Questions and Answers
Your questions answered about Academies and the proposed St Augustine Academy
The Curriculum and Extra-Curricular Facilities
General questions
Q. What are Academies?
A. Academies are Government-funded schools that provide a first class, free education to local students of all abilities. Each Academy is unique, able to provide local solutions to local needs, drawing on the expertise of Sponsors to deliver a distinctive ethos. They have additional flexibility to be more creative in what they offer and how they are organised and run. All offer a broad and balanced curriculum, consistent with national curriculum requirements, and focus on one or more specialisms.
Academies are all-ability schools established by Sponsors from a wide range of backgrounds including business, faith or voluntary groups working in highly innovative partnerships with central Government and local education and other partners. Should the proposal to open this Academy go ahead, the Department of Children, Schools & Families (DCSF) would fund the running costs at the same level as other specialist secondary schools in Kent.
Successful Academies share specialist experience and facilities with other primary, secondary and special schools, together with the local community. In this way, they play their part in the regeneration of communities, providing a focus for learning and raising aspiration.
Q. How long would it take for the proposed St Augustine Academy to be established?
A. If the proposal is accepted, the Academy will open in the existing Astor of Hever Community School buildings in January 2011. The new state of the art buildings are anticipated to be ready for September 2014.
Q. What are the benefits?
A. The St Augustine Academy will raise standards by innovative approaches to management, governance, teaching and the curriculum and it will have the ability to be creative in the structure of the school timetable.
The Academy will offer a broad range of academic and vocational programmes designed to support students' progression to a wide range of destinations. Throughout the curriculum there will be a commitment to raising students' aspirations and developing skills and competencies that give students the confidence and maturity to enter further and higher education or the world of work. In addition to this, each student will have access to a whole range of experiences which Woodard Schools believe contribute to well rounded young adults. For example going on stage and receiving applause, having a holiday without one's parents, playing a musical instrument, taking part in a sporting activity and cultural opportunities.
In the long term, the Academy will also benefit from facilities in line with the very best in the maintained sector. These would offer an exceptional learning environment that challenges and engages learners using technology, which is personal, diverse, and empowering, and which promotes individual and group learning as well as high quality teaching.
Q. How would the progress of the new Academy be assessed?
A. The Academies Division at the DCSF has a team of advisers who work closely with Academies to monitor their progress and give support and advice. Before the Academy could open, the DCSF would work with Ofsted to carry out a monitoring inspection of the new Academy to ensure that it is on the path to success.
Q. Will opening an Academy adversely affect other schools in the area?
A. Quite the opposite. Academies will be part of the local family of schools, sharing their facilities and expertise with other schools and the wider community, contributing to raising standards across the whole area.
Q. How are Academies accountable to their local communities?
A. The Academy will be at the heart of the community, and will be established in consultation with local stakeholders. Local interests will be represented on the governing body.
Academies are local schools for local children. The governing body and the headteacher have responsibility for managing Academies. Stakeholders including staff, parents, and LA representatives, as well as the Sponsor's nominees, make up the governing body. As trustees the governing body has a public duty to act in the interests of the Academy and not the sponsors. Their accountability will be similar to many maintained schools.
Academies are inspected by Ofsted using the same framework as maintained schools. A full inspection is carried out within 5 or 6 terms of an Academy opening.
The governing body of an Academy is accountable to the Secretary of State through the requirements of a Funding Agreement. The Funding Agreement requires the governing body to publish procedures of its meetings. As charitable companies, Academies must also prepare and file annual accounts with the Charity Commission, prepare an annual report for the Charity Commissioners, and ensure that their accounts are independently audited.
Q. What will be different about children's experience in Jan 2011?
Students will notice a difference from the first day the Academy opens. Despite being in the same buildings, with the same staff and friends, they will see - and feel a difference.
The change will not just be in a new name, a new school logo or a new uniform but, there will be a new ethos for the school and a new structure to the day.
Students in current Woodard Academies have said that they noticed a change in discipline, respect and attitudes as well as a new business like uniform that made them 'ready to work'.
Academies also receive more funding than the schools they replace so students and staff will also notice extra resources available to them in the early years of the Academy.
Q. Parental perceptions are hard to shift how are we going to change perceptions of the current school?
A. Perceptions of a school do not change overnight so the academy team is already working hard to communicate to current as well as prospective parents.
In addition, a new Academy will bring a new Principal, a new name, a new identity and the involvement of a Sponsor, Woodard Schools. Woodard brings more than 150 years of experience to the Academy and in February 2010, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown noted that Woodard Schools, one of only six education organisations to be accredited by the Government is, "truly world leading ...... at the cutting edge of international practice, delivering excellent results, outstanding learning and with a strong ethos of good behaviour." Such endorsements plus a proven track record will all help to change the way the Academy is viewed.
Q. What is the make-up of the Governing Body and how will it be selected?
A. The size of the Governing Body of each Academy is dictated by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The Sponsor, Woodard Schools, will appoint governors from the staff, parents, businesses and local community.
The composition of the Governing Body will largely be decided by the feedback from the consultation process so that the appointed governors reflect the needs and aspirations of the staff, parents and the wider community.
Q. Will parents be able to see the education brief?
A. Yes it will be made publically available.
The Sponsor
Q. Why Woodard Schools?
A. Woodard Schools is a charity, not a commercial organisation. It was established more than 150 years ago in response to the need to provide education for all.
With its wealth of experience and educational expertise, Woodard sees a natural fit with the Kent academies programme and the sharing of the vision and ideas by Kent County Council.
Woodard Schools believes that it is in a unique position to use its expertise as a Sponsor to support the Academy to succeed, in particular with curriculum extension and enrichment activities as a key to transforming educational achievement in the area.
Woodard brings 150 years of successful school management both from a pastoral and an academic perspective. Within its 46 schools located across the UK, a third are in the state maintained sector.
Q. What experience does Woodard Schools have?
A. Woodard Schools has the experience and knowledge of running 46 schools and academies in England and Wales from some of the country's well-known independent schools to some most respected inner city schools. Woodard Schools has a range of schools in Kent including, Saint George's Church of England School, Gravesend; St Olave's Grammar School, Orpington; Trinity School, Belvedere and King's School, Rochester.
Q. What if the sponsors walk away in 5 years time?
A. The Sponsor will not walk away in five years time. As an education charity, with more than 150 years of experience they have committed to being involved with the St Augustine Academy for the next 125 years.
Building and Facilities
Q. When and where will the new Academy facilities be built?
A. It is proposed that the new Academy opens in the existing buildings on 1st January 2011. The Academy's new buildings are anticipated to be ready by September 2014 and will be located on the Oakwood estate but the exact location is still to be determined by the Sponsor in liaison with Kent County Council.
The County Council will be responsible for buildings procurement within an agreed design, developed within the national framework overseen by Partnerships for Schools. Further work is still to be undertaken in relation to the development of a detailed design brief which will enable the educational vision to be delivered effectively within the overall capital funding available for the Academy.
Q. What is the life expectancy of schools built under Building Schools for the Future (BSF)?
A. Building schools with a long term design life, and standards maintained to avoid the deterioration that has been seen in schools built in the past, is a core objective of this initiative. Cost models use different periods for the different components of the school, typically ranging from 60 years for the building structure to 10 years for furniture but all are subject to proper maintenance programmes being followed.
Q. How will you ensure the design remains flexible for changing needs of schools?
A. The exemplar designs address the requirement for flexible use (changing how spaces are used through the school day) and for flexibility (allowing for easy alteration of the internal structures and for expansion of building for new requirements).
Q. Will the new facilities be one building or many buildings?
A. The new building will be designed so that the Academy can operate in a coherent way. This is most likely to be within a single building.
Q. Will there be any investment in resources before the new build?
A. Yes, it is anticipated that a grant of £150k will be invested in ICT. However, any investment will need to be in ICT that will be compatible with the new building.
Q. How will the Academy and the local authority minimise possible disruption caused for students and staff by the major building work required?
A. Significant planning for this has already started. Woodard Schools also has a proven track record in maintaining a safe environment for students while work is ongoing and ensuring that there is no disruption to the main priority of delivering a first class standard of education. In line with the Government's Building Schools for the Future programme there will be considerable investment and development of the Academy site. There is much experience in managing the process of building work across the County in order to minimise disruption to students, staff and the local community.
Q. How will the new build be funded?
A. The Government has committed to making £1.8bn available for Kent County Council's Building Schools for the Future programme in Kent.
Q. What about the current economic climate, isn't this going to affect the building programme for the Academy?
A. The BSF programme is delivered through Framework contracts that have their building rates tied to the BSF funding and with a built-in inflation index. This means that once the Government have given a scheme the go-ahead it should be affordable notwithstanding changes in the general economic climate.
Q. Will there be any consultation on the new build?
A. Yes there will be consultation on the new build. In particular with those people and groups that will use the new facilities but also through the planning process where those that might be affected by the new buildings are invited to respond to the design proposals.
Q. What will happen to the Bower Grove Satellite?
A.The Bower Grove Satellite will continue to be funded by Kent County Council in its existing buildings.
Specialisms
Q. What are the specialisms? Why have them?
The aspirations and expectations of the community that will be served by the Academy suggest that it will benefit from a Business & Enterprise Specialism offering a flexibility in focus, a strong link to employability and the opportunity to create in Academy students, a sense of local and national pride and identity while contributing substantially to their readiness for the world of work and their role in the community.
The Specialism allows an emphasis on employability in our fast-changing world and opportunities for exploring the themes of Creativity, Enterprise and Communication within a Global Context. It is certainly rich enough to afford students radically different experiences, outcomes, expectations and aspirations, meeting more closely the needs of the community within an ever wider context - Kent, the UK, Europe, the world.
The Specialism presents an opportunity to work in partnership with the Maidstone family of schools. In particular with schools which share this specialism, to further enrich and broaden opportunities for students.
Q. What about the existing Sports specialism?
A. The proposed specialism of Humanities will cover the whole breadth of the curriculum, impacting on everything from art to vocational programmes. Sport is hugely important to well being and will continue to be a core subject offered to all students, with study for qualifications available for those that want to pursue that option.
The Curriculum and Extra-Curricular Activities
Q Will the Year 9 options be affected?
A. The Academy will not stop any courses that are currently active, particularly not mid way through a student's studies. There will be additional funding for more courses to be offered and these will be phased in over time.
Q. Will the students still be able to study sport and carry it on into the 6th form?
A. The Sponsor has given a commitment to continue any course that students have already started. The new curriculum and the Sixth Form learning pathways ultimately have to be determined by the interest expressed by the students and from year to year this will mean that new courses are offered and some others discontinued.
Q. Will there be more trips and extra-curricular activities for students?
A. Yes, there will be extra-curricular activities and trips to enrich the curriculum. Furthermore, the Academy will also benefit from being part of the Woodard family of schools who undertake a range of activities in partnership with each other. For example, in 2009 all Woodard Schools, and there are over 40 of them, were involved in a musical extravaganza at the Birmingham Symphony Hall.
The Academy Uniform
Q. Is the Academy going to have a new uniform and if so what will it be?
A. The Academy will have a new uniform but it may not be all that different from the one students currently wear. It will be practical and inexpensive and there will be a Government grant for a portion of the new uniform for all students in Years 8-11. The Sponsor is also mindful that the Academy will open mid-way through a school year and will ensure this is taken into account when planning what the new uniform will be. Sponsors will also get input from parents, students and staff on the new uniform.
Q. What will the uniform policy be?
A. Students attending the Academy will be expected to look tidy and smart and wear their uniforms properly at all times.
Woodard Schools places great importance on the uniform, while being mindful of the cost for parents. Throughout all Woodard Schools the students wear their uniform so that they look smart and tidy at all times. Students are proud of their uniform and the school they belong to. As students are prepared for the demands of adult life they are taught the importance of 'creating a first impression' and how they will be expected to dress and behave in the working world.
Admissions
Q. Will the Academy be selective?
A. The Academy will be a local school for local children and will have a fully inclusive admissions policy providing places for local students who wish to take up a place. All students attending, or who have been offered a place at The Astor of Hever Community school, prior to the opening of the Academy, would have an automatic right to transfer to it on 1st January 2011.
The Academy will fully comply with the School Admissions Code of Practice and the School Admission Appeals Code of Practice as these apply to maintained schools. In the event that there are too few places available to satisfy all applications, places will be allocated according to the following oversubscription criteria:
1. Children in Local Authority care
2. Current family associations (i.e. brother or sister in the school at the time of entry)
3. Health and special access reasons (for which a medical certificate would be needed)
4. Residence within a particular scheme of education
5. Nearness of children's homes to the school
It is expected that the Academy would continue to serve its existing local community. It is not envisaged that the Academy would introduce partial selection arrangements.
Entry to the Sixth Form will be based on students' suitability for the courses available and would give priority of places to students in the catchment area, subject to their meeting a minimum level of attainment.
There will be no faith grounds for admission and it will have the same admissions criteria as other, non church-controlled secondary schools in the area.
In all cases, the admission arrangements for the Academy will be agreed with the Secretary of State as a condition of the Funding Agreement and are consistent with the code of practice on admissions and with admissions law.
Q. What is the current situation with applications for entry in September 2010?
A. The current school is not oversubscribed as of yet, so there should be place available.
Q. Can you change your mind if you didn't put Astor of Hever down as a choice?
The Year 7 admissions process is run by Kent County Council. Parents express their choices in November for the following September and the Council determines the offers to be made and notifies these in March. If, when you receive your offer, you want to try to obtain entry into an alternate school you will need to follow the KCC appeal process. The Sponsors will, subject to overall capacity of the school, support entrance of students into the Academy.
Q. If we decide that the Academy is not for us, can we change our option?
A. The Year 7 admissions process is run by Kent County Council. Parents express their choices in November for the following September and the Council determines the offers to be made and notifies these in March. If when you receive your offer you want to try to obtain entry into an alternate school you will need to follow the KCC appeal process.
Q. What about children with Special Educational Needs?
A. The Academy would promote a positive approach to personalised learning and give high priority to meeting the needs of individual learners throughout their schooling. Woodard Schools believes that every young person has the right to be valued, respected and an equal member of the learning community.
Working alongside the Sponsor and partners, the Academy would provide opportunities for students who showed gifts and talent in a particular area, while those experiencing difficulties with learning would be supported and helped to succeed.
The Academy would provide access for students with disabilities, including wheelchair users and would work within the framework of the Local Authority's special educational needs policies to offer an inclusive education. The design of the building and the Academy's use of new technology would maximise access to the curriculum and promote learning for all.
Faith
Q. If this is a faith Academy will it be open to students from all religions and none?
A. All Academies' admissions arrangements are agreed with the Secretary of State as a condition of the Funding Agreement, following local consultation, and are consistent with the School Admissions Code of Practice. The Education Act 2002 repealed the arrangement in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 that allowed schools with a religious character to reserve places for children of their own faith or denomination. This Kent Academy will be open to local young people of all faiths or no faith, and will have the same admissions criteria as other maintained secondary schools in the area.
Statement from Canon Brendan Clover, Senior Provost for Woodard Schools: "Although we have a heritage rich in the Church of England, Woodard Schools welcomes students from all faiths or no faith at all. This inclusive approach means that we value and respect each individual with the focus very much on their education and the opportunities we can provide.
Working closely with Kent County Council we hope that, if successful, the proposed Academy will reinforce the Woodard ethos where each individual, regardless of their faith background, is encouraged to give their very best and is valued for their contribution to their school and local community.
There are 46 schools within Woodard, a third within the maintained sector and we are known for our values driven educational work. We strongly believe that in the 21st century academic success should be a given, it is the range of opportunities a school provides that makes a young person into a confident adult."
Q. Will students have to pray?
A. The Academy welcomes students of all faiths and of none. Students can pray if they want to - or they can take advantage of the quiet space for thought and reflection. An Academy chaplain will always be available for pastoral support and care.
Staff
Q. Will the teaching staff from Astor of Hever Community School become the teaching staff at the Academy?
A. Woodard Schools recognises that continuity with good teachers and strong support staff is the decisive factor in a successful school and will actively work to achieve this as a priority in the development of the proposed St Augustine Academy. Staff will transfer to the new Academy under the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) arrangements.
The Sponsor is keen to develop a culture of continuous improvement that offers all staff the opportunity to improve their professional and personal skills. Woodard Schools aims, over time, to develop and exciting and supportive environment that retains, supports and attracts the best people at all levels and in all aspects of provision.
Q. How is the Academy going to be run in the first year?
A. Once the Principal Designate has been appointed he will work closely with governors to determine how the Academy will be structured and what changes may be required. Detailed information will be issued to all staff during the TUPE consultation period and you will have an opportunity to comment through your union representatives.
Q. Will staff involved in shaping the curriculum?
A. The Principal Designate will lead on the development of the curriculum when he takes up post in April. Staff will be involved in this piece of work but have a number of priorities in the current school that must take precedence over the coming months; these include Year 11 preparation for exams and preparation for the Ofsted inspection.
Q. What is TUPE?
A. TUPE stands for the Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment. These regulations ensure that where the ownership of a business or organisation changes the existing workforce is transferred to the new employer along with their existing terms and conditions of employment.
Q. Will the term dates and hours change and will there be any Saturday work?
A. The Academy may be open longer hours but this will be done in full consultation with staff and parents. Of course if you have TUPE rights and you are matched to a job you will TUPE over on your current terms and conditions including your hours.