BLACKBOARD BUNGLE?

18-06-2007

Birmingham is about to embark on the brave new world of City Academies, where failing schools are reinvented with the help of big business and millionaire sponsors. Edward Cameron wonders what they’ll want in return.

Birmingham’s first wave of City Academies was unveiled last week with five secondary schools due to pass into private sponsorship.

Merry Hill centre businessmen the Richardsons will lead a consortium for Kings Norton High Academy while charities ARK and Edutrust will sponsor two Academies each. ARK will sponsor the Harborne Hill and St Alban’s CE Academies; Edutrust will sponsor the Heartlands High and Shenley Court Academies

The seven Academies will be at the heart of the city’s £750m Building Schools for the Future programme.

The sponsors will contribute £2 million to the Academy Trust endowment fund while sponsors of multiple Academies contribute £1.5 million to their fourth and subsequent Academies.

Academies are all-ability schools with a mission to transform secondary education. They tend to follow the Government’s specialism plan in areas like computing, engineering, health, mathematics, performing arts and sport.

City Academies have attracted a fair amount of concern and criticism, not least because of the decision to allow private companies to have such a say over how the schools are run.

A number of academies have seen parents frustrated that they do not have as much of a say on the governing bodies as they would in an ordinary school. Other worries have been raised over schools in Middlesborough sponsored by the Evangelical Christian Sir Peter Vardy, who has been accused of insisting the teaching of Creationism in Science lessons to explain the origins of humanity.

The school’s website claims part of its mission statement is ‘to encourage personal, moral and spiritual development within a Christian framework’. But Middlesborough Council has also investigated and found that evolution is taught there and that children are made aware of other theories.

Roy and Don Richardson are renowned around the West Midlands for their work but what about these other sponsors?

Well Edutrust appears to be sponsoring just one Academy so far, according to its website www.edutrust.org which is the Rhodesway Academy in Allerton, Bradford.

It’s being supported by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord George Carey of Clifton. But the move sparked anger in Bradford because neither councillors nor teachers at Rhodesway School knew about the plan, something which was corrected in Brum thanks to Mike Whitby’s big launch last week.

The Rhodesway Academy is due to replace the school in 2008. Edutrust is chaired by Lord Amir Bhatia, OBE. The rest of the board of trustees includes a healthy mix of religions and backgrounds as well as people dedicated to fostering good relations between ethnic minorities.

The other Brum sponsor is called ARK, which stands for Absolute Return for Kids.

Their website www.arkonline.org makes it clear exactly why they are involved: “The UK education system is failing many disadvantaged children. Five times as many schools in deprived areas are in Special Measures as in more privileged neighbourhoods.

"Only 9% of young people in the poorest 20% of the population receive a university degree by age 23. Educational underachievement is linked to low adult income, young parenthood and depression.”

Chief among ARK’s concerns is the teenage pregnancy rate in Britain. They offer teenagers the chance to volunteer in nurseries so they can see just how tough raising kids can be.

The charity also does a lot of work overseas with HIV and AIDS orphans in South Africa. It is run by Aspad Busson, former partner of model Elle ‘the Body’ McPherson

I’m not totally convinced by the Academy programme. When you think that of a £25 million rebuild, the £2 million sponsorship effectively gives ownership to private companies it does raise my eyebrows with thoughts of schools being run as businesses.

I also hate the idea of local school specialising. To think that a child might have to choose which school they go to on the basis of one subject area that we want them to have the best facilities and teaching in seems to have no logic.

Why can’t all schools be the best they can be in all subjects? And if these specialist schools are the best they can be in all subjects, why point out a specialism?

But this is all very new and it’s going to be years before we see what differences they can make in their communities.

I’m just glad I don’t have kids yet. I’d hate to make this sort of a choice for them while this great private-public education experiment lies unfinished.

Can City Academies really make a difference to failing schools? And at what price? Leave a comment on our Message Board.