach on part of Newsham Park. The park is one of the City’s oldest.

Academy (where
74
announced)
Liverpool (iii) Belvedere School (a Modern and Foreign Girls’ Day School Trust Announced May 2006
fee paying Languages. (GDST) and Sutton Due to open September 2007
independent school Trust
run by the Girls’ Day 11-18
School Trust)
The Belvedere
Academy
In May 2006 the DfES Academies website listed there being five Academies proposed for Liverpool. The Belvedere Academy was
announced by the DfES in September 2006.
The Academy aims to cater for 800 pupils, including 250 in the Sixth Form. It aims to open in September 2007 in its original
buildings with an additional block (for sixth form), to accommodate the increased roll, due to be completed by September 2009.

Academy (where
announced)
Luton (i) Barnfield West and No information Barnfield College Announced by DfES in September 2006
Central Academy available yet
75
In April 2006 the Times newspaper reported that Barnfield College in Luton would become the first FE college to sponsor an
Academy when it takes charge of two schools as part of a £120 million programme. Halyard High School and South Luton
comprehensive will be replaced by Academies, run as part of a federation with the college. If it goes ahead it will be the largest and
most expensive Academy project to date. The Academies and the college will have a combined register of more than 33,000
students. The college will spend £4m to sponsor the two Academies which will cost between £25 and £30 million each to build. If
the proposals are approved Barnfield will take charge of the comprehensives in September 2007 and they will be replaced with
Academies in 2009.

Academy (where
announced)
Luton (ii) Barnfield South and No information Barnfield College Announced by DfES in September 2006
East Central Academy available yet
In April 2006 the Times newspaper reported that Barnfield College in Luton would become the first FE college to sponsor an
Academy when it takes charge of two schools as part of a £120 million programme. Halyard High School and South Luton
comprehensive will be replaced by Academies, run as part of a federation with the college. If it goes ahead it will be the largest and
most expensive Academy project to date. The Academies and the college will have a combined register of more than 33,000
students. The college will spend £4m to sponsor the two Academies which will cost between £25 and £30 million each to build. If
the proposals are approved Barnfield will take charge of the comprehensives in September 2007 and they will be replaced with
Academies in 2009.

76
Academy (where
announced)
Manchester Ducie High School Business and Manchester Science Announced July 2001. Open
enterprise Park and the United September 2003
Manchester Academy 11-19 Learing Trust (The
Church Schools
Company)
The Manchester Science Park provides accommodation for more than 70 companies and is, collectively, the largest employer in
the Moss Side and Hulme area.
There has been concern at local NUT level that uncertainty over the future of Ducie High school has led to experienced senior staff
moving on and remaining staff becoming demoralised. Discipline standards have deteriorated and staff have reported a dramatic
increase in violent and abusive behaviour by pupils. It has been promised that the Academy will not have a selection policy so it is
likely that the existing pupils will form the core of the school. The problem of the deficit budget of the existing school will cease to be
the LEA’s responsibility.
The Dulcie High school in Manchester was subject to a several million refurbishment programme. The decision to knock the school
down and replace it with an Academy will mean that this goes to waste.
In May 2002 the DfES announced that the Church Schools Company, through the United Learning Trust, would act as a co-
sponsor with Manchester Science Park. The Church Schools Company is already sponsoring Lambeth Academy. It is an
ecumenical Christian educational charity with eight independent schools and is committing £575,000 to the Academy in
Manchester. Concerns have been raised over whether the Church schools Company’s Christian ethos could meet the needs of
pupils in a school where around 60 per cent are from ethnic minorities.
77
1980’s, chairs the Trust. The United Learning Trust is sponsoring Academies in Lambeth, Manchester and Northampton. It plans to
create 10 Academies. The Church Schools Company has stated that it does not possess a cash generating foundation and that it
does not have the money to sponsor new schools without the help of individuals, trusts and businesses.
In June 2002 the Manchester NUT office reported that the LEA has started formal consultation on the closure of Ducie High school
subject to the establishment of an Academy.
The “Times Educational Supplement” reported in September 2002 that staff at Ducie High School had written to parents
complaining that the company’s existing schools are in “predominantly white middle class areas” and therefore it has no experience
of working with black and Asian communities. The Church Schools Company’s Chief Executive, Ewan Harper, has said that
admission will be open to anyone: “There will be no faith qualification at all. We are not out to evangelise.”
In October 2002 the Division attended a meeting with the project manager for the proposed Academy and a human resources
advisor to the Church Schools Company. The Division was informed that TUPE would be “honoured to the letter”. Teachers in the
Academy would continue with the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. No information was available on conditions of service for new
starters.

Academy (where
announced)
Medway Temple school Engineering and sport King’s school, Rochester In development
specialism Announced on DfES website in
February 2004
78
11-18 Academy

Academy (where
announced)
Merton (i) Tamworth Manor High Sports and Enterprise Lord Harris of Peckham, Open September 2006.
School carpet magnate
11-18
Harris Academy
Merton
In 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that over the past 3 years, Tamworth Manor High School’s 5 A*-C GCSE
score has jumped from 19 to 31 per cent. (TES, 04/06/08)
There was a legal challenge by a parent to the building of an Academy in Merton, but the High Court ruled that the academy should
proceed, disagreeing with the campaigner’s claims that they would erode children’s human rights. (TES, 04/06/08)

Academy (where
announced)
Merton (ii) Mitcham Vale School Science and Enterprise Church of England; Toc Open September 2006.
H, education charity;
79
St Mark’s Church of 11-18 Centre for British
England Academy Teachers
Mitcham Vale School came out of special measures in May 2006 and was declared to be making ‘sound progress’. (TES, 04/08/06)
In July 2006 a parent won the first round of a legal challenge to prevent his son's state school being converted into a sponsored
academy. Rob MacDonald was given permission by the high court to seek a judicial review of Merton borough council's decision to
close the school attended by his 15-year-old son Callum, Tamworth Manor, and another school, Mitcham Vale.
Mr MacDonald, from south London, argued that parents were not properly consulted about the council's proposals or provided with
sufficient information. The High Court has since ruled that the Academy school proceed.

Academy (where
announced)
Middlesbrough Keldholme and ICT Amey plc (construction Announced October 2000. Opened
(East) Langbaurgh Schools, 11-16 and management firm). September 2002.
with a new build taking Providing an investment
up to 1,200 pupils. of up to £2m and in-kind
support.
Unity City Academy Already involved in
Waltham Forest LEA
outsourcing with Nord
Anglia.
80
None of the replaced secondary schools are failing but there is a major problem of falling rolls. Academy faces escalating costs -
£30m possible.
The LEA is providing the site and supports Amey’s proposal. Middlesbrough sees the Academy programme as providing an
opportunity for a brand new school and facilities, under a new leadership team to drive up standards. A second Academy
sponsored by the Vardy Foundation is also due to open in another part of the City.
Lord Patten, the former Conservative Education Secretary is a non- executive director of Amey plc (information taken from an
article in “The Times” on 13/10/2000)
The Union has now reached an agreement with the East Middlesbrough Academy whereby there will be no deviation from the
Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document and full access to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
School Standards Minister David Miliband opened Unity City Academy on 13 September 2002. Despite formally opening in
September the new buildings had not even been started at this point – David Milliband was concerned that there was just a green
field where he thought the new building would be.
Brian Staples, Chief Executive of Amey plc, was present at the opening and said that the Academy was Amey’s: “opportunity to
contribute to innovation and leadership in learning – and a strong commitment to supporting public services in Middlesbrough and
the North East.”
It is intended that the Academy will eventually open 24 hours a day for 365 days a year – either in the building or on-line.
There will be open access for all members of the community to facilities that will include a lecture theatre, performing arts studio,
and a Learning Resource centre with Internet Café.
The Academy will have a work-focused curriculum and strong links to business. Amey intends that business and commercial
partners should become ‘integral to delivering learning opportunities’, invited to ‘contribute to learning and teaching, the mentoring
of students and to share their experience and knowledge.
81
Unity will be funded as an 11-16 school, but it will also provide a range of adult and community learning opportunities. These
operations are to be managed on a business footing and could place the Academy in direct competition with other providers in the
area.
David McGahey, Managing Director, Education, Amey is Chairman of the Trustees of Unity Academy. Members of the Governing
Body will be the directors of the Trust. It is made up of seven sponsor governors, three of which may be employees of the sponsor,
the Principal, one parent governor, one teaching staff governor, one non- teaching staff governor and one LEA governor.
The governance model will provide an opportunity to develop the role of the private sector. The governing body of Unity Academy
will be more like the board of a company rather than the governing body of a school and will line manage the school principal.
David McGahey has stated that it will be a tighter relationship with a very clear focus: “ My company’s reputation is on the line with
the City Academy so I have a greater stake in making it a success from the private sector business point of view”.
In November the Division reported that the clearing of the site had started. The new buildings were now due to be handed over at
Easter 2004 – Four terms after the Academy formally opened.
Difficulty with staffing has continued as an issue from the previous schools – Some key ‘Head of Department’ level posts still need
to be filled along with some shortage subject main scale posts – At present it is proposed to try to fill these posts with AST’s and
link them to whole school teaching and learning development. This idea is at an early stage at present and the Division is closely
involved in negotiations
In April 2003 the Division reported that due to continuing recruitment problems and long-term sickness absence the Academy had
brought in between 25-30 supply teachers.
The Headteacher has excluded 14 pupils from the school, leaving it to the LEA to place them in other schools.
The DfES website states that Unity City Academy is heading for over subscription, having already been first choice for 225
applicants for 2004 entry, a significant increase over previous years. In its first year the percentage of pupils attaining 5 or more A*
-C grades at GCSE was roughly the same as achieved by the two predecessor schools in 2002.
82
In November 2004 the TES reported that the Headteacher, Edward Brady had quit. Mr Brady is believed to have been asked to
resign following a difficult first two years. The Academy was criticised after expelling 18 pupils in 2002-3 and 14 in 2003. Results
have been slow to improve and in 2003 17.6 per cent of pupils left with five good GCSEs. The Greig City Academy has had the
highest turnover of heads. Graham Horsewood quit last year after inspectors criticised teaching standards and pupil behaviour.
The Unity Academy, has admitted it has been overspending by around £500,000 each year. The problems were revealed by
trustees of the academy, which is sponsored by the building and support services company Amey. Joe McCarthy, chair of the trust,
said that new leadership at Unity had been left with a "legacy of financial, management and educational failings" and that
redundancies would be needed. Unity will also establish a federation with another school, Macmillan College, to help it to resolve its
problems.
In May 2005 it was reported that Unity had become the first Academy school to be failed by OFSTED. It was warned that it must go
into special measures after a critical report by inspectors. Inspectors described a catalogue of weaknesses ranging from “fragile”
leadership, an inappropriate futuristic building and a high staff absence rate with up to a third of teachers off sick on any given day.
The lack of continuity had had “a detrimental effect on the pupils’ learning, attitudes and behaviour and standards.”
The Times reported that it was already in rescue talks with the DfES after over spending its budget by £1.5m. Ten teachers and
several support staff are set to be made redundant to end overspending. Remaining teachers were told that they would have to
work more hours for the same pay under new contracts. Unions have been in talks with the Academy after a ballot for industrial
action was held. As well as concerns over redundancies and changes to contracts, staff at the school are concerned over pupil
behaviour.
The school is believed to be spending around £250,000 a year on supply cover and there is reported to be a lot of long term
sickness with 20 or 25 teachers off sick at any given time with stress and general ill-health.
Mike Griffiths, the Academy’s interim Chief Executive, said that the school had agreed a recovery plan to bring spending back into
line. “After that it could mean us paying it back or the Department for Education and Skills making a contribution, but we have been
told quite clearly what the expectations on us are” he said.
In June 2005 the Government confirmed that it would pay off Unity’s overspead.
83
Doubts have been cast over plans to form a federation with Macmillan technology college.
In February 2006 the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette reported that the Principal of Unity, Martin Lang, had left his job after less
than a year in the post.
OFSTED’s most recent inspection of Unity Academy (2006) said that it has made “inadequate progress” and remained in special
measures. Pupils made exceptionally poor progress, although behaviour had improved, with significantly fewer exclusions. The
school buildings, modeled on a Tuscan mountain village, were again criticised as being impractical and making pupils feel unsafe
and insecure.

Academy (where
announced)
Middlesbrough Brackenhoe Business and The Vardy Foundation Announced July 2001. Open
(South) Comprehensive and Enterprise run by Sir Peter Vardy September 2003.
Coulby Newham 11-18 (Reg Vardy car
Schools dealership)
Also known as the
King’s Academy Emmanuel Schools
Foundation
None of the replaced secondary schools are failing but there is a major problem of falling rolls. Academy faces escalating costs -
£30m possible.
84
The Vardy Foundation already sponsors the Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead and is developing a further
Academy project in Gateshead. In 2006 Emmanuel College was judged outstanding by OFSTED for the third time in a row but the
school has been involved in controversy regarding creationism. Emmanuel’s headteacher is on the appointment committee for staff
at King’s Academy. In October 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the head of science at Emmanuel college
had been named as one of the directors of Truth in Science, a group behind new teaching materials which cast doubt on Darwin’s
theory of evolution. The group is sending every secondary school department in the UK the lesson plans – which include a booklet,
DVDs and links to a new website – encouraging teachers to consider the strict Biblical interpretation of life on earth in GCSE and A-
level science.
In 2000 Peter Vardy offered £12m to endow six City Academies across the North-East, aiming to replicate the results at Emmanuel,
but so far only Middlesbrough has taken him up. He was awarded a knighthood for services to education in the North East in 2001.
In September 2002 School Standards Minister David Miliband visited the construction site to see the work in progress on the new
building that will replace Brackenhoe Comprehensive and Coulby Newham Schools.
In November 2002 the Division reported that building work is now well underway and the roof is being fitted – The project is on
target for completion on time in summer 2003 – For opening in September 2003
The CA will include a “Sixth Form” this has caused a new interest in school based sixth forms in the town (but outside the LEA)
There are already reported to be too many student places in this sector and competition is likely to cause future difficulties.
The staffing structure is based around the funding that the Academy has already secured – The Academy is still to arrange a
structure for special educational needs and support. This is especially important as one of the schools has recently absorbed the
secondary section of the LEA’s school for the deaf.
In November the “Times Educational Supplement” reported that concerns had been raised that the Academy was appointing
teachers because of their religious beliefs. The Academy had been accused of bias towards Christians by some staff members
from the schools that it is replacing. David Vardy has denied all accusations and has stated that appointments will be made solely
on the basis of ability.
Parents’ groups and teachers have also expressed concern about the Christian ethos of school, the extent of which, they claim was
85
not made clear. Parents also have concerns regarding the fact that there will only be one parental representative on the governing
body for the Academy, this appointment has still to be made.
In March 2003 the Times Educational Supplement (TES) reported that Nigel McQuoid, principal of Emmanuel City Technology
College would also run King’s Academy. The paper stated that the Academy would share Emmanuel’s approach of teaching
creationism. Emmanuel was criticised in 2002 after it was revealed that teachers taught biblical theories of creation alongside
evolution. In May 2003 the TES reported that a former teacher at Emmanuel City Technology College had been suspended for
disobeying an order from the principal not to talk to other staff of his concerns about the school. The teacher stated that he had
been shocked by assemblies where pupils were warned of hellfire if they failed to heed the Christian message.
The TES also reported that Sir Peter Vardy was planning to fund another five academies in the Northwest. Peter Vardy has said
that he would consider more mixing and matching of senior staff as the Vardy Foundation’s portfolio of schools expands. A handful
of key staff from the Emmanuel have already gained posts at King’s, including a head of science and vice principal.
A unit for pupils with visual and hearing impairments is planned.
The Division has asked that a recognition agreement be drafted between trustees of The King’s Academy and those TUC affiliated
trade unions currently recognised by Middlesbrough Council for the purposes of collective bargaining.
In July 2003 the TES reported that closed-circuit television was to be installed in every classroom at King’s Academy. The Vardy
Foundation has stated that the cameras will be in place to “protect, not spy on” teachers.
Richard Coupe, the original head of the Kings Academy was demoted to vice-principal before walking out in 2003.
The Kings Academy has had to made staff cutbacks. Eight lunchtime supervisors have been made redundant and more jobs could
go in coming months. Nigel McQuoid, the principal, said the staff, who were transferred to the academy from Middlesbrough council
when it opened last year, were no longer needed. It is thought the redundancies will save around £12,000 a year. Staffing levels
are now being reviewed across the school.
86
Academy (where
announced)
Middlesbrough Macmillan CTC 11-18 Macmillan CTC Trust Announced on DfES website October
Outdoor education, PE 2004
and Science Open September 2005
Macmillan CTC in Middlesbrough will convert to an Academy and will be sponsored by the Macmillan Trust. The Academy will
provide 1100 places for 11-16 year olds, and a further 335 places for a sixth form.

Academy (where
announced)
Milton Keynes Sir Frank Markham 11-18 Edge, educational Announced on DfES website September
Community School Business enterprise foundation 2006
In Milton Keynes the Academy will be based on The Sir Frank Markham Community School. The school opened in 1979 and
currently has 1400 students. It serves a wide area to the south of the city centre. The academy proposal is for an eight-form entry
for ages 11 to 18 academy with 240 students in each of Years 7 to 11 and a sixth form growing to 350 students; a significant
increase on current numbers.
The proposal would mean the closure of Sir Frank Markham Community school; a local comprehensive on the earmarked site, in
2008. The school is bottom of the league tables in Milton Keynes, with 21 per cent of students achieving five Cs or better at GCSE
last year. But the school has never been failed or put on the at-risk list by OFSTED, which at its last inspection praised the school
87
for “facing its challenging context well”.

Academy (where
announced)
Newcastle West Gate Community 11-16 + 300 places for Lord Laidlaw of Announced on DfES website in October
College sixth form students Rothiemay 2005. Due to open in September 2008
Excelsior Academy ICT and business

Enterprise
In December 2004 The Times reported that millionaire Lord Irvine Laidlaw was hoping to establish an IT business Academy to
replace West Gate Community College in Newcastle. Thirty-three languages are spoken at the school and 60 per cent of pupils get
free school meals. Forty-three per cent are registered as special needs. The school is an improving school. In 2004 about a third of
pupils achieved an A-C grade in five GCSEs compared with just eight per cent in 2000.
Lord Laidlaw, who has a personal fortune of £500m intends to offer affordable restaurants, healthcare and adventure training
courses to persuade people in Newcastle to back his plans. He has stated that he wants to create “not just a school, but a
community centre”. His plans have been condemned by union leaders and a local Labour MP.
The division has reported that it is very concerned with the consultation process and feels that the local community has not been
properly consulted. The results of a questionnaire in which the local community were asked their views on the Academy are
reported to have been disregarded.
88
Academy (where
announced)
Northampton Lings Upper School 11-18 United Learning Trust Announced August 2002
(i) Northampton Academy Sports and business (The Church Schools Open September 2004. Moved to new
and enterprise Company). building September 2006
The Academy will replace Lings Upper School as part of a wider schools reorganisation in Northampton. The Church Schools
Company, founded in 1883 is now the largest single sponsor of the Academy scheme, having pledged sponsorship of more than
£4.5m to create Academies in south London and Manchester and Northampton.
1980’s, chairs the Trust. The United Learning Trust is sponsoring Academies in Lambeth, Manchester, Northampton and
Westminster. It plans to create 10 Academies. The Church Schools Company has stated that it does not possess a cash
generating foundation and that it does not have the money to sponsor new schools without the help of individuals, trusts and
businesses.

Academy (where
announced)
89
Northampton Corby Community 11-18 Garfield Weston Announced February 2004
(ii) (Corby) College Sports and business Foundation, Bee Bee Due to open September 2007
and enterprise Developments and
Brooke Weston GTC
The Academy will provide 1000 places for 11-16 year olds and a further 250 places at the sixth form. It is planned to open in new
buildings in September 2007 opening (date given on DfES website was originally September 2006).

Academy (where
announced)
North East Immingham School 11-18 Oasis Trust Announced May 2006
Lincs (i) Engineering with Due to open September 2008
Immingham Academy business and
enterprise
Immingham Academy will replace Immingham School and is due to open in new buildings in 2008.
The Division has reported that the Oasis Trust is working with North East Lincolnshire Council and the DfES on plans to replace
two local schools with Academies. If the proposals go ahead then both Wintringham Secondary School and Immingham
Comprehensive School will become Academies. In March 2007 the regional office reported that the Oasis Trust are to set up two
two Academies to replace Immingham School and Winteringham School.
90
Academy (where
announced)
North East Wintringham School 11-18 Oasis Trust Announced May 2006
Lincs (ii) Oasis Academy Sport and health with Due to open September 2008
business and
enterprise
It is anticipated that the proposed Academy will incorporate a new Healthy Living Centre providing integrated educational and
health services to the local community.

Academy (where
announced)
Nottingham (i) Djanogly CTC ICT Sir Harry Djanogly, Announced December 2001. Open
incorporating Forest 11-19 chairman of Nottingham September 2003.
School University
Djanogly City Academy
The Academy will be formed from closing a secondary school with the site going to the Djanogly City Technology College. The staff
91
of the 2 schools will therefore operate under two different sets of pay and conditions. The Division has reported that a staffing
structure has not yet been produced for the Academy and that there was confusion about: whether TUPE applied, the rights of
existing staff to posts at the Academy, pay and conditions etc and the responsibility of the LEA on staff protection. Nevertheless, 10
posts have been advertised in the TES on the main pay scale. The DfES is heavily involved in the transition arrangements but this
has not resulted in making matters clearer. It has been established that teachers in the Academy will be entitled to belong to a
teachers’ union, but unions would not be recognised for negotiating purposes. Regarding pupil admissions, a reasonable allocation
(140) of catchment area places has been agreed, 10% will be selected by aptitude. Most pupils on the roll of the former LEA school
are likely to be given places at the Academy. The position of more recent asylum seeking pupils is unclear. A fund is to be provided
by the DfES for restructuring but no severance fund has been allocated.
Sir Harry Djanogly is already the sponsor of Djanogly City Technology College which he helped set up under the Conservative
government. He also sponsors the Victoria and Albert museum, Royal National Theatre, Tate Britain, and Hampstead Theatre.
Four years ago he donated £2.1m to Nottingham University. His various gifts and donations have led to a gallery, lecture theatre at
Nottingham University and a playground being named after him. He received a knighthood in 1993.
In November 2002 the Division reported that some pupils are to be taught temporarily in a converted factory some distance from
the main CTC site. It is planned that Forest school will be pulled down and a new building, designed by Norman Foster will be on
the site
In August 2003 the DfES Academies web page stated that Years 7-9 will be educated in a new building on the Forest site with
years 10-13 educated in the former Djanogly building.

Academy (where
announced)
Nottingham (ii) River Leen and Henry 11-18 Edge, Educational Announced by DfES in September 2006
Mellish schools foundation Due to open in September 2009
92
Enterprise
Bulwell (Enterprise )
Business Academy
The new Academy will be formed from the amalgamation of the River Leen and Henry Mellish schools.
Edge, a charity established by examination board, Edexcel when it was bought by Pearson, has been named as the sponsor of two
Academies in Nottingham and Milton Keynes focussing on vocational courses.
Edge’s website states that Bulwell Academy will have a broad-and-balanced approach to the National Curriculum together with
‘learning-by-doing’ opportunities, such as high-quality work experience and mentoring through real businesses and organisations,
which are outside of statutory educational requirements. A number of innovative schemes are being planned, including adjacent
business units where students can see real business practices and engagement with local businesses, further education providers
and higher education institutions to become a test bed for accrediting achievement in this unique environment.
Edge's principal objective is to promote the status of vocational and practical learning in the educational system.

Academy (where
announced)
Nottingham (iii) On the site of William Health sciences David Samworth with the Approved by the DfES.
Sharp Comprehensive support of the University Due to open in September 2009
of Nottingham
Bilborough Academy
93
The Academy will be sponsored by the millionaire businessman David Samworth, the former owner of Nottingham-based Pork
Farms.

Academy (where
announced)
Oxford Drayton School 11-18 Oxfordshire County Announced May 2006
Media and Council and the United Due to open September 2008
Banbury Academy communication Learning Trust
The DfES website states that the Academy will specialise in media and communication and will benefit from support from
Vodafone. The division reported problems at the ULT-sponsored North Oxfordshire Academy regarding weekend training “preparing for life in
the academy” and the subtle pressure on staff to attend. The division is meeting ULT on this matter.

Academy (where
announced)
Peterborough Deacon’s school, John 11-18 Deacon’s Trust and Due to open September 2006 –in
Mansfield School and Science and maths Perkins Engines October 2004 opening date changed to
Hereward Community September 2007
College
94
The Thomas Deacon
Academy
In August 2003 the DfES announced that the Peterborough Academy project had been approved to move into the next stage of
development, the feasibility stage. The DfES has asked the city council and prospective sponsors to work up detailed plans for the
school over the next six months.
Consultations on the proposals will follow with parents, school staff, residents and employers. Subject to the Secretary of State
approving the plans the Academy will open in September 2006 – now September 2007.
In February 2004 the DfES Academies website stated that the Academy would replace 3 schools: Deacon’s School, John Mansfield
School and Hereward Community College. The new Academy, which will be the largest Academy yet with around 2200 students
aged 11-18.
In January 2007 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the Academy planned to recruit teachers by offering inner-
London salaries. The increased pay will come at a price as teachers will be expected to work up to 15 days extra per year, giving
pupils booster classes and exam preparation.
Thomas Deacon will be partnered with the nearby Oundle independent school allowing staff and pupil exchanges between sites.

Academy (where
announced)
Reading Thamesbridge College 11-18 John Madejski, property Announced October 2004
95
and publishing magnate Open September 2006
Madejski Academy Sport and Chairman of
Reading Football Club
providing funding of £2m
Proposal to establish an Academy to replace Thamesbridge College in South Reading. The Academy will provide 1100 places for
11-18 year olds. It is due to open as an Academy in Thamesbridge College’s existing buildings in September 2006, moving to the
new buildings in September 2007.

Academy (where
announced)
Salford Canon Williamson Business and United Learning Trust Announced February 2004
Church of England enterprise and sports has pledged £1.5m in Opened September 2005. Moved to
School funding. new building September 2006
11-16
Salford City Academy
Salford City Academy replaced the Canon Williamson High School. It is the fifth Academy to be opened by the United Learning
Trust (The Church Schools Company) and is sponsored in partnership with the Manchester Diocese. The Academy has been
established in the predecessor school and will move to a new building in September 2006. The Academy is an 11-16 school with
places for 750 pupils and its specialism is Sport with Business and Enterprise.
96
Academy (where
announced)
Sandwell (1) Academy will be on the Business enterprise Thomas Telford Online Announced September 2002
former Thomas Telford and sport and the Mercers’ Open September 2006. The Academy
School site in West Company (an offshoot of will initially open with Year 7 pupils only.
Bromwich 11-18 Thomas Telford CTC)
HSBC, Tarmac Group
Sandwell Academy Ltd (construction
company) and West
Bromwich Albion
Football Club pledged a
total of £2m
The Division has reported that the LEA sees the establishment of an Academy as a means of lifting pupil progress up the LEA
league tables by attracting more able pupils. The Academy is designed to stem the flow of students seeking Secondary Education
out of the Borough and also forms part of the LEA's Regeneration Proposals. In February 2002 the LEA reported to the Division
that it had made significant progress in securing sponsorship for the Academy. The LEA also reported that Secondary Head
teachers have been regularly informed of developments. There are concerns however that all relevant parties, including Governors,
were not been informed of the plans for an Academy. The Academy will be built on the former Thomas Telford school site, together
with the Albion Junior site. The Albion Junior School will be relocated to a new location.
The Division has reported that the site is very close to junction 1 of the M5 on the north eastern boundary of the borough and
believes that transport could be a problem. The site is part of a regeneration plan for that part of the borough and has been
designated for business activity. The Division reported that the Director of Education and Lifelong Learning recently described the
school Stakeholders’ Forum as a “business”. Sir Kevin Satchwell, Head of Thomas Telford CTC, will be heavily involved in
97
applying trade to the business.
The fact that the Academy is situated on the north eastern boundary of the borough means that it is ideally situated to attract pupils
outside the borough rather than local pupils.
The Academy’s admission policy would mean that the Academy would take children from five ability bands ranging from well above
average ability to well below, children from six “nodal” points (otherwise known as towns) within the borough. These children would
be from the five ability bands so that six very bright children could be chosen from each town straight through to six children from
the lower ability. Town committees would ratify the process of selection. The LEA has still to decide on the final admissions
arrangements and have stated that the final number of places in each band will mirror the ability of the applicants to ensure a
comprehensive intake. Where a band has more applicants than places those applicants that live closest to the ”nodel” point will
receive priority. In a November 2002 report to the Cabinet Advisory Team for Education the LEA stated that the admission
arrangements would be the governing body’s responsibility. It is not clear how this would link in with the work of town committees.
There would also be facilities for short-term admission to the school for children with special educational needs or talents. The
school would have a sixth form. The school would take 1,200 (including 300 in the sixth form) children out of the present secondary
education system and there are fears that this could enforce the closure of one of the existing primary schools.
The November report to the Cabinet Advisory Team for Education and Lifelong Learning recommends that the Advisory Team
endorse the partnership established between the Council and the Academy sponsors. The report mentions that the Cabinet
Advisory Team has already approved an additional allocation of £1m to provide for the preparation of land at the former Thomas
Telford School site to facilitate the development of the Sandwell Academy. The authority sold the land to the sponsor for £1. It
states that the cost of demolition of the Albion Junior School premises is covered in the specification for the existing PFI contract, to
replace five primary phase schools within the Borough. The report goes on to mention that the DfES has confirmed that additional
site abnormal costs beyond the level of commitment from the council could be considered within the overall Academy budget.
The sponsors have indicated that the estimated project costs of the Academy scheme, including the previously agreed council
contribution of up to £1m toward the preparation of the land of the former Thomas Telford site is in excess of £27.5m. The scheme
cost, however, excludes the cost of a future swimming pool and a future Business Centre, both of which will be subject to additional
funding initiatives.
98
A report issued by Sandwell council in March 2003 provides more detail on the Academy’s admission procedures. It states that in
the 2005/6 year the Academy will admit pupils to Year 7 only. There will be 180 places available. Initially, 30 places will be available
for pupils living in each of the six towns (Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury, and West Bromwich) which
make up Sandwell. All applicants will sit a test, to help ensure that applicants of all abilities are admitted to the Academy.
Applicants from each town will be placed in one of 5 ability bands of equal size, based on their score in the test. There will be 6
places available in each band. Where there are more than 6 pupils placed in a band, first priority will be given to pupils who are in
public care. Thereafter, priority for places in each band will be given to pupils living closest to the reference point in their town. If
there are fewer than 30 applicants from the town, then all pupils will be offered a place and remaining places will be offered to
pupils living outside the town, but closest to the reference point for the town.
The March 2003 report to the Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning states that the governing body will have
membership drawn from sponsors or their representatives (always in the majority), membership from the local community,
representation from the LEA, staff and parents.
The report states that given the aspiration for high class sporting and community facilities over and above the levels funded by the
DfES, it is evident that new external funding sources will be required, including further sponsorship.
In May 2003 the Division reported that secondary head teachers in Sandwell, whose schools specialise or intend to specialise in
the Academy’s chosen specialism (sport and business studies), saw the Academy as direct competition, both in terms of staff
retention and pupil admissions. Therefore as a direct consequence and to counter the competitive nature of the Academy, a
number of secondary head teachers were now considering approaching their Governing Bodies with proposals that governors
consider changing admission policies of their establishments to select up to 10 per cent of their pupils to fill the specialist places.
The curriculum organisation provision will be based upon the same arrangements at Thomas Telford School. The majority of
teaching will be in three hour sessions. There will be a ten session week with two additional sessions in Key Stage 4. The school
day will be organised into sessions 1, 2 and 3 with Session 3 work (post 4.000pm) being a combination of learning, cultural,
sporting, musical performing and community activities.
In June 2003 the Division reported that whilst the Academy catchment areas are defined geographically to focus on the six towns
the DfES had recently indicated that, in order to meet legislative requirements, the precise boundary of the catchments couldn’t be
99
coterminous with the Borough boundary. Therefore the catchments are being drawn to overlap beyond the Borough. The DfES is
advising on how best to achieve this.
The councils backing of the Academy is dependent on the satisfactory completion of the five primary school PRI project to contact
stage.
All teacher trade unions in Sandwell oppose the setting up of the Academy.
The Division has reported that the Academy does not recognise Unions.

Academy (where
announced)
Sandwell (2) Dartmouth High School Design and enterprise Eric Payne Announced by DfES May 2006
Due to open September 2008
11-18

In August 2005 the Division reported that Government approval had been given to turn Dartmouth High School into an Academy.
Building work is expected to begin in autumn 2006 with the Academy due to open in 2008. The Academy will provide for 900 pupils
aged 11-16 with a further 250 students in the sixth form. The Academy will be sponsored by businessman, Eric Payne, OBE, and
his wife. It will specialise in design and enterprise and have a Christian ethos. Eric Payne is Founder of the Grace Foundation, a
charity to support Christian work.

Academy (where
10
announced)
Sheffield (1) Myrtle Springs School 11-18 United Learning Trust Announced January 2005
Performing arts and Open September 2006
Sheffield Springs technology
Academy

The school will cater for 1300 pupils aged 11-18
In August 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Mahmoud Khayami, an industrialist who fled Iran in 1979, would
be the principle sponsor of the United Learning Trust’s two Academies in Sheffield – Sheffield Springs Academy and Sheffield Park
Academy. The United Leaning Trust says the Academies will have a Christian ethos like its other schools. The Trust has praised Mr
Khyami’s contribution, saying “We both share the desire to give young people of all faiths and none the education they deserve. Mr
Khayami’s commitment to inter-religious dialogue and contribution to industry and education are well known.”
Mr Khayami made his fortune in Iran building and exporting cars, before founding a charity to promote causes such as the
education of underprivileged children and understanding of Islam.

Academy (where
announced)
Sheffield (2) Waltheof 11-18 United Learning Trust Announced January 2005
Comprehensive Business and Open September 2006
enterprise
Sheffield Park
Academy

Second ULT Academy in Sheffield. It will cater for 1300 pupil aged 11-18
10
In August 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Mahmoud Khayami, an industrialist who fled Iran in 1979, would
be the principle sponsor of the United Learning Trust’s two Academies in Sheffield – Sheffield Springs Academy and Sheffield Park
Academy. The United Leaning Trust says the Academies will have a Christian ethos like its other schools. The Trust has praised Mr
Khyami’s contribution, saying “We both share the desire to give young people of all faiths and none the education they deserve. Mr
Khayami’s commitment to inter-religious dialogue and contribution to industry and education are well known.”
Mr Khayami made his fortune in Iran building and exporting cars, before founding a charity to promote causes such as the
education of underprivileged children and understanding of Islam.
Ofsted said in November 2004 that Waltheof Comprehensive was making ‘reasonable progress’. (TES, 04/08/06)
In August 2006 the Times Educational supplement reported that teachers at Waltheof Comprehensive were angry that Waltheof
was being demolished to build the Academy, just 8 years after it was rebuilt at a cost of £5 million. They claim to have been left in
the dark about new contracts and how the way the new school will be run. They are also concerned that Andy Gardiner, Waltheof’s
head, will not take permanent charge of the school, despite earlier assurances that he would. A spokesman for the Trust said the
Academy was going ahead as planned and had won support from most parents consulted. He said it would have been too
expensive to keep part of the existing Waltheof campus.

Academy (where
announced)
Slough Langleywood School 11-18 Arbib Foundation will Announced October 2004
Science contribute £2m Due to open September 2008
Proposal to establish an Academy to replace Langleywood School. The Academy will provide 900 places for 11-16 year olds and a
10
further 250 places for a sixth form. It will specialise in science and will develop curriculum opportunities in environmental science,
sports science, health studies, food science, care, medical physics and public service. The Academy will be a new build.
The consultation document states that the Academy will be sponsored by the Arbib Foundation. The project will be managed by
3E’s Enterprises. The consultation document does not mention the fact that 3E’s has been taken over by GEMS. 3E’s before it was
taken over by GEMS, had its genesis in the foundation of Kings College in Surrey. Parents will not know how the approach
introduced by GEMS will influence any future Academy, as this is not outlined with the prospectus.
GEMS is part of an Abu Dhabi based initiative which intends to set up a range of cut price private schools in England. GEMS
founder, Dubai businessman Sunny Varkey says he hopes to manage around 200 schools in the UK. In 2004 GEMS stuck a deal
with a cigarette importer to build new schools. GEMS and the Dubai based Alokozay Group plan to create a network of fee-paying
schools in Afghanistan.

Academy (where
announced)
Solihull (1) Whitesmore school Business and Bob Edmiston, Open September 2006
enterprise Chairman and Chief
Grace Academy Executive of IM Group
11-18 Limited, contributing
sponsorship of up to
£2m
In January 2003 the Division reported that an Academy was proposed in Solihull. It is supported by the LEA, which believes that it
is the only way of getting a newly built school in the area. The proposed school a “state of the art” Business and Enterprise
Specialist College will replace Whitesmore School in North Solihull. The Academy would not have a selection process and would
10
have a catchment area the same as the school it would replace. The Council has said that TUPE rights will apply to all staff and
that apart from selecting a new Principal, all staff from the existing school would be wanted by the new school.
In June 2005 Ofsted said that teaching at Whitesmore school had “improved” and “behaviour was good overall.”
The Academy will be sponsored by the IM Group, which has property and car trade interests. The IM Group’s Chief Executive, Bob
Edmiston has a “traditional view of education”, favouring a daily act of collective worship, Christian values, and strong discipline. He
runs a group called Christian Vision, a charity to spread Christianity around the world.
The sponsor is believed to look favourably on the educational approaches taken by Emmanuel CTC and Thomas Telford CTC. In
2002 Emmanuel CTC was reported to be promoting creationism as an alternative to the theory of evolution.
It is expected that the Academy will open in 2006.
It was reported in “The Guardian” on 5 March that Grace Academy had awarded three contracts totalling £281,000 over two years
for payroll and management services to the IM Group, a company owned by Bob Edmiston, the car dealer and property developer
who sponsors the Grace Academy. Bob Edmiston is an evangelical Christian who founded Christian Vision, which has been
involved in circulating teaching resources on creationism to schools. The Academy also paid £53,000 to Christian Vision for
management services. The DfES said that there were strict rules governing the awarding of contracts by Academies, including the
need to obtain at least three quotations but refused to say why these rules had been breached.

Academy (where
announced)
Solihull (2) Kingshurst CTC Technology and the Trustee of the Announced on DfES website in May
visual arts Kingshurst CTC 2006
Kingshurst Academy Due to open September 2008
11-18
10
The sponsors, the Trustee of the Kingshurst CTC, propose to convert the CTC into an Academy. The Academy aims to cater for
1,550 pupils aged 11-18, with the provision of boarding facilities being examined.
Kingshurst CTC has already involved in the management of a number of schools through the 3Es company.The 3Es company is an
offshoot of the Kingshurst CTC, which is responsible for the management of two LEA secondary schools in Surrey under contract.
The company is also operating the Bexley Business Academy. In 2005 the 3E’s company was sold to Global Educational
Management Systems (GEMS), run by Dubai businessman Sonny Varkey

Academy (where
announced)
Southwark (1) New school Business and Corporation of London Announced March 2001. Open
Enterprise has pledged support of September 2003.
City of London 11-18 £2m
Academy
In February 2002 Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, blocked plans for the Academy to be built on Paterson Park in Bermondsey.
The Corporation of London has indicated that it will appeal against his decision. The Mayor acknowledged the need for the school
but said that it should not replace another public amenity. He has offered to help find an alternative site. An article in “The Times” in
February 2002 stated that last year parents were so dissatisfied with the available school places that they set up their own classes.
This has since been overturned and the Academy will now be built on the Paterson Park Site.
10
The LEA is fully supportive of the Academy and has acknowledged the need for additional secondary school places.
In January 2003 the DfES Academy website stated that the Academy would be built on the Paterson Park site. The Academy will
serve 1200 pupils aged 11-18 when filled to capacity. It will be built up gradually from Year 7 pupils.
A hearing impairment unit is planned for the Academy.
The Academy opened in September 2003 for 180 Year 7 pupils but the building is 18 months behind schedule. The TES has
reported that the children have to take a bus three miles across the Thames to East Dulwich to work in ten portable buildings on a
disused playground.
The Division has reported that the council expects all secondary schools to eventually become Academies.
In October 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the City of London Academy had joined the Tate Modern as
winner of the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award.

Academy (where
announced)
Southwark (2) Warwick Park Business and Lord Harris of Peckham Announced May 2001. Open 2003.
The Academy at Performing Arts has pledged support of
Peckham 11-19 up to £2m
It will have a Sixth
Form from September
2004
10
Warwick Park successfully emerged from special measures in 2001. The school will be completely refurbished and expanded to
accommodate 210 pupils on entry and a sixth form. The Academy will be the first in the UK to focus on business and the
performing arts.
The Academy plans to become a centre of excellence in teaching dyslexic children.
Lord Harris has said that the Academy would have “state-of-the-art facilities across the curriculum, which would be available to
other local schools. Lord Harris is chairman of Carpetright plc and Harris Ventures Ltd. He has sat on the board of various hospital
trusts and was made a peer in 1995.
Along with the City of London Academy, Southwark, the Academy at Peckham has taken 46 per cent of Year 7 SEN statemented
pupils placed into mainstream schools in Southwark.
OFSTED’s report on the Peckham Academy in February 2006 gave standards as being exceptionally low and singled out
significant weaknesses in the sixth form provision.

Academy (where
announced)
Southwark (3) Archbishop Michael Technology Toc H and Bryanston In development. Announced February
Ramsey Technical 11-18 Square Ltd. 2004. Due to open September 2008
College
The Toc H is an international Charity founded during the First World War. It is also sponsoring Bradford Cathedral Academy.
10
Academy (where
announced)
Southwark (4) Geoffrey Chaucer Performing arts Absolute Return for Kids In development. Announced January
Technology College 3-18 (ARK) charitable trust 2005. Likely to open 2008
and Joseph Lancaster concerned with providing
Primary School transformational change
for disadvantaged
children

Absolute Return for Kids (Ark) has announced plans to set up seven Academies in London. Ark is looking at setting up Academies
in Hammersmith, Westminster, Lambeth, Hackney and Southwark but is also looking elsewhere in the UK. The charity is chaired
by multi-millionaire City trader Arpad “Arki” Busson. The charity has appointed Jay Altman as director of education. Mr Altman was
the founding principal of the New Orleans charter middle schools in Louisiana. The source of some of Ark’s funds is thought to be
the City hedge fund business in which some of its donors work. As well as Busson who is expected to sponsor one of the
Academies personally, other Ark trustees include multi-millionaire Paul Marshall, one half of the fund managers Marshall Wace.
Marshall Wace is sponsoring the Academy in Southwark. Managing director Lucy Heller is overseeing Ark’s education programme
and is keen that Ark Academies specialise in maths. Heller’s partner is Professor Adrian Smith, author of a report slamming the
state of maths teaching. One proposal being considered by Ark is to develop a maths curriculum and sell it to others.
The 1,622-pupil Academy planned to replace Geoffrey Chaucer Technology College and Joseph Lancaster primary in 2008 will
effectively be six schools in one. It will comprise a nursery and infant school, a junior school, two parallel 11-14 schools and two 14-
19 schools each with their own heads and deputies answering to an overarching principal and specialising in music and the
performing arts.
Ark has withdrawn from proposals to sponsor an Academy in Islington after a strong campaign by the NUT, parents and
teachers.
10
Academy (where
announced)
Southwark (5) Bacon’s CTC Digital media and Southward Docesan Announced May 2006. Due to open
technology Board of Education and September 2008.
11-18 the Philip and Pauline
Harris Charitable Trust
The proposal is for the conversion of Bacon’s City Technology College to an 11-18 Academy based on its current site.

Academy (where
announced)
Southwark (6) Harris Girls’ Academy Sports and PE and Lord Harris of Peckham, Open September 2006.
Health carpet magnate.
Waverley School 11-18 Girls
In December 2005 Ofsted described Waverley School as ‘effective with outstanding features’. (TES, 04/08/06)
10
Academy (where
announced)
Staffordshire New school Engineering, JCB Announced May 2006
JCB Academy manufacturing and
international business Due to open in September 2009
14-19
The Academy would be located in East Staffordshire with the majority of students enrolled via nodal points.

Academy (where
announced)
Stockport Avondale High School Sport with business United Learning Trust Announced October 2005
and enterprise
11-16 with a 250 place

sixth form
The DfES website states that the Academy will be sponsored by the United Learning Trust and in close partnership with Stockport
Metropolitan Borough Council. The Academy will cater for 900 pupils aged 11-16 with a 250 place sixth form.
11
Academy (where
announced)
Sunderland Castleview Academy Northumbrian Water

Academy (where
announced)
Swindon Headlands School Science and business Swindon Borough Announced May 2006
Pinehurst infants and and enterprise Council, the United Due to open in September 2007
Junior School Learning Trust and
Likely to be 0-19 Honda
Pinehurst Academy Academy
The DfES website states that the Academy project has been awarded funding to determine the practicalities of establishing the
Academy, and as part of this consideration will explore the case for a 0-19 all through Academy.
In January 2007 it was announced that the Academy proposals had been approved following a meeting of the borough council's
11
schools organising committee.
The Academy, run by the United Learning Trust and Honda Cars, will absorb both the existing Headlands School and Pinehurst
Infants and Junior School and is due to open in September, the Swindon Advertiser reports.
Headlands will be given a £35 million grant to develop its new buildings and facilities, which headteacher Jan Shadick told the
paper would be "fantastic", but this view contrasted with that of local councillor Andy Harrison, who said that the area was given an
all or nothing choice of an Academy or no change.

Academy (where
announced)
Thurrock Gateway Community The Arts, design and The Ormiston Trust Open September 2006
College engineering
Gateway Academy 11-18
Gateway Community College had been described as an improving school, with ‘ambitious vision’. (TES, 04/08/06)
The Gateway Academy, Thurrock, opens in September 2006 prior to the completion of a new £36m building, which will provide
exceptional facilities for students and the community.
The Gateway Academy will replace a school that has seen notable improvements in students’ attitudes to learning in recent years
and serves a community that is showing increasing commitment to supporting the school.
11
The school will continue to operate on two sites until the new purpose built accommodation is opened in March 2008.

Academy (where
announced)
Walsall TP Riley Technology Thomas Telford Online Announced March 2001. Open
11-18 (an offshoot of the September 2003.
The Walsall Academy Thomas Telford CTC)
the Mercers Company
and Tarmac plc have
pledged support of £2.5
million
T P Riley School has a history of falling rolls. It is to be replaced by a new school building.
In the outline proposal for the provision of a Academy, published in September 2001, Sir Kevin Satchwell, head of Thomas Telford
CTC, states, “ it is critically important that the School establishes the right ethos from its inception and this could not be achieved by
simply admitting all the existing T P Riley pupils.”
Thomas Telford CTC has a selective admissions procedure. Prospective applicants sit a non-verbal reasoning test. The results
from the test are divided into nine bands of ability, with the school taking a number from each band.
The philosophy and style of education established at the Walsall Academy will replicate that found at Thomas Telford School where
lessons are three hours long. Staff from TP Riley have been invited to visit Thomas Telford school during the 2002 Summer and
Autumn terms so as to see the style of teaching first hand.
11
The presentation materials for Walsall Academy state that the Academy will follow the National Curriculum but with extra Science,
Technology and Mathematics it also plans to offer a range of post 16 vocational and academic courses. The Academy will also
involve parents and industry in the school.
The Academy will operate a longer school day, which will run from 8.15 – 5.15 Monday – Thursday, and 8.15 – 3.15 on Friday. It
will also have a longer year with 190 student days and 10 professional development days. The contractual conditions state that
there will be no parent’s evenings and that all meetings will be included in the working day. The conditions also state that all
planning, preparation, marking and curriculum development will take place during the day. Teachers will have 80 per cent teaching
contact (four days a week) and one day for planning, preparation and marking.
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council is supportive of the proposals.
The Division has stated that it has a number of concerns regarding the Walsall Academy Teachers Contract of Service on Transfer.
Some of the conditions of service previously discussed with the Academy do not appear in the contract including guaranteed time
for planning, preparation and assessment time.
Teaching staff will not be included on the governing board but will have a governor to represent their interests. Teachers will have
to have their application cleared through the Head if they wish to have an interview with the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the
Governors.

Academy (where
announced)
Waltham McEntee School Business and United Learning Trust Announced October 2004. Due to open
Forest Enterprise and science in September 2007
Walthamstow and maths
Academy 11-18 Open September 2006
11
In September 2004 the Division reported that there was a proposal to establish an Academy to replace McEntee School in Waltham
Forest Forest. The Academy was originally due to be sponsored by Jasper Conran. It will cater for 1150 pupils aged 11-18. The
Academy will be a new build and is due to open in September 2007. The Division is campaigning strongly against developments
and has produced campaign materials aimed at parents to warn them of the dangers of Academies. In October the NUT’s General
Secretary attended a public meeting sponsored by Waltham Forest NUT and Waltham Forest UNISON.
In December 2004 it was announced that after a vigorous campaign by teachers and parents against the proposed Academy, the
sponsor, Jasper Conran, had withdrawn his funding. The United Learning Trust is the new sponsor.
McEntree School was praised in April 2004 as ‘a good school’. (TES, 04/08/06)

Academy (where
announced)
Wandsworth ADT CTC 11-18 Prospect Education Announced October 2004
(Technology) Trust Due to open in September 2007
ICT and design
technology
The Academy will provide 1050 places for 11-16 year olds, and a further 300 places for a sixth form.
11
Academy (where
announced)
Westminster (i) North Westminster International business Westminster Academy Open September 2006
Community College and enterprise Trust
Westminster Academy 11-18
The Academy will be a new school in Westbourne Green. A new school is needed due to an increase in pupil numbers. The
Academy will cater for pupils aged 11-18 moving from North Westminster Community College that will close in August 2006 and be
replaced by two Academies (Westminster and Paddington).
The Westminster and Paddington Academies are being created to replace North Westminster Community School from September
2006. Paddington Academy is sponsored by the United Learning Trust, and Westminster Academy by the Westminster Academy
Trust.
Westminster and Paddington Academies will open in September 2006 in temporary accommodation in Penfold St and North Wharf
Rd sites before moving into the all-new schools for the following year. The £30M Paddington Academy will be based at Oakington
Rd and the £30M Westminster Academy will be based at Westbourne Green.
In February 2007 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the Academy would be making redundancies because it could
not afford to pay staff salary costs. The principal, Alison Banks, said that she would be forced to make redundancies
because pay was swallowing her £5m budget, leaving nothing for books, equipment or running costs. She told staff and governors
that the school had been told that it must balance its budget from September. That means cutting staff pay and allowances by a
fifth to save £1m a year. Mrs Banks said that compulsory redundancies and changes to the curriculum should be needed as
staffing was slimmed down. Teachers said they were shocked by a suggestion that lessons in English as an additional language
11
might be dropped at the Academy where most of its pupils are from ethnic minorities. Westminster Academy is already under threat
of strikes over the length of dinner breaks. Problems with the planning means pupils at both the Westminster and Paddington
Academy are stuck in unsuitable premises while they wait for new buildings.

Academy (where
announced)
Westminster North Westminster Media and the United Learning Trust Announced on DfES website in
(ii) Community School performing arts with February 2004
business and Due to open September 2006
Paddington Academy enterprise
11-18
The second Academy is based on a proposal to reduce the size of North Westminster Community School as part of a review of
secondary provision in the city. Whilst Westminster Community School is not in special measures the LEA feels that it is not
improving fast enough (Ofsted 2005: the school was making ‘good progress’ but with ‘wide inconsistency’). The Head of the school
has recently resigned due to reported difficulties coping with the size of the school.
The DfES Academies website states that the Academy will be established in a new building on the current Oakington Road site of
the North Westminster Community School (NWCS). NWCS will close in August 2006 and be replaced by 2 new Academies
(Paddington and Westminster).
11
In July 2005 the Evening Standard reported that Lord Andrew Adonis had intervened and ordered the appointment of 10 teachers
for North Westminster Community School after an exodus of staff who did not want to work in an Academy. Ten out of 30 teachers
at the school’s Oakington Road site had resigned and pupils faced having their education disrupted by a procession of temporary
supply staff. The Evening Standard also reported that the construction project at the school was two months behind schedule.
The Paddington Academy was due to open in September 2006 in a £25 million building, with the latest in computer and internet
technology. However, construction delays mean that the new building will not be ready until summer 2007, one year behind
schedule. The Academy opened instead in a rundown and dilapidated building, which was part of the North Westminster
Community School it was intended to replace. Conditions were reported to be so bad that on the first day of term teachers were
forced to clean the building themselves, the grounds were strewn with rubbish and some of the lavatories had been condemned.
There were few of the modern computer installations that had been promised

Academy (where
announced)
Westminster The St George’s RC Maths and computing Archdiocese of Announced on DfES website in
(iii) School 11-18 with some Westminster February 2005
provision for 18-21
In January 2006 a Westminster Council report stated that the Academy proposal had not been approved by the DfES and that the
school was being encouraged to pursue improvements through the BSF route.

11
Academy (where
announced)
Westminster New school 4-18 ARK, (Absolute Return Was due to open September 2006 but
(iv) for Kids) children’s now is due to open Sept 2007
charity
In August 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that ARK had delayed the 2006 opening of its Academy. It will now
open in September 2007. Lucy Heller, ARK’s general manager for education, said that the opening had been delayed as there was
not enough time to enrol students and the council no longer urgently needed the primary places. Westminster council said it had
reviewed school admissions in May 2006 and decided that it would be ‘more beneficial’ to delay the academy’s opening by a year.
(TES, 04/08/06).
ARK was set up by “Arki” Busson, the French multi-millionaire financier. The charity says on its website that it intends to have 4,500
students enrolled in seven Academies by the end of 2008. Eventually they will hold at least 7,000 students.
Potential Academies
Information on Academies which have yet to be formerly announced (March 2007).
Barnet
In September 2006 the DfES Academies website stated that another Academy was planned in Barnet. No other information was
given.
Basildon
In September 2005 it was reported that two Basildon schools could merge to become one “supersize” Academy catering for up to
11
3,000 children. The Essex Enquirer newspaper reported that the proposals would see Barstable School and Chalvedon School and
Sixth Form College in Pitsea “federated”, with one overall governing body. Barnstable school has previously been on special
measures and is now in the “serious weakness” category, but has been continually supported by Chalvedon. The newspaper
reported that the headteacher of Chalvedon School, who would become principal of the new Academy, was supportive of the
proposals.
Birmingham
Birmingham City Council is planning to set up seven Academies – the single biggest drive in the country. The seven schools
Birmingham is proposing as Academies are St Alban’s in Highgate, The Heartlands High in Nechells; the College High in Erdington;
Kings Norton High; Sheldon Heath, Shenley Court in Selly Oak and Harborne Hill in Edgbaston. The City Council has said that it
will retain control over admissions and that each Academy will have several sponsors to prevent any one gaining too much control.
It says that sponsors will “work equally” with six schools including the Academy, in an area network. It is proposed that there will be
six area networks, one of which will have two Academies and the others one each. The council has said that there will be two City
Council representatives on the Governing Body for each Academy and the terms and conditions of teachers will not change.
Birmingham NUT have reported that there has been a lack of public knowledge or consultation over the proposals.
Blackpool
In August 2005 the Division reported that an Academy was proposed in Blackpool.
Bolton
In October 2005 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the Withins School in Bolton which came out of special measures
nine months ago is expected to be closed and reopened as an Academy. It is to be sponsored by Toc H a charity originally set up
during the First World War, to provide support for soldiers. Toc H is also sponsoring Bradford Cathedral Academy and is linked
with a proposal to turn the Archbishop Michael Ramsey Technical College into an Academy.
The Academy in Bolton will become an Academy catering for pupils from age 3-19. It will offer a nursery, a primary and an 11-19
secondary school. A secondary special school is also to be moved to the same site. Two local primaries will close to make way for
the scheme. The Times Educational Supplement reported that Withins School was put into special measures in 2003, but
12
inspectors removed it from the category earlier this year, describing the new headteacher as demonstrating “determined
leadership”. The teaching and learning at the school was said to be mainly satisfactory and sometimes good or very good.
Bradford
Lord Bhatia has been backed by Bradford to sponsor an Academy at Rhodesway School through the British Edutrust Foundation.
He claims to have corporate sponsors pledged to contribute £50m to the academies programme.
Brighton
In October 2005 the division reported that an Academy was planned to replace Falmer High School in Brighton. The proposed
sponsor is investment banker Jon Aisbitt, one of the richest men in the country. Mr Aisbitt has an estimated fortune of £95m. He
was previously a partner of Goldman Sachs and is now a director of several financial companies (non-executive director of Man
Group plc, Ocean Rig ASA and Redburn Partners Holding Ltd). He is currently a trustee of New Philanthropy Capital which advises
charity donors on how to make donations more effectively. A local newspaper reported that Falmer had scored its best GCSE
results in the past five years in 2005 with 32 per cent of pupils gaining five or more A*-C grades. The schools headteacher is
understood to be supportive of the proposals. The Academy would include sixth-form provision.
Brixton
In August 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Children’s charity, ARK, one of the Government’s biggest
Academy sponsors, planed to open a new 11-18 academy in former primary school buildings in Brixton in late 2008, following a
campaign by parents for new secondaries in Lambeth.
The building for the ARK Academy in Brixton, due to be opened in 2008, has been designed by award-winning architect, Zaha
Hadid. The DfES denied that money had been allocated to build the Academy to this design, or that final approval had been given.
(Evening Standard, 19 December 2007)
Calderdale
In February 2006 the division reported that The Ridings School, Halifax might become an Academy after being judged “inadequate”
12
by OFSTED. The inspection took place in October 2004, three months after the resignation of headteacher Anna White.
The Ridings School came to national attention in November 1996 as the result of an emergency Ofsted inspection. Its headteacher
resigned and staff threatened to strike over 60 “unteachable” children. In October 1998, The Ridings became the fastest secondary
school in the country to come out of Special Measures.
Cumbria
In May 2006 the division reported that there was a possibility of a 11-19 Academy being established in Copeland. It would involve
the closure of Wyndham School in Egremont and Elhenside School, Cleator Moor. The Academy proposal follows a strategic
review led by the county council into education across North Copeland. The council have said that the review was prompted by a
fall in pupil numbers and that they are consulting on a range of options. Copeland MP Jamie Reed is reported to have already
secured the support of a private sector sponsor; the British Nuclear Group. Jamie Reed is quoted in a local newspaper The
Whitehaven News as saying “I have worked with 10 Downing Street and education minister Andrew Adonis in recent weeks on
proposals for an Academy school in North Copeland”. Wyndham School came out of special measures in March 2006
Darlington
Proposals in Darlington to replace Hurworth School, which has high rates of pupil achievement (80% 5 A-C grades), and
Eastbourne School, which is less successful academically, with a new-build Academy are being vigorously challenged by parents
and teachers. Hurworth School is in the Prime Minister’s constituency and has been visited and praised by him over the years.
The proposals are connected to the authority’s Building Schools for the Future funding bid. The Durham diocese of the Church of
England has agreed to act as chief sponsor.
Doncaster
In May 2004 the Division reported that an Academy was planed to replace Northcliffe State Secondary School. Northcliffe is in a
rural area where there are no other schools available. Despite a great improvement in exam results Northcliffe school was
unexpectedly put in special measures this year.
The majority of staff are NUT members. The 1,250-pupil school would be the fourth “creationist academy” run by the Emmanuel
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Schools Foundation, part of the Vardy Foundation Christian charity. The Foundation, headed by Sir Peter Vardy already sponsors
an Academy in Middlesbrough and the Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead. A third is being build at Thorne near
Doncaster, to open in September 2005. In June 2004 the BBC reported that parents and pupils had staged a protest over the plans
for the school. Parents and teachers are concerned there will be no local representation over the running of the school. The project
is currently under consultation and public meetings will be held in late June and throughout July 2004. The Academy in Northcliffe
is scheduled to open in 2006.
In October 2004 it was reported that the vigorous campaign led by parents and teachers against the Academy had been successful
as the authority had withdrawn from the proposals.
Hackney
In July 2004 it was announced that proposals to turn St Thomas Abney School into an Academy had failed after a vigorous
campaign by parents. The Guardian quoted one campaigner “The site was half the recommended area and the final plans were for
a building cantilevered over the reservoir, with the play area on the roof. The estimated costs were over £40m for a site that was
obviously unsuitable.”
Proposals had been put forward for St Thomas Abney School to become an Academy school despite the school receiving a good
OFSTED report. The Academy was due to open in new buildings in 2007. It would provide 360 places for pupils aged 5-11, 900
places for pupils aged 11-16 and 250 places in the sixth form. The DfES website stated that it will be sponsored by a financial city
sponsor – no other details were given on sponsor. North London Collegiate School were also involved in developing proposals. The
North London Collegiate School is also thought to be involved in the running of Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney.
Hackney
In May 2006 the Division reported that the local authority was consulting on proposals to close Skinners School for Girls and
replace it with an Academy. The Academy would open in September 2010.
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New school/Academy in Haringey
Haringey division is campaigning against the involvement of external sponsors in the establishment of a new school in Wood
Green. The Unit has providing information on the three sponsors – ULT, CfBT and Haberdashers’ Aske’s – to the division.
Haringey Council’s own bid, which is supported by parents, governors and teachers, would be for a community school, rather than
an Academy.
A public meeting on the presentation of the bids took place on 16 January. The division reported that there was only a small
audience so a second meeting has been requested. While the Council’s bid was well presented, those of the three external
sponsors were not impressive; showed no awareness of problems their companies had had in other Academies/educational
projects or the needs of a multi-cultural and deprived area. The Haberdashers’ proposal included plans for a 3-18 Academy, to the
amazement of the headteacher and governors of the primary school concerned.
Hertfordshire
In January 2007 the BBC reported of plans to turn an independent Steiner school in Hertfordshire into an Academy. Steiner schools
give priority to educating the “whole child” with a strong emphasis on creativity. The Academy bid would see a new school building
constructed alongside the existing building. The sponsor for the new Academy is the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship.
Hertfordshire County Council is objecting to the plans on a “highways” issue. The Academy could open as early as September
2007. The proposed Steiner Academy would take in 330 children from the age of five until 16. It will in order to receive state
funding, have to comply with the national curriculum requirements to have tests in English, maths and science at 11 and 14.
Children will also do GCSEs and A levels. However, the Academy will not have to follow the year-on-year-out requirements of the
national curriculum and will stick to its own teaching methods.
A feasibility study for the DfES is reported as being near to completion on the conversion of the Hereford Waldorf School (fees
approximately £4,500 per annum) to a state-funded Academy. The distinctive nature of the Steiner system would be preserved
although pupils will participate in national testing. The proposals have attracted protests locally where rural schools are facing
closure because of lack of funds and pupils.
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Hull
In April 2005 the division reported that Pickering School was to become an Academy.
The Church of England has expressed an interest in establishing an Academy in Hull.
Islington
Islington Green Academy was originally due to be sponsored by the charity Absolute Return for Kids (Ark), chaired by multi-
millionaire City trader Arpad “Arki” Busson. Ark withdrew from the Academy proposals in June 2005 after successful campaign by
Islington parents, teachers and school support staff. Ark claimed that the developments had become too complicated.
The Division has reported that the Corporation of London is in talks with Islington Council and the DfES about the sponsoring of the
Islington Green Academy.
In March 2006 the Guardian reported that City University had agreed to jointly sponsor an academy to replace Islington Green
school in conjunction with the Corporation of London, following the withdrawal of the original sponsor, Ark.
In May 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Islington Council had announced that the City of London authority
and City University would jointly contribute £2m sponsorship to turn Islington Green School into an Academy for 11-18 year olds.
Islington Council have voted to progress the Academy programme for the replacement of Islington Green School regardless of the
fact that there is no Funding Agreement and widespread opposition. The Regional Secretary points out that the Labour Party
opposes locally and supports nationally, while the Liberal Democrats oppose nationally and support locally!
In October 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that 95 per cent of staff at Islington Green School opposed its plans to
become an Academy. The school has become over-subscribed after coming out of special measures with the current head teacher,
who is leaving the school. The NUT representative, Ken Muller, has organised a staff ballot which overwhelmingly rejected the
change to Academy status.
12
A closure notice on the school was published on 9 November 2006. A demonstration took place on 18 January at the meeting of
the Schools Organising Committee, which upheld the decision to close the school.
The school’s GCSE results for 30 per cent 5 A-C including English and maths are better than all bar one academy; 5 A-G better
than all academies; CVA score is better than most academies.
The Times Educational Supplement of 8 December 2006 reported that the Edison Company, which runs charter schools in the US
is working with the City of London and London University, co-sponsors of the potential Academy, to develop an “educational vision”
that includes the curriculum and buildings. Chris Whittle, Edison CEO, envisages a role as a contractor of services to Academies
rather than a sponsor.
On 26 January the Islington Tribune reported that secret donors were helping to pay £1m to fund the Academy. The article stated
that City University, co-sponsors of the project, had admitted that it did not have the money to bankroll its contribution so had to
undertake a 10-month fundraising drive. A City University spokeswoman said: “We have had several donations towards the City
Academy, one from a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous, other donations have come from the Sir John Cass’s
Foundation and the Worshipful Company of Saddlers.”
Kent
In May 2005 the Times Educational Supplement reported that parents on the Isle of Sheppey, off the north Kent coast, had
reported that a Church of England Academy was being imposed on them with inadequate consultation. It would be the only
secondary school on the island. The claim is denied by Kent council, which says it will consult parents if the Government gives the
go-ahead. Under the council’s plans, the island’s primary middle and upper schools would be replaced by primaries and a
secondary. Minister College, Sheppey’s secondary, which has been in special measures since 2003, and three successful middle
schools would be closed. In June 2004 the Government received a proposal to replace the schools with an Academy sponsored by
the Canterbury diocese. The proposal had not been published but was leaked to the local press and parents.
In August 2006 it was reported that a local parent had withdrawn her application for a judicial review of the decision to open an
Academy on the Island.
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Lambeth
In July 2005 the division reported that Lambeth Council had dropped the plan to open an Academy at Glenbrook after a successful
campaign led by the NUT and supported by parents, governors, school students, local residents, residents in sheltered
accommodation and the Labour group.
In April 2005 the Division reported that an 11-18 Academy was planned for Lambeth sponsored by the charitable Trust ARK
Education. The Academy’s proposed is September 2007 or September 2008 to be confirmed in the feasibility stage. It will
specialise in maths and sport.
In November 2004 the Division reported that Glenbrook Primary School had been chosen as a possible site for a 5-19 Academy.
The proposals would mean a loss of 80 per cent of the school’s play space. There is the possibility of a playground on the roof due
to lack of space. Playing fields would be off site and would mean crossing two main roads every time children needed a PE lesson.
Members and parents are very upset about the disruption to children. The school has begun campaigning against the proposals.
Parents and children have taken part in meetings and have been speaking out to the press. Union members are due to hold a joint
meeting to express their opinions on the council proposals. The council has said that they will listen to local opinion and will
withdraw the plans early next year if they prove unpopular.
Leeds
The Division has reported that a second Academy is proposed for Leeds. It is to be sponsored by the Aire Christian Academic
Development. The LEA was originally reported to be opposed to the proposals but was persuaded to look favourably on the idea
through the offer of DfES funding. If the proposals go ahead the two schools on the proposed site will be closed. There is a
campaign in one of the schools to keep it open. The authority is currently seeking legal advice regarding the proposals.
Manchester
In April 2005 the division reported that a number of additional Academies were planned in Manchester. Manchester City Council’s
proposed Academies programme includes plans to open Plant Hill, a new Academy built on its existing site in the north west
district. The north west district would receive two new Academies following the closure of the North Manchester High School for
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Boys and the High School for Girls. One would be located on the existing North Manchester High School for Girls site or a new site
at the junction of Rochdale Road/Queens Road. It is also proposed that the New East Manchester School, serving the North East
District would be allocated Academy status. It is also proposed to explore with the Salford Diocese the possibility of an Academy
on the site of St Thomas Aquinas or nearby to serve the south district. The proposals also include plans to create a federation of
Wythenshaw High Schools. This would bring together the existing four high schools onto five sites and incorporate pupils from the
local special schools and from the Key Stage 3 Pupil Referral Unit (PRU). Two of the current high schools could become
Academies.
In April 2006 the Guardian reported that Manchester College of Art and Technology was considering sponsoring an Academy to
replace Parklands high school and possibly a second to replace North Manchester High School for Girls. The Academy on the
Parklands site will open in September 2007. The College has put up less than £2m. Its principal, Peter Tavernor is quoted as
saying “the Government is now accepting lower cash sums from sponsors”.
In October 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the United Learning Trust would take over one of the country’s
leading private schools when it joins the state sector as an Academy. William Hulme’s grammar school will abolish annual fees of
almost £8,000 in exchange for Government funding.
In October 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that the BBC had put in a joint bid with the independent television
company Granada to become sponsors of one of six new Academies planned for Manchester. They are among 17 potential
sponsors for the Academies. Others include O2, Microsoft and British Telecom. Channel 4 is supporting an application by
Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester College of Arts and Technology. The BBC said that it had been invited to
apply by the council and believed that sponsoring an Academy would be a good way to develop talent. The BBC has said that it will
not be providing financial support but will be “exploring ways to use the skills and expertise of the BBC and its staff to inspire young
people.”
As a demonstration of the involvement of local authorities in the Academies programme, an article in the Guardian on 9 January
2007 on Manchester’s Academies was written by Lord Adonis and Richard Leese, leader of the City Council. The three new
Academies are an integral part of the Building Schools for the Future Programme and are to be followed by three further
Academies (in addition to the existing Manchester Academy and William Hulme Grammar School, a private school which will
12
become an Academy in September 2007). Sponsors include construction companies, health trusts, the Co-operative Group,
possibly BT, the BBC and ITV Granada, Manchester universities.
The article emphasises the co-ordinated nature of the city’s Academies, which will be co-sponsored by the Council, and with other
local schools. It is intended that the Academies will pioneer the new specialised vocational diplomas for 14-19 year olds in their
areas of specialism with local FE colleges.
Newcastle
In May 2003 it was reported that an Academy could be built in the West End of Newcastle as part of plans to regenerate the area.
The Newcastle Journal reported that Sir Peter Vardy, chief executive of the motor retail group Reg Vardy plc, was in talks with
Newcastle City Council to sponsor an Academy in Scotswood. The Vardy Foundation, run by Peter Vardy, already sponsors the
Kings Academy in Middlesbrough and the Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead.
Northumberland
In April 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Sir Peter Vardy, car dealer and founder of the Emmanuel Schools
foundation was putting £2m towards a planned new Academy in Blyth, Northumberland.
The DfES website states that further work will be carried out during feasibility to explore the option of including 4-11 places creating
an all-age Academy.
In October 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that more than 1,000 people had signed a petition against the
Academy proposal.
In January 2007 it was announced that the campaign, supported by the local NUT, against a proposed Academy in Blyth
has been successful in persuading the district council to vote almost unanimously to reject the proposals. The sponsor
of the proposed Academy was the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, headed by Sir Peter Vardy.
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Norwich
In April 2006 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Graham Dacre, millionaire founder of the Lind Automotive Group and
a committed Christian was planning to support an Academy in partnership with the Anglican Church. The proposed Academy which
will have a “Christian ethos” is to replace a non-religious comprehensive in Norwich, despite objections from the local MP, who has
said that the plans were motivated by “indoctrination”. Mr Dacre is reportedly a member of a Norwich based evangelical Christian
church, Proclaimers International, and has used his personal fortune to establish the Lind trust, an educational charity. Among
projects backed by the trust so far is a £3m youth centre in the city, which Mr Dacre said that he had set up to “serve the needs of
others as Christ did”. Norwich council has confirmed that a formal submission of interest had been lodged with the DfES to convert
Heartsease High School into a 1,400 pupil Academy with Mr Dacre and the Anglican diocese of Norwich providing £2m
sponsorship.
Oldham
Oldham division is campaigning against proposals to include two Academies to replace Breeze Hill, Grange, Kaskenmoor, Counthill
and South Chadderton Schools within its Building Schools for the Future proposals which has been approved by the DfES. A
demonstration was held in January 2007. The proposals would lead to longer distances to school for children.
The sponsors of Oldham’s new schools have not yet been announced but likely frontrunners are the United Learning Trust, the
Church of England charity, and Lord Bhatia, a leading British Muslim and independent peer who wants to set up 20 Academies
designed to bring children from Muslim backgrounds into mixed-school environments.
Oxfordshire
The division is campaigning against proposals to turn Peers School into an Academy.
13
Portsmouth
In October 2002 the Division reported that the LEA was exploring the possibility of replacing a failing school with an Academy.
Rochdale
In March 2006 the Division reported that an Academy was proposed in Rochdale and was at the “expression of interest” stage.
In February 2006 the Union gave advice to Rochdale division on proposals to open an Academy as part of its Building Schools for the Future.
programme
Salford
In September 2006 it was announced that Salford City Council has approved plans to turn Hope High School into an Academy.
Under the plans the school will move to a new building in Salford Quays and specialise in media and information technology. The
Academy will be sponsored by the Oasis Trust.
Sandwell
In November 2004 the Division reported that Sandwell LEA were proposing three more Academies as part of their Building Schools
for the Future bid. They are all proposed as replacements for exising schools: Dartmouth, Willinsworth and Shireland/George
Salter. The latter will be a federated Academy.
Sheffield
Sheffield City Council notified Regional Office of their wish to establish an Academy in January 2001. In November 2000, a letter
was sent to Sheffield’s nine inner city schools asking for expressions of interest. All of the schools are well led and have made
considerable progress in tackling standards. The Council believes that there are key advantages to establishing a Academy and
13
have stated that it would raise the profile and levels of attainment in one of Sheffield’s most deprived communities.
Regional Office has sought advice on pay and conditions issues and the profit arrangements for private sponsors.
The proposals for an Academy are part of Sheffield’s Transforming Secondary Education programme. The programme, which was
launched in June 2003, encourages every secondary school to apply for specialist status.
Southwark
In May 2004 the Times Educational Supplement reported that Dulwich College, the private school, plans to set up an Academy. It
believes that the Academy could be open by September 2006. Under the plan, a financial sponsor, whose identity has not yet been
disclosed, would invest £2m in the scheme. Dulwich College would not put any money towards the Academy. Graham Able, Head
of Dulwich College, said that the school would be branded as a Dulwich Academy and the college would provide governors and
offer advice on management and maintaining standards. He said: We won’t be putting any money in because any money that we
have available would go to increasing the number of bursaries we offer here”.
Dulwich is already establishing itself as an education force in Asia, with a school in Thailand and another being set up in Shanghai.
It has plans for at least another two in China.
Dulwich’s announcement came days before the publication of the draft Charities Bill, which was expected to put pressure on private
schools to show their benefit to the public. Graham Able has denied the decision to sponsor an Academy was a cynical attempt to
protect its charitable status.
Stoke-on-Trent
In August 2006 the Guardian reported that John Caudwell, the mobile-phone millionaire who has recently received £1.46bn from
the sale of his Phones4U business, is to put some of the proceeds into the education system in his native city of Stoke-on-Trent.
The entrepreneur has earmarked “a few million” for an Academy in the Potteries and would like the school to have a business
specialism.
Sunderland
13
In September 2005 the division reported that Sunderland planed to co- sponsor three Academies. It would choose the co-sponsors.
In October 2005 the Times Educational Supplement (TES) reported that Sunderland council, had fallen out with Sir Peter Vardy,
the evangelical Christian car dealer and the DfES, over its proposals to sponsor three new Academies. The TES said that council
papers revealed that Sunderland had reluctantly agreed to apply for Academies this summer, after the DfES said that a £95m
council bid for Government cash to rebuild its secondaries would be rejected without Academy proposals. The council has now put
forward plans to jointly sponsor up to three new Academies, investing up to £1m in each, with sponsors matching this contribution.
The Academies are also being asked to sign agreements on working with the local authority on admissions, special needs and joint
sixth-form provision. The TES reported that the DfES appeared unhappy with this arrangement. Bruce Liddington, of the DfES
Academies division said that the LEA’s involvement in the new scheme could lead to “inefficiency and ineffectiveness”. The council
has discussed sponsorship with Sir Peter, but failed to reach agreement because the millionaire wants the new Academies to have
sixth forms.
Tameside
In October 2005 the Division reported that the Authority had been in discussions with the DfES regarding proposals for an
Academy. It is believed that the Authority was told that unless the proposals for Building Schools for the Future included proposals
for an Academy there would be no funding. The Authority has now approached New Charter (the local Social Housing Company)
who has agreed to put £2m to sponsor the Academy. New Charter has agreed to appoint the local authority as educational adviser
and include the Academy as part of the “Tameside Campus” of secondary schools. The Academy would result in the closure of
Hartshead and Stamford High Schools and would be built on a site opposite the existing Hartshead High School.
In June 2006 the Division reported that one Academy was likely to be in Cashton udder Lyne, combining the two high schools in the
town. A second Academy might be built in Droylsden – combining two single sex schools. The claim is that teachers’ pay and
conditions (local and national) will not be changed and that the Academy will be part of the Tameside Campus of high schools and
abide by the Authority’s admission policy. The response from staff at one of the high schools is to seek alternative posts, and many
applicants have withdrawn when they were informed of the proposed Academy. The Governing body have written to all parents
asking them to consider opposing the Academy. There are concerns about the consultation (especially no reference to post 16
education at the Academy and to the proposed specialisms – sport, health and construction).
13
Warwickshire
Warwickshire LEA is consulting on proposals to close Bishop Wulstan Catholic School, Rugby, and replace it with an Academy to
be sponsored by the Catholic church. The school has low pupil numbers and 12 per cent of pupils attaining 5 A-C GCSE grades.
Westminster
The leader of Westminster Council has identified Pimlico School, which is in special measures as a possible Academy, leaving just
one non-Academy secondary school in the authority.
Wolverhampton
In November the Division reported that Wolverhampton LEA was exploring plans for an Academy as part of their review of
secondary provision. The LEA has stated that the Academy would be a new school and would not involve the closure of any
existing schools. It is proposed that the Academy would serve the 14-19 age group and would have a triple specialism, including
maths/computing and engineering. It is envisaged that it would admit full time pupils at 14+, but also provide specialist facilities for
pupils attending as part of the week from their home school, to access the Academy’s specialist facilities. It would also admit full
time pupils post –16, drawn from the Academy’s own full time cohort, plus pupils from other City and out of City schools wishing to
access its specialisms. It would also provide part time access to those specialisms to pupils enrolled in other sixth forms, within the
framework of the Wolverhampton City wide Post-16 offer.
The Academy would share facilities with the University of Wolverhampton’s Leadership Centre. The proposals are supported by a
partnership of Wolverhampton LEA, the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Secondary Head Teachers/EiC Partnership
and the City of Wolverhampton College. Outline proposals for the Academy have been sent to the DfES. At present, there are no
sponsors for the Academy
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Academies

Examination results and Academies

Pay and conditions/Transfer Rights/Negotiating Rights

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

The Academy became an all age school in September 2004.

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

The DfES website states that Capital City Academy is oversubscribed.

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

Hengrove Community 11-19

NUT concerns/additional information

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

The Petchey Academy

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information

LEA Name of School to be Specialism and Age Sponsor(s) Progress of Proposal

NUT concerns/additional information