3 Managing risks to programme capacity
17. The performance of each academy is highly dependent
on the effectiveness of its leadership and its governance arrangements.
Ofsted has so far found that most academies inspected have good
or better leaders and governing bodies compared with all secondary
schools inspected.[40]
There is, however, a longer term risk that the capacity of the
Academies programme to achieve its objectives could be affected
by insufficient numbers of head teachers or sponsors of a sufficient
calibre.
18. On sponsors, the Department is confident that
there will be enough individuals and groups wishing to contribute
to academies to meet the target for opening 200 academies.[41]
To recruit high quality head teachers and reflecting the scale
of challenge of running an academy, academies usually pay higher
salaries for their principals than many other secondary schools,
though some other schools' governing bodies also exercise discretion
to determine the going rate for a head teacher, and to pay a higher
salary where necessary.[42]
In 2004-05, 13 academy principals (for whom information was available)
earned salaries in the range £80,000 to £118,000, compared
with normal salary ranges of between £62,000 and £88,000
for maintained schools in London (salaries outside London are
generally lower).[43]
19. Academies compete with other schools to attract
high quality teaching staff. They have flexibility to pay teachers
as they wish, outside of the national benchmarks. The Department
believes that some academies are using this flexibility, but is
not aware of any that are paying teachers less than equivalent
schools.[44] Academies
face similar pressures to other schools in recruiting teachers
in some specialist areas such as science, but the Department does
not believe that quality of education has been adversely affected
by such pressures.[45]
20. Each academy project produces lessons that would
be useful for the Department and other academies, but there is
no single source where newly planned academies can draw on the
experience of those that are already established. From September
2005, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust has had responsibility
for providing support to academies.[46]
Good practice is also shared through the academy principals' network
and through school improvement partners.[47]
During the development of an academy, the Department's project
leads and project managers are expected to draw out the lessons
and share them. Part of their role is to enable feedback on plans
from sponsors, governors and principals, and to challenge the
cost of the plans where appropriate.[48]
21. Ofsted inspections of two of the early academies
identified serious problems. The Unity City Academy was in special
measures until May 2007 and the Business Academy, Bexley, was
given a notice to improve.[49]
The Department has carried out interventions where academies have
needed it. At Unity City Academy, the intervention was led by
a Chief Executive, a Director of Education and an Executive Principal.
The Department has also carried out two other interventions at
Greig City Academy and West London Academy, both of which were
successful. An increased number of academies could bring the need
to launch more interventions in future where an academy runs into
difficulty.[50]
40 C&AG's Report, para 2.21 Back
41
Q 12 Back
42
Qq 65-69 Back
43
C&AG's Report, para 3.42 Back
44
Qq 92-95 Back
45
Q 100 Back
46
C&AG's Report, paras 2.24, 2.27 Back
47
Qq 16, 20 Back
48
Qq 17-19 Back
49
A school requires special measures when it is failing to provide
an acceptable standard of education and its leaders are not demonstrating
the capacity to secure the necessary improvement. A school that
it is not providing an acceptable standard of education but with
leaders who can improve the school, or a school that is performing
significantly less well than it should receives a notice to improve.
Back
50
C&AG's Report, paras 2.23, 2.26; Q 7 Back
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