Academies
Despite all efforts to delay the Academies Bill's progression through Parliament, it became an Act on 28 July. As a direct result of NUT members lobbying and emailing their MPs the Government has been forced to make a concession and allow for consultation before an academy is established. This was confirmed in a letter from Michael Gove. The legislation, however, is still fundamentally flawed as it allows for “consultation” to take place after an Academy Order has been made. This is not “consultation” in any meaningful and genuine sense of the word, but rather “information” after the event. The Government also made the following significant concessions:
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Making the Most of the Concession
We have written directly to all chairs of governors that have contacted HQ regarding TUPE consultation (click here for the letter).
If you have any chance to follow up on this letter locally it would be very useful. In particular any governors hostile to the change-over to academy status should be contacted and encouraged to raise concerns. A school should not rush to apply for academy status before proper consultation and careful consideration of the legislative implications.
List of Schools Conducting TUPE Consultation
A list of schools that have notified HQ that they are conducting a TUPE exercise regarding a proposal to convert to an academy from 1 September is available here.
If you are aware of any other schools that are claiming to be undertaking a TUPE consultation it is VITAL that you inform your regional office of these as soon as possible. The regional office will then inform Headquarters.
Together Against Academies
Where Academies have been proposed the NUT has campaigned against their establishment whilst working hard to best support our members working in them. This work will continue. However, the threat is now even greater. The NUT will continue to work together with other education organisations, children's charities and public sector unions to prevent the further fragmentation of publicly funded education by the expansion of academies and introduction of free schools.
Schools Interested in Academy Status
The Department for Education has posted a list of outstanding and non-outstanding schools that have expressed an interest in becoming academies. This list is dynamic and will change over time, so check back regularly to see if your school is on it. If it is, see our links below for actions you can take to oppose the conversion. Click here for the link
Campaign materials for outstanding schools becoming academies
More general academy campaign materials
