Monday 7 May 2012

Headteachers claim forced academy status is unjustified

Article written by Louise Tickle in The Guardian (7 May 2012)

"In Birmingham, primary headteachers say they are being forced to convert to academy status even though their schools are showing real improvement. What is the truth?

Anna Jones* is a headteacher with a proven track record in school improvement. When she joined her Birmingham primary school, it was in special measures. She had brought a previous school out of special measures and was appointed to do the same again. As soon as she arrived, Jones set about an extensive analysis of the gaps in teaching performance and put in place a monitoring programme to check and re-check that pupils' achievement (progress) and attainment (results) were accurately assessed and targeted for improvement.

The efforts appear to be working. The school is now out of special measures and was deemed "satisfactory" after an Ofsted monitoring visit. It is oversubscribed in some year groups, has 95% attendance, and pupil achievement and attainment are increasing fast. Crucially, internal tracking of progress predicts that, come this summer, the school will pass Ofsted's newly redrawn Sats floor target, under which 60% of 11-year-olds must reach the standard expected of them in English and maths."


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