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| Headteachers' union chief slams government over academisation policy | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The government is “not winning the argument on academies” and has no answers for critics of plans to force local authority schools into multi-academy trusts, according to the new president of the National Association of Head Teachers. | The government is “not winning the argument on academies” and has no answers for critics of plans to force local authority schools into multi-academy trusts, according to the new president of the National Association of Head Teachers. |
| Kim Johnson, a headteacher of an academy in Kent, will ask the NAHT’s annual conference on Friday: “What is wrong with being a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ school within the local authority system?” | Kim Johnson, a headteacher of an academy in Kent, will ask the NAHT’s annual conference on Friday: “What is wrong with being a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ school within the local authority system?” |
| The NAHT is the latest teaching union to express dismay at the government’s education white paper published last month, which would see schools currently maintained by local authorities transferred to become academies by 2022, with many taken over by a multi-academy trust. | The NAHT is the latest teaching union to express dismay at the government’s education white paper published last month, which would see schools currently maintained by local authorities transferred to become academies by 2022, with many taken over by a multi-academy trust. |
| The issue is particularly fraught for the NAHT, whose members mostly run primary schools – of which around only one in five in England has become an academy, compared with around 60% of secondary schools. | The issue is particularly fraught for the NAHT, whose members mostly run primary schools – of which around only one in five in England has become an academy, compared with around 60% of secondary schools. |
| “Academies: to be or not to be, that is the question,” Johnson will tell the conference delegates. “A question you must be free to answer for yourself. No school should be compelled to convert.” | “Academies: to be or not to be, that is the question,” Johnson will tell the conference delegates. “A question you must be free to answer for yourself. No school should be compelled to convert.” |
| He claims that the Conservative party is divided over the issue, at council level and among the Conservative-led Local Government Association, because of issues such as who will provide school places once councils lose sway over schools in their regions. | He claims that the Conservative party is divided over the issue, at council level and among the Conservative-led Local Government Association, because of issues such as who will provide school places once councils lose sway over schools in their regions. |
| “There is so much going on in good and outstanding schools that works without being an academy that this rush doesn’t seem to recognise,” Johnson is to say, according to remarks distributed by the union ahead of the conference. | “There is so much going on in good and outstanding schools that works without being an academy that this rush doesn’t seem to recognise,” Johnson is to say, according to remarks distributed by the union ahead of the conference. |
| “On a political note it is interesting that the philosophy of a free market and diversity in services – so often at the core of Tory policy – does not seemingly apply at this time to education.” | “On a political note it is interesting that the philosophy of a free market and diversity in services – so often at the core of Tory policy – does not seemingly apply at this time to education.” |
| He is also “very concerned that the cost of conversion will draw money away from frontline classroom services” at a time of steep cuts to school budgets. | He is also “very concerned that the cost of conversion will draw money away from frontline classroom services” at a time of steep cuts to school budgets. |
| “The government has no answers to these questions,” he is to tell delegates in Birmingham. “It is not winning the argument on academies.” | “The government has no answers to these questions,” he is to tell delegates in Birmingham. “It is not winning the argument on academies.” |
| The new president will be highly critical of the Department for Education’s changes to assessments for primary school pupils, with controversial new assessments introduced and in some cases withdrawn through departmental error, such as the new key stage one spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) assessment. | The new president will be highly critical of the Department for Education’s changes to assessments for primary school pupils, with controversial new assessments introduced and in some cases withdrawn through departmental error, such as the new key stage one spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) assessment. |
| “Do we now have the hokey cokey of assessment?” Johnson will ask. “You put the Spag test in, you put the Spag test out, you put it all online and wait for the children to shout: “I know the answer – what was the question? | “Do we now have the hokey cokey of assessment?” Johnson will ask. “You put the Spag test in, you put the Spag test out, you put it all online and wait for the children to shout: “I know the answer – what was the question? |
| “Schools and parents cannot face another year of assessment chaos. Now is the time to call for a better system of assessment – one that works for parents, pupils and teachers, rather than one that just ticks boxes for bureaucrats and politicians.” | “Schools and parents cannot face another year of assessment chaos. Now is the time to call for a better system of assessment – one that works for parents, pupils and teachers, rather than one that just ticks boxes for bureaucrats and politicians.” |
| Russell Hobby, the NAHT’s general secretary, said serious mistakes had been made in the implementation of primary school assessments this year, including frequent changes as well as contradictory guidelines. | Russell Hobby, the NAHT’s general secretary, said serious mistakes had been made in the implementation of primary school assessments this year, including frequent changes as well as contradictory guidelines. |
| “Testing has a role to play in the assessment of children but the poorly designed tests and last minute changes we have seen this year do not add value to teaching,” Hobby said. | “Testing has a role to play in the assessment of children but the poorly designed tests and last minute changes we have seen this year do not add value to teaching,” Hobby said. |
| “Increasingly, parents and teachers agree that high-stakes statutory tests can actually make it harder to find out what children are really learning and to improve their education.” | “Increasingly, parents and teachers agree that high-stakes statutory tests can actually make it harder to find out what children are really learning and to improve their education.” |