Agenda item

Public Questions and Petitions

To receive any questions or petitions from members of the public

Minutes:

4.1

Viv Lockwood raised the following two questions:-

 

 

 

(a)      In the light of the more negative aspects of academies, which had been highlighted through thorough academic research by respected educational bodies and organisations, what detailed, qualitative data, is collected by the Local Authority from schools, and especially from academies, which investigates and evaluates such known phenomena in reaching conclusions about school effectiveness?

 

 

 

(b)      In view of the absence of any evidence that becoming an academy improves pupil attainment, while reducing autonomy for those schools within a multi-academy trust, and removing local democratic accountability, will the Local Authority now guarantee not to promote any further academisation of our locally maintained schools, and be, at the least, neutral in its attitude?

 

 

4.2

In response to the first question, Pam Smith (Head of Primary and Targeted Intervention) stated that the person with overall responsibility for the curriculum organised by academies was the Regional Schools Commissioner, and not the Local Authority.  The Local Authority worked very closely with Learn Sheffield and the schools and academies, at all phases, to ensure that there was an agreed school categorisation process.  Ms Smith indicated that OfSTED judgements were also used as part of the categorisation process, and that she was kept appraised of all categorisations.  The aim of this work was to help identify whether schools or academies needed any further support from Learn Sheffield.

 

 

4.3

In response to the second question, Pam Smith stated that she totally refuted the comments made with regard to the Local Authority being responsible for actively encouraging maintained schools to become academies, indicating that this was definitely not the case, and that officers were always neutral when providing advice to schools on this issue. 

 

 

4.4

The Chair advised Mr Lockwood that if he was not happy with the responses, he could raise the same questions at a meeting of the Cabinet, in the hope of receiving a more detailed explanation, and was entitled to circulate any information on this issue to Members of the Council.