Letter to parents re Academy status
Posted on: Friday, July 02 2010
As you may be aware from coverage in the local press, the School has recently been given the opportunity by the new Government to apply for academy status. This is based on its policy of allowing those schools which are currently rated as outstanding to become academy schools.
An academy school remains a state-funded school but is independent of the local authority. It potentially gives a school greater freedom than it has at the moment in matters such as the curriculum, the length of terms and school days, admissions, pay and conditions for staff and the money that the Local Authority currently spends on our behalf.
Further information on the Government’s Academy programme can be found on the Department for Education’s website at www.education.gov.uk
Please note that to date we have simply registered our interest to enable us to explore further what academy status might mean for the school and our students. You will appreciate that there are many issues which need to be investigated fully before any decision on the matter is taken by the School’s governing body.
I would stress that, at this early stage of the process, no decision has been made about whether or not to proceed with an application.
It is vitally important however that we consider fully every opportunity which allows Thomas Adams to provide the best possible education for its young people. To that end a working party has been set up by the Governing Body which will seek to establish what academy status could mean for Thomas Adams. This group will work on seeking clarification on a range of issues before reporting back to governors during the course of the autumn term.
I hope you find this information helpful and I will write to you at a later date when the situation becomes clearer.
