What is it about any positive story about academies that makes me immediately doubt the validity of whatever is being claimed? I guess it probably has something to do with the fact that, more often than not, my doubts are well-founded. And last week was no exception.
As soon as I read the government press release entitled “Parents back academies as report confirms they continue to improve results and make good progress” alarm bells began to sound. The claim by the Department for Children, Schools and Families was based on an “independent report” it commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the press release was full of gushing comments from schools minister Andrew Adonis about just how wonderful his idea of schools sponsored by businessmen and religious groups was turning out to be.
I couldn’t help it – I had to dig deeper and have a look at the facts behind the claims. And, unsurprisingly, I found a much more mixed picture than Adonis and the DCSF would have everyone believe.
The most startling finding flagged up in the report and ignored in the press release is that the proportion of children in receipt of free school meals in many academies is falling as competition for places rises. This suggests that, despite many reassurances to the contrary in the past, admissions policies in these academies are now working against poorer children in favour of the more privileged (whose arrival may also help explain the much-acclaimed improvements in attainment levels).
The report also reveals that a small number of academies continue to have a relatively high number of permanent exclusions and absences.
I know I am cynical when it comes to these “schools”, but I feel I have no choice. All the time the government continues to view academies through rose-tinted spectacles and refuses to acknowledge the full facts before them, I feel it is my duty to redress the balance.