Parc Eglos Interested in Academy Status
By Em_Williams | Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 09:09
It’s been revealed that Helston’s Parc Eglos School could become an independent academy. It’s one of around 1,600 in England that has registered an interest with the Department of Education. If they were to get the go-ahead it would mean they could break away from council control.
Becoming an academy would give the school more freedom to set their own curriculum, decide on their own term times and the length of the school day. It also means they’d get free reign to decide what their teachers should be paid.
Academies will be set up using extra funding from the government. Critics say that’ll give them an unfair advantage. There are also concerns that this could split the education system with academies being seen to provide a higher standard of education, leaving state run schools to be regarded as second best.
The new coalition government invited schools in England to apply to become academies back in May. 25 other schools in Cornwall have registered their interest including Grade Ruan school on the Lizard.
For more information on what becoming an academy would mean check out the Q&A: Academies and Free Schools article on the BBC News website.
Comments
@chris_wasey I guess they would be still inspected by OFSTED.
In Falmouth a couple of schools have registered interest. I'll be interesting to see how many of the interested schools become academies.
By irgmcdonald at 19:36 on 04/07/10
ReportI keep hearing a lot about academies, but as I teach in FE I don't know a lot about them. They sounds good in principle, but surely additional funding and promoting a different, 'improved' image in the eyes of the public will establish the two tier system you describe. Also, are they still accountable to standardisation organisations like OFSTED?
By chris_wasey at 20:47 on 01/07/10
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