Proposals for Filsham Valley, Hillcrest and The Grove schools in Hastings
On 8 July Cabinet approved plans to move to the next stage in exploring the possibility of establishing two academies in Hastings.
You can watch our live webcast of this meeting and download the report made to Cabinet:
Background
Earlier this year, the County Council appointed Ninestiles Plus to improve the quality of education at these three secondary schools in Hastings. The schools already work closely together and they are consulting parents and others about forming a federation with a single governing body.
We are also looking at the options for the schools after the contract with Ninestiles Plus is completed, in August 2011. We need to do this planning well in advance so that we can consult with all interested parties and seek government approval for any changes that might be agreed.
We are proposing two new academies for students aged 11–16 which will be run by a single trust with the same sponsors. These two new academies will replace Filsham Valley, Hillcrest and The Grove schools. We are proposing two academies because the projections for future pupil numbers and the current surplus places at schools in Hastings mean that there will only be enough secondary age pupils for two academies.
Questions and answers about the proposal
What is an academy?
Academies are all-ability, state-funded schools established and managed by sponsors from a wide range of backgrounds, including high performing schools and colleges, universities, and businesses. Some sponsors are established educational providers and all of them bring a record of success in other enterprises, which they are able to apply to their academies in partnership with experienced school managers. All academies are bound by the same School Admissions Code, SEN Code of Practice and exclusions guidance as other state-funded schools. All new academies are also required to follow the National Curriculum programmes of study in English, maths, science and ICT.
How can we be sure those pupil number projections are right?
Our projections are based on the best currently available information.
Why are you considering this?
We are looking at a long-term strategy for pupils of Filsham Valley, Hillcrest and The Grove schools. It is obviously critically important that we have a strategy for how we build on the improvements that we are confident will be delivered by the federation over the next three years. This will ensure we have sustained and lasting improvement in levels of attainment after that period.
What is the process?
Having secured the support of the Government to proceed with this process, the potential sponsors now have to produce what is known as an Expression of Interest. This has to demonstrate the need for the academies and provide some important details about how they would be structured, for example their age range and pupil numbers. If that is agreed by the Government, the next step is a feasibility study and it is then that much more detailed planning takes place. In this period we also have detailed consultation with everyone involved. If the Government is content with the finalised proposals, the Secretary of State will sign the Funding Agreement (agreeing to pay for the new academy) and it is only then that the next stage, called the implementation stage, when the new academies are put in place, can begin.
This process can take up to three years to complete, which is why we have to start our planning now even though we are in the early stages of establishing the federation of the three mixed sex schools.
Will parents be consulted?
Absolutely and fully, as part of the feasibility process described above. There will be public meetings – parents, pupils and the local community will be sent full details of what is proposed and why, and will have every opportunity to comment.
If the Council has already decided to go ahead with academies what’s the point of parents commenting?
This is not a done deal. We believe it is the answer for Hastings but we have not decided to go ahead with the proposal and, at the end of the process, the final decision lies with the Secretary of State. All we have decided at this stage is to explore the possibility.
What are the timescales?
By the autumn this year we hope to have the Expression of Interest completed and agreed. This will enable the feasibility stage to begin towards the end of the year, taking us into 2009. We hope to get final Government agreement by the end of 2009 and then begin the implementation phase with two new academies opening in Hastings in Sept 2011. We have to follow Government procedures, including the time needed for the necessary approvals to be given during the process. We have also allowed considerable timescales to ensure the transformation is properly managed.
What extra funding will the schools get?
Academies don’t get any additional revenue (running cost) funding. However, there are Government capital grants available for new buildings or remodelling. The sponsors also have to set up an endowment fund with a target of £2m, which is to be used for educational purposes within the academies.
Which school will close?
All three schools: Filsham Valley, Hillcrest and The Grove will close. They will be replaced with two new academies.
Why only two academies, not three?
As above: We are proposing two academies because the projections for future pupil numbers and the current surplus places at schools in Hastings mean that there will only be enough secondary age pupils for two academies.
What sites will be used?
No conclusions have been reached on this. It could be any of the existing sites or different ones. Those issues will be examined in detail at the feasibility stage when the detailed plans are drawn up.
Will there be new buildings?
Again, no conclusions have been reached and this will be considered during the feasibility stage. There may be new school buildings or remodelling of existing ones. All options remain open.
What will happen to the staff?
Staff, with the exception of the existing head teachers, will automatically transfer over from the existing schools to the new academies, if they wish to. This is secured by the TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings – Protection of Employment) regulations.
What about the three head teachers, will they lose their jobs?
This will be an issue for the sponsors to decide at a much later stage. The two new academies will each need a head teacher and, if the academies were to be federated, the sponsors may wish to appoint an executive headteacher to be responsible for the federation.
Who will manage the new academies?
The sponsors, including East Sussex County Council (ESCC), will manage the academies. There will be a single trust and either one or two governing bodies. There will be an inclusive approach and the governing body (or bodies) will include the head teachers and parent representatives. The day-to-day management will remain with the head teacher.
Who are the sponsors?
The lead sponsor is the University of Brighton, the two co-sponsors are ESCC and BT.
Why BT?
BT has previous experience of developing an academy in Manchester. We know from their involvement there that they have exciting new ideas about developing innovative approaches to learning. As a blue chip company BT brings a huge range of experience and expertise to this project in terms of business support and customer support.
East Sussex is only the second authority where BT will be involved and we believe this will bring enormous benefit to the schools.
What role do the sponsors play?
They will make up the trust which will be responsible for the governance of the two academies.
What does this mean? Can they hire and fire?
The precise details of the governance arrangements will form part of the consultation. However, the trust will be a charitable company, the sponsors (including ESCC) will appoint the governing body (but this will include parent governors, representatives from the local community and the head teacher), and the governors will then manage the schools. This will include appointing staff and the principal.
Will the academy sponsors have the freedom to set teachers’ pay and conditions?
Yes although we expect this to be standard terms and conditions.
What do the sponsors get out of this?
In general terms organisations choose to be academy sponsors because it fits with their corporate social responsibility policies. They want to be involved in charitable activities or making a positive contribution to the local community. In our case we all see education as the key to regeneration of Hastings.
What are the benefits of these sponsors?
We believe that we have found the right sponsorship arrangements for Hastings. Our lead sponsor would be the University of Brighton, a progressive university of high calibre, which has established higher education opportunities in Hastings for a wide range of students who otherwise would not have had access to them. Our co-sponsor would be BT, now an international blue chip company with a wide spectrum of business and customer services, which we believe will bring extra expertise and experience in helping to improve our schools. As the local authority, we would also be a co-sponsor, keeping democratic accountability in the proposed new arrangements.
We believe that this combination of a public, higher education, sponsor combined with the business strengths of a major private sector company, together with the local authority, will offer powerful sponsorship for the proposed academies.
Why are academies the answer?
For various reasons. Firstly they enable radical change in one go (which for us will enable us to immediately build on the expected success of the Ninestiles Plus collaboration), secondly sponsors bring in their skills, input and expertise to each Academy which lead to innovative approaches to management, governance, teaching and the core curriculum, and finally there is the potential for academies to access Government capital grants early.
Why talk about this now when the collaboration between the three schools and Ninestiles Plus has only just started?
As before – we are looking at a long-term strategy for Filsham Valley, Hillcrest and The Grove schools beyond the three-year collaboration that has just begun. It is obviously critically important that we have a strategy for how we build on the improvements that we are confident will be delivered by the federation over the next three years – this will ensure sustained improvement in levels of attainment after that period. The collaboration with Ninestiles Plus is phase one of that strategy, the academies programme is phase two.
Are you not confident that the collaboration will achieve its objectives?
Yes we are. This is about building on those achievements and ensuring they are long-lasting.
What do you hope this will achieve?
The aim, of course, is to raise and maintain higher standards and improve attendance, behaviour, learning and attainment for the young people of Hastings.
How can you be sure it will work?
There are no guarantees, but we believe this is the best solution to the question of how to achieve lasting improvement in Hastings. The experience elsewhere is that academies can achieve real improvement in standards.
Who is supporting this proposal?
Obviously ESCC, the sponsors, and the Government. Nationally, the academies policy is also one that is supported by the two main political parties.
Isn’t this just privatisation?
No, the academies will be state-funded schools and, as above, are bound by the same School Admissions Code, core curriculum, SEN Code of Practice and exclusions guidance as all other state-funded schools. This is about bringing in opportunities for innovation, transformational change and long-lasting improvement through the involvement of external expertise.
Isn’t it just the local authority washing its hands of the situation?
No, East Sussex County Council remains as committed to achieving educational improvement in Hastings as it has ever been. We believe education is the key to achieving real regeneration for Hastings, and raising the hopes, aspirations and attainment of young people in the town is vitally important. That is why ESCC has chosen to be a co-sponsor of this academies programme. We do not have to be, but we want to continue to be a key partner in achieving that success.
Will opening these academies adversely affect other schools in the area?
Quite the opposite. The academies will be part of the local family of schools, sharing their facilities and expertise with other schools and the wider community, contributing to raising standards across the whole area.
With so much change, isn’t this going to cause turmoil?
We are planning this now with no pressure on timescales in order to get it right and to ensure there is a properly managed process of change over a fairly long period of time.
What difference is an academy going to make to my child?
We believe that academies will offer a whole range of new opportunities for children and young people in Hastings, creating sustained and lasting improvements in standards and attainment. This is important not only to the individual success of young people but to the regeneration of the whole area. More successful schools in Hastings will encourage more businesses to relocate here, more people to settle and a greater sense of pride and achievement in local communities.
