Schools Daunted by Academy Conversion Process.
With less than 200 schools registering an interest in converting to Academy status and only 32 schools achieving the conversion by the first possible date on 1 September, local lawyer Caroline Carretta believes many may have been overwhelmed by the administrative demands of the conversion process.
In June this year Michael Gove told MP’s that some 1,100 schools had expressed an interest in becoming Academies. To date, the Dept for Education (DfE) has only received about 170 applications.
Caroline Carretta, Commercial Partner at Humphries Kirk, suggests that many schools may simply be overwhelmed by the requirements of the conversion process.
Caroline said, “Whilst there are undoubted benefits to becoming an academy and having greater control over the school’s finances, assets and contractual arrangements, the process of converting to an Academy can be quite daunting at first glance”.
Converting to an Academy requires the completion of a number of separate yet clearly linked processes, including registration with the DfE, conducting TUPE consultations, finalising governance documentation with the DfE, registering the Academy with Companies House, agreeing transfer or leasing arrangements for the land and buildings, submitting a funding agreement to the Secretary of State, orchestrating the transfer of assets and contracts to the Academy, putting in place new financial systems and banking arrangements, dealing with the publicity and disclosure requirements which apply to all companies and completing the Academy registrations with exam boards. This is just a taste of what is involved. (Click here for a guide on becoming an academy as listed on the DfE website)
The DfE suggests that the process might take up to 3 months but Caroline suspects that many may not even get that far.
“I have been working with Chadwell Heath Foundation School in London and whilst it has been a demanding project the staff and Governors have been keen to forge ahead and we managed to successfully complete the conversion process in less than two months.”
Chadwell Heath is a state secondary school in the London borough of Redbridge, and qualified to become one of the first “wave” of schools to apply for the new Academy status, having been assessed as “outstanding” in its last Ofsted inspection.
Keith Wilkinson, head teacher at Chadwell Heath said, “Thankfully we had a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve in converting to an academy and this has helped us to maintain our focus in completing this process. I am very grateful for Caroline’s advice and hard work in helping us to get there so quickly”.
Caroline is keen to capitalise on her recent experience with Chadwell Heath and is happy to chat with other schools who may be interested in converting to an Academy.
If you would like to speak to Caroline about anything you have read in this article then telephone 01305 251007.
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