The DfE has announced that they will be dropping two of the key proposed policies for academisation made in their ‘Opportunity for All’ White Paper published last March.
Trust growth abandoned
For some time, the future of the White Paper, released five Education Secretaries ago, has been a matter of intense speculation. In January, at the Schools North East Academies Conference, senior trust and school leaders and leaders in the sector such as Leora Cruddas debated whether the government would be dropping any of their main proposals.
Last week, in a Schools North East Roundtable with trust CEOs from across the North East covering both primary and secondary schools, concerns were raised about the lack of clarity from the DfE. In general, the Roundtable highlighted the feeling of a growing vacuum at the heart of this key policy, leaving leaders without guidance; something especially concerning for the region’s smaller trusts, SATs and maintained schools.
This has led to conflicting messages on how academisation should/ will be approached, with some at DfE promoting MAT mergers rather than allowing single academy trusts (SATs) and smaller MATs to grow. School leaders said that small MATs had been ‘undervalued, and more recognition was needed on the strengths of MATs of different sizes’. Failure to do so has meant that the skills and expertise of many schools is being ignored or not utilised effectively.
The pressure to grow and merge MATs has been time consuming, and is taking school leaders away from strategic planning and school improvement. Finances are also high on the list of related policy concerns. Budgets ultimately have the last word on all issues, whether it be recruitment and retention, supporting students, trust growth, or school improvement.
Schools Week has today confirmed that the government has indeed scrapped two of Opportunity for All’s main proposals. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has dropped the 2030 target of all schools to be in or preparing to join multi-academy trusts as well as abandoning the ambition for Local Authorities to form their own trusts.
Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East commented: “As our roundtable shows, the Opportunity for All White Paper has put a lot of pressure on schools. Since the White Paper was published, schools have spent a lot of time and energy on planning and preparing for changes that have now been scrapped. Schools need clear guidance and policy that supports them to be most effective for the communities that they serve. They deserve a joined up approach from cabinet to the chalkface rather than having their efforts wasted on fruitless policy u-turns.”
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