Three local trade union branches say they are disappointed about “secretive and rushed” plans for two Brighton primary schools to become an academy.
Benfield Primary and Hangleton School, which form the Orchard School Partnership, announced a consultation to gather parents’ views on a possible partnership with East London-based Eko Trust on Tuesday.
A joint statement from UNISON, GMB and the NEU says the plans do “a huge disservice to the school, the pupils, the staff and the community”.
The unions say the plans were developed without consultation from parents, union members or Brighton and Hove City Council, and that these plans amount to “handing over” the schools to less accountable CEOs.
The joint statement says: “The fact that they have by their own admission been planning this in secret for two years without telling anyone is scandalous.
“In those two years they could and should have been in talks with the Local Authority to address any genuine concerns they might have.
“They could have spoken to us the unions who have a great track record of lobbying on behalf of our members in schools. They could have spoken with councillors.
“They could have spoken with their own staff, unions and the local authority which would have given them the opportunity to hear views other than that of the Eko Trust and provided governors with a more informed and balanced view.
“They chose not to do any of those things. They instead chose to secretly meet with another employer, the Eko Trust, to arrange handing over both the schools and all of our members to them.
“This is a huge disservice to the school, the pupils, the staff and the community which faces being stripped of two more locally run assets for ever.
“Widely Multi Academy Trusts are accused of syphoning school funding away from classrooms and into huge salaries for CEOs whilst diminishing terms and conditions for staff; and face little public scrutiny whilst doing so.
“To describe this situation as an unprecedented and absolute breakdown in trust would be an understatement.
“We thought we had a positive and co-operative relationship with the Executive Head and school governors.
“Our unions are always willing to work constructively with the Executive Head and school governors if they are willing to work constructively with us, but actions speak louder than words and their actions illustrate otherwise.”
Matt Webb, from Brighton and Hove UNISON, said: “Unions are concerned that the multi-academy trust (MAT) may have told governors ‘We can fix all of your problems for you.’
“Rather than discussing this with anyone else, questioning or challenging this, governors have naively taken their word alone for it and essentially said ‘Before we give you the keys to the schools, we need to rush through a quick box-ticking statutory public consultation.’”
The statement says that the unions recognise that schools in the city face significant challenges from low birth rates and increasing demand for SEND provision.
They call for an urgent meeting between union leaders and the schools’ executive headteacher Emma Lake and the governors.
In their statement announcing the plans, Ms Lake said: “At the Orchard Schools Partnerships we are always looking at how we can continue to provide our pupils with the highest quality education, so they get the best start in their lives.
“As well as continually seeking to improve our teaching and renew our curriculum, this ongoing drive for progress also involves considering partnerships with others.
“As such, we have recently been having conversations with Eko Trust which we believe has the potential to benefit pupils and staff of both Benfield Primary School and Hangleton Primary School, and whose approach aligns very closely with our own.
“We look forward to hearing from our wider community before making any decisions about next steps.”
Rebekah Iiyambo, chief executive of Eko Trust said: “We are very proud of the family of schools we have built so far, which nurtures the uniqueness and individual skills of each setting while building a collaborative environment which enables continued progress.
“We believe that the Orchard Schools Partnership and Eko Trust joining together would be of huge mutual benefit to the pupils and staff of all our schools.
“We are really keen to hear people’s views on what we think is a really exciting opportunity for all parties.”
I doubt the pupils of these schools will benefit from this plan. It is outrageous that children should be treated as commodities to line the pockets of CEO’s. Who will of course want to make a profit for their company.
Why are most academies in deprived areas? The local school is very important to these areas. They are extended families for most of the children in these areas. A corporate model is alienating to most families.
Could you please tell me what it is that will benefit these schools?
This has been an underhand process, this needs to be a proper consultation with both parents & the community.
Acadamies definitely don’t improve schools, it strips it of its assets.
To put it bluntly, the governors at this school sound very naive. If it is true, that this proposed move has been orchestrated in secret as indicated in this article, where is the accountability? It sounds as though this proposed move may give the glossy presentation of securing more funding for a school . It may work for the children who fit the mold,do not have additonal needs and for the careers of senior management .
However, it is well documented that Academy trusts do not have to operate with the same accountability and this may have a range of implications.
This is another reason why Unions are so important. Well done to them for putting the pressure and spotlight on this.
Why is this story not about the catastrophic lack of support head teachers and governing bodies have received from the local authority over the last few years? Headteachers and governing bodies are turning to academies because they present the greatest opportunities and strong outcomes for pupils in a way the local authorities simply can’t. It’s time for a more balanced argument about this.
“Headteachers and governing bodies are turning to academies because they present the greatest opportunities and strong outcomes for pupils in a way the local authorities simply can’t. ”
You mean “money,” right? Because that’s all it is. LA school reaches the end of the financial road, can’t balance its budget otherwise, and the Academy chain offer a way out (albeit a Faustian one).
Academy schools get no more funding then publically owned ones.
MATs (Multi Academy Trusts) can promise the world (and usually do) however none of the issues that either schools face will be “fixed” by academising… poor funding, low birth rates… the cost of living in Brighton & Hove….
However academising does inhibit the autonomy of the schools in how issues are addressed. It removes all local governance and decision making and gives it to a CEO and MAT Board. There is no guarantee that was is best for a MAT is best for an individual school.
The schools could later be rebrokered to another trust and the schools and community would have no choice in the matter. Academising is irreversible.
Academising also removes pupils and staff from the protection and benefits of working in one of more than 60 nearby local authority schools. Thats a huge thing.
Benfield and Hangleton Primaries are good and successful schools. The schools have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
Hi Some Guy
Yes, schools are desperately short of funding but that applies to academy schools every bit as much – if not more than – local authority schools. I’ll briefly explain how…
BHCC have far higher financial resilience and ability to plan – for example as soon as we learnt last year that energy prices were about to double or triple the unions asked what impact that would have for school budgets.
It turned out that BHCC had bulk brought energy credits far in advance of the massive price hikes so much of the worst of that was mitigated – saving schools countless thousands of pounds.
That sort of thing is much easier for a local authority to do due its size than compared to a Multi Academy Trust, especially one with just half a dozen schools. Arguably the sharpest end of those increased energy costs would have otherwise had to have been stumped up by the schools.
But the bottom line is of course that Multi Academy Trusts do not have any funding not available to to local authority ones regardless of whatever promises they make to take over additional schools. In fact, the spending on disproportionate Senior Management and Leadership salaries actually diverts money from classrooms and staffing.
I understand the “free market” argument for academising schools however that is an ideolical driving factor and in my experience rarely (if ever) of tangible benefit to a school; certainly not schools with track records of already being rated “Good” and “Outstanding”.