Prs Academy Conversion

PRS – ACADEMY CONVERSION

NOTES FROM PARENT INFORMATION EVENING – 6pm to 8pm, 8TH JUNE 2011

Approximate no. of attendees (parents) 60

L’ship members in attendance:

Pete Rowe (Executive Headteacher)

Sue Collings (Associate Headteacher)

Rod Gibberd (Business Manager)

Iain Priestley (Assistant Headteacher)

Pete Rowe welcomed the audience and gave the following presentation:

Key points arising:

The economic future is bleak: our conversion to Academy status has no bearing on that fact
PRS is a ‘converter academy’ as opposed to the old-style sponsored academy
There will be no change to PRS’ brand
A number of schools in Bucks (and nationwide) have already converted (1,500 by the start of June)
There are inherent dangers within the academy status system for weak schools. PRS is not an “I’m alright Jack” type of educator and therefore considers the support of those weaker schools as a very important factor
PRS is the largest employer in the area: we are experts in managing a multi-million pound business. Academies will be independent of the LA but this is not a concern, since the expertise for running the ‘business’ already exists within the school community
SEN, admissions and transport will remain under LA control.
Transport and Academies are very much separate items. Concerns have arisen because the LA have changed transport arrangements so the issues have become conflated.
Converted Academies will still take SEN students from their catchment. Out of catchment is different.
Existing T’s & C’s for staff will remain as they are at present but this may be reviewed at some point in the future. For instance, if PRS chose to do so, we could introduce a bonus scheme for staff.
The key factor driving the decision to convert to academy status is that doing so will generate additional income for the school at a time when government funding is reducing. It has been stated that funding for education remains unchanged from previous years, but this is untrue: our funding cuts are already deep. The ‘additional’ income generated by converting to Academy status will help us to break even on that reduced central funding
If PRS did not convert to Academy status, we would be isolated in the area.
Our links with PRPS are already excellent. As our nominated partner school under the Academy system it will continue to go from strength to strength
We have no show-stopping anomalies for conversion like being a community centre.
Our expectation is that the Academy Trust will retain our existing Governing Body – it is self-referential
A series of milestones will be achieved along the way: the resolution is a commitment to start the journey
We will employ solicitors and accountants to assist us
We have already outsourced our HR to Strictly Education rather than using the LA
Parents will not really see any difference following our conversion to Academy status
There will be no change to admissions – the LA need to remain responsible for them
Academies cannot take out loans
The financial situation is somewhat unknown. We need to calculate which services we will need to buy in from the LA like EWO, but some advisory services are not value for money. It could take a couple of years to work out which services we really need: schools will collaborate to get the best support.
We believe it is important to be transparent: parents can trust this decision, which has been ratified by the Governing Body.
If parents think our conversion to Academy status is a good thing, we would like them to write to us and say so. If parents think it is a bad thing, we know they will write and say so!

Q&A Summary

Concern raised over change of Leadership and Governance:
Parent Governors will be appointed by election. The Academy Trust will be made up of Governors and could even be 5 parent Governors.PRS Governors will select Trust members based on appropriate skills. The Trust states which groups must be represented. Governance will remain exactly the same as at present. Whether we are an Academy or not, a change in Leadership will determine the success or not of a school.

Who bails us out if we go into deficit?
National Government: We are not meant to make a profit – it will be a case of money in, money out.
Is the risk too great?
The LA won’t let us run deficit budgets. We break even or make people redundant. If a school does go into deficit an Executive Head is brought in to resolve the situation.
For the last few years we have been ‘lean and mean’. Every child is worth money – with full numbers, we gain more funding.

On a monthly basis we are held to account for the efficiencies we can make. We run a business and this is the appropriate thing to do.

Morally we can protest against Academy status, but pragmatically every child is important and we need to fund them now. The time to protest was when the current Government shared its manifesto.

The LA is shrinking already, so their service is reducing.

£150k Academy funding in Year 1, possibly Year 2: What next?
We simply don’t know. The amount of funding is based on an algorithm of many factors and the bottom line is that our funding for next year will be around £150k less from central government. Any reduction in funding would be based on pupil numbers and therefore would have the same impact for an Academy as for a maintained school.
The £150k is not a windfall – it has been taken away with the other hand.

Could the Academy Trust guarantee the educational philosophy of the school?
Probably not. Governors are democratically elected. The Chair of Governors and the Headteacher are in close contact with each other, which will be true whether we become an Academy or not.

Who will be in the Academy Trust?
It will be roles, not names – Chair of Governors, Headteacher, Chair of Finance, Chair of Personnel etc., with equal voting rights. Our view is to have 5 members of the Trust. The independent person is never completely independent: they have their own ideology.

How will the Academy’s educational standards be judged?
We will continue to be inspected by Ofsted and therefore judged by their standards.
The LA will support failing schools.

Capital monies –The James report has stated that capital projects will be secured through bids.
It is not a level playing field. BSF has gone and the DFCG is down by 80%.

Will there be changes to PRS’ curriculum?
Changes will be nothing to do with whether we become an Academy or not. We will make changes if we feel they are worthwhile.
The Specialist Schools Programme has been reduced, so Governors will decide on the compulsory nature of D&T, but that could take up to 2 years to change.
Ofsted is also changing how they look at schools. Currently the specialist programme is judged but this may change going forward.

Apart from finance, are there any other benefits?
It’s supposedly exciting to have other freedoms, but we have already done exciting things before: we are already entrepreneurial.

Points raised by Governor (Caroline Penfold)

We didn’t “jump ship” immediately. We have learnt from others’ experiences. The Leadership group and Governors are a strong team and all the “what if’s” and “maybe’s” have been investigated. We would not have pressed the “go” button without full details.
We do know that it’s the right way forward and we have confidence in the Leadership group.
This isn’t a “runaway train”; it’s a well thought through plan of action, given the current economic climate.
We are here on the “sell” and parents are independent: please say so if you are against it.
When should we convert to Academy status? Why now? If we don’t go now, we’ll wither on the vine, because 50% of the LA and therefore the services that it provides schools, has gone.
The Government’s political policy is for all secondary schools to be Academies by the next election. After that, more primaries will convert.
As part of the parents’ consultation, they are invited to write to Governors.

Pete thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.