Back in April, Nicky Dixon was kind enough to allow me to use a letter I sent to her as a blog post entitled, ‘School Academisation: A Lewisham Perspective’. This can still be viewed here:
Following the publication of the Lewisham Education Commission Report, there has been concern expressed about when it says about Academies, and Multi Academy Trusts, or MATs. Rather than try and rebut any view that I think people may have formed, I thought it might be useful if, as the Lead Member for Children & Young People, I laid out my understanding of what the report says and what it means for us.
Firstly, I see nothing in the report that recommends that the Council seeks the mass conversion of schools into academies of one sort or another, at the earliest possible opportunity. The full report can be seen here:
For ease of reference, here are the 3 recommendations from the report, page 15, that relate to academies and MATs, so you can judge for yourself:
Establishing a new approach to school organisation
1. School federations in Lewisham should be supported if their governors decide that they wish to convert to academy status, with these ‘home-grown’ MATs being seen as potential academy sponsors for schools experiencing difficulties and as promoters of free schools where these are required across the borough in the next few years.
2. The local authority, headteachers and governors should work together to ensure that every school in Lewisham is part of a formal and effective school collaborative group – whether as part of a MAT or through developing and deepening the work of a local cluster, collaborative or federation.
3. The development of MATs and local clusters of schools should be seen alongside – and not as a substitute for – a borough-wide school-improvement partnership. The borough-wide partnership that we propose should be tasked with identifying those heads that have the potential and interest in moving into executive leadership and providing them with the development and support to take on this role as more schools move to working through federations, MATs or other school groups.
In my view, the Commission doesn't endorse one form of school governance over another. It merely reports to the Mayor the thinking of some schools and suggests a response that is both pragmatic and potentially to our advantage. I say to our advantage because we are going to need new schools in the future and these will need to be free schools as only academies can apply to open free schools.
I don't think that the report represents any kind of 'hand break turn' change in policy. On the contrary, it builds on the work we have been doing over the last year or so as laid out in our School Improvement Plan. What I think is genuinely exciting about the report is the recommendations it makes to drive forward more collaborative working between Lewisham's schools by setting up new bodies like the Partnership Steering Group and the Lewisham Secondary Challenge. The encouraging news is that Heads, both primary and secondary, are right behind the Report, support the recommendations and are committed to getting involved to make a success of the new organisations and to raise standards.
The government is committed to take the School Improvement function, and the funds to support it, away from Local Authorities. Nationally, we will have to transition to a school-led system of improvement. We will continue to work with schools as we make this change in Lewisham. The Education Commission Report is both challenging and insightful and will assist us as we seek to develop our collaborative approach to improving schools and the life chances of our children and young people.
