Academy Aware

With academies being the centre of attention lately, it may help you to understand what’s so different about them by reading the following article:

Academies benefit from greater freedom to enable them to raise standards with their own initiatives. This also means freedom from local authority control, and around the implementation of the national curriculum. The academy also has the ability to set their own pay and conditions for staff as well as being able to change the length of terms and school days.

Some academies will have a sponsor. This may be a successful school, or a business or university. Charities and religious bodies may also be involved. These sponsors are then held accountable for the improving performance of the school. The sponsors vision and leadership are vital to projects which may include how the school is run and what they should be like for students. Their aim is to make a break from cultures of low aspiration and achievement.

Funding received by the academy is the same as they would receive from the local authority as a maintained school. They would be additional funding to cover services that are no longer supplied. The academy then has greater freedom to use the funding in a way that best benefits their students. The funding is received directly from the Education Funding Agency. Academies must have at least two parent governors.

Some of the factors remain the same. Academies are required to follow the law and guidance on admissions, as well as special educational needs and exclusions. They have to ensure that the school will be at the heart of the community, sharing facilities and collaborating with other schools and using their expertise. Collaboration and partnership are deeply embedded in the school system, and this is the same for academies.

Schools which already select some or all of their students can continue to do so, but schools becoming academies cannot become newly selective schools. Schools wishing to apply to become an academy have to supply detailed information and answer specifically set questions relating to the school itself. An extensive list of open academies is available online, alongside schools that have applied for academy status, and their progress towards conversion.

Academies have proven to be extremely popular with parents; there are about three applications for every place. Academy results are improving steadily every year at about four times as fast as the average rate of improvement for English and five times faster than the national average for GCSEs including Maths and English.

Whether your child attends a new academy or not, it’s still very important that a structured night time routine is stuck too. A warm bath or shower, and a change into boys or girls pyjamas are the first steps. A healthy night-time snack and drink can help settle, as well as a few chapters of a reading book. A good night sleep will ensure a productive day time! If you are looking for a good place to shop for pyjamas you can check this website.