Why is an Academy needed?

The government's Academies programme gives us the quickest and best source of capital funding to develop state-of-the-art secondary school facilities for the Rother Valley while also providing expertise and additional resources to give a dramatic boost for the development of local secondary provision not otherwise available to us.

In spite of the excellent progress made in taking MGS out of special measures, fewer parents have been sending their children to the school.

In spite of heroic recent efforts by staff, governors and loyal support from the majority of local parents, this systemic problem remains.

We are fortunate in having secured the commitment of the most experienced Academy sponsor, the United Learning Trust (ULT), who bring the expertise needed to make the proposed Academy a success.

In simple terms, how does an Academy work?

An Academy operates as a normal state school, funded by central government but with additional funding from a private sponsor and the expertise and further resources the sponsor brings. It also gains certain freedoms in how it operates, how it organises the running of the school, the curriculum, the additional resources it calls upon and the partnership arrangements it makes, while being accountable to central government for the delivery of standards and the core curriculum.

Academies offer a broad and balanced curriculum to students of all abilities, and offer one or more specialisms. Money for all the core services (education and teaching, buildings and a wide range of support services) will come from central government.

All places at Academies are free of charge. Places at a Rother Valley Academy would be available to all local young people under an agreed and published admissions policy similar to those applying to all other secondary schools within West Sussex.

Separate funding arrangements involving the local authority will deal with the continued provision of support to local children with special educational needs, who would be welcomed at the Academy,
Academies are operated by not-for-profit Trusts.

They secure sponsorship of up to £2m to support the charitable purposes of the Academy: this money is not for the core educational functions, but is put into an endowment fund aimed at enhancing opportunities for local young people.

If Academies are so good, why aren't there more of them?

There are only limited national funds available – mainly for the significant capital investment from central government but also from private sponsors who have the expertise and commitment required.

The government is already committed to open more than 400 Academies and recently announced an acceleration in the number that would be opened each year.

The Academy we're proposing for young people in the Rother Valley would be one of the pioneers in rural areas, but more are planned.

If the education system stays as it is in the Rother Valley, how do you envisage the system being in five/ten years' time?

There is a significant risk that the rolls of smaller schools, both primary and secondary, will continue to fall. This would place pressure upon the facilities and resources at Midhurst Grammar such that the demands on staff will increase and the confidence and support of the local community will be tested.

In such circumstances we may struggle to sustain, let alone improve further, current standards and performance, even with the huge commitment of school managers and staff to build upon recent achievements.

The three-tier system, with intermediate schools, has its very real strengths, of course, but it is increasingly costly to protect and not sufficiently popular with local parents, a significant proportion of whom still send their children out of the local catchment area or choose the private school option.

The county council wishes to help schools to rejuvenate educational provision in the Rother Valley. We are tackling the age of transfer challenge and have proposed that a single secondary school is created to achieve a truly world class education for all young people aged 11 to 18 in the area.

Why can't the money that will be made available to the Academy be given instead to the grammar school to update the very old buildings?

Some of the money comes from the private sector and they will want to influence how that is spent.

For the significant central government investment the DCSF will want assurances that standards will improve quickly and this means real changes in approach and accountability.

It is not just a question of throwing money at the problem. There must be a guarantee high aspirations will lead to new educational opportunities and higher educational achievements for local young people.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has been quite clear with us. There is no prospect of any significant capital investment coming Midhurst's way for years to come unless we secure what can now be made available to us.

To turn down up to some £30m of capital funding would be wrong and would deprive local children and school staff the opportunity they deserve of working in the most supportive learning environment that could be provided.

Aren't Academies for inner-city areas? Why do you think the Academy will make such a difference in the Rother Valley?

Initially this was the case as the national Academy programme focused on schools with the greatest problems of low educational standards and performance.

The government is now recognising that smaller rural secondary schools can also struggle to sustain standards and that they too should benefit from major investment – one that will ultimately benefit the whole community.

I am confident that if it proceeds, this ambitious project would make a huge difference for the communities of the Rother Valley. The establishment of a new, energetically-run Academy should be positive news for parents across our county and beyond.

Likewise, the Academy would act as a beacon for other local schools, sharing its resources and working closely with local primary schools to ensure the transition from primary to secondary education works well for all future pupils.

Can you guarantee all humanities and arts subjects and modern foreign languages currently provided as part of the timetabled curriculum would remain so within the proposed Academy?

It is impossible for any school to guarantee the continuation of any specific subject into the medium term and beyond. None of our existing county council schools would do so; we mustn't expect the Academy to do so either.

Curriculum decisions at ULT-sponsored Academies are made by the principal and senior staff subject to central ULT frameworks and guidance.

It is ULT policy to offer a broad and balanced curriculum.
Although the Academy would have specialisms of science with mathematics, a full curriculum including humanities, arts subjects and modern foreign languages would of course be offered.

It is also guaranteed that all students at the Academy who have already begun the syllabus for external examinations in any subject would be able and encouraged to complete this qualification.

Would you consider monitoring and publishing the balance of uptake of humanities, arts around MFL and vocational subjects in the proposed Academy during its first three years, to ensure that choice is not restricted and that some subject areas would not suffer from a 'squeeze' in the race to appear to raise standards?

The county council and community representatives would have a role on the governing body and will support the sponsors in achieving full transparency as part of its commitment to the community.

I am confident the new Academy will have nothing to hide. It will be up to governors and the community to measure and assess its academic and specialist strengths, which will very quickly become obvious to observers.

Its success, as with all schools, will be judged by parents locally, as well as by the inspections applicable to all other state-maintained schools.

Can you assure parents that, unlike other Academies, you would make available to current and prospective parents full results, subject by subject? What do you feel about the sponsor's unwillingness to release this data?

That would be for the principal of the Academy to decide, but I can see no reason why such data would not be available. Likewise I am not aware of ULT being unwilling to provide this data to parents at its existing Academies.

Academies are inspected by Ofsted, using the same framework as for any other state school. Prior to opening, the proposed policy documents for the Academy would be subject to inspection.

A full Ofsted inspection – with the full results being published – has to be carried out within six terms of the opening. Prior to this inspection the Academy would receive regular visits from Ofsted inspectors.

Given this would be the fastest-ever establishment of an Academy, how can you possibly ensure the process would be executed effectively, so schools, their staff, and, most importantly, the children won't suffer as a result?

The county council and ULT, as proposed sponsor, have entered into this programme with real commitment and enthusiasm and see no reason why we cannot work together with current staff and the wider community to achieve good outcomes quickly.

The building work and any agreed final age of transfer arrangements would be arranged so any possible disruption can be minimized for children and staff.

If the gains of the proposed change to Academy status can be delivered sooner we should try to do so.

The governing bodies, leadership team and staff of the three secondary schools, in particular, have been involved in the consultation process since the Academy option was first given the green light by the DCSF in late January this year.

I would counter this question by asking one of my own... Are you content the current decline in secondary school numbers should be allowed to continue?

Or would you like prompt and urgent action to be taken to begin to address current and future challenges?

Children have only one chance at their education... and for the adults responsible for providing the very best educational opportunities in the Rother Valley, time is of the essence.

How can you assure parents the governors chosen would actually represent the wide diversity of parents, staff and local people's views on the governing body, rather than just supporting the sponsor's position?

This is an area over which the county council would have a key influence.

Within our role as children's services authority, we are keen to ensure the proposed Academy fulfils its obligations to the wider needs of young people. This includes ensuring the governing body includes staff, parent and community representation.

The funding agreement between ULT, the sponsor, and the government would also set down the expectations for local involvement in the school's management. ULT has already made strong commitments on this matter.

It is planned there will be 15 local governors, up to ten of whom would come from within the local community. There would still be the usual elected governors, representing parents and staff and a local authority governor.

Under these circumstances I am 100 per cent confident the sponsors would be kept fully in touch with local opinion and preferences by seeking strong community representation and engagement.

Would you monitor exclusion rates at the proposed Academy, and publish data comparing exclusions in the first three years of the proposed academy, with those in the preceding three years?

The county council retains obligations to manage the education of pupils at risk of exclusion and will work closely with the Academy to minimise pupil exclusions. Such data will therefore be available.

Can you guarantee that unlike other ULT Academies, no unqualified people would be employed to teach classes in place of qualified teachers?

Staff training and development is something ULT takes very seriously. Where ULT has employed unqualified teachers, it is because they have transferred across under TUPE (which guarantees the rights of existing staff) from the predecessor school.

Why can't we give parents a choice of an Academy or keeping MGS as it is?

Within a rural area – where only one school will be available for most students – we must accept the same levels of choice as in larger towns will not be available.

Rather, we want to ensure parents see the proposed Academy as a significant improvement in the prospects for their children. The choice will be between staying where we are or seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get the quality of provision the area deserves.

You are on record as saying 'good parents' would support the Academy, and would not deny their children the 'good opportunity' of associating with Winchester College. Are parents who oppose the Academy, bad parents in your eyes?

No – that is not my meaning. I cannot see why any parents would want to oppose the level of investment and reinvigoration that this scheme would bring to the local communities.

There is no suggestion that opponents may be bad parents.

Can you offer one over-riding reason why the Academy must go ahead for the Rother Valley?

It is our best chance to secure the future education our children and this important rural community deserves.

This is a complex matter, which does not lend itself to over-simplification. Just like schools and education generally, it needs to be addressed carefully and calmly, with a decent dash of scepticism.

But I am quite sure continuing along the previous path or seeking the relative comfort of a 'no change' option in the face of the major challenges facing state education in the Rother Valley would not be child-centred or supportive of hard-pressed staff.

And I can see ULT and Winchester have records of persistent success which we can add to the high levels of expertise already evident in our local schools.

I firmly believe we are facing a truly exciting and historic opportunity to build a wonderful new school in our community. I welcome this and consider that not to embrace the challenge before us would be truly irresponsible.

The option of opening an Academy is the greatest opportunity we have had in many years – or will have for many years – for accelerating educational achievement in the area.