High school explores Academy possibility

They have decided to explore this avenue after the change in government and the Coalition’s views on the way education should be run.

Brian Kentfield, chair of governors, said: “The government is committed - as part of its central agenda for improving education - to giving governors, headteachers and teachers more control over how they run their schools.

“Its view is that those running a school are best placed to decide how to give students the best possible education, rather than it being defined by a central authority.

“This does not mean that Bexhill High will automatically become an Academy but that we will want to look at the benefits and advantages as well as the pitfalls and disadvantages.

“In order to engage in the process, we have registered an interest with the Department of Education and will embark on a detailed process to ascertain if this is the correct route for the future of our school.

“We will be consulting widely in addition to seeking advice and guidance from a range of experts and other educational establishments that have gone down this route. I will keep the school community informed at every stage so that everyone’s involvement can be ensured. Everyone who wishes will have a full part to play in the consultation process. We simply want the best for Bexhill High, its pupils and its staff.”

Academy status would mean:

• Freedom from local authority control

• Ownership of assets (land and buildings)

• Freedom regarding admissions

• Freedoms associated with increased independent management of finances, increasingly being granted to all schools as the lifting of budget restrictions are emerging

• Freedom to change employment conditions and introduction of own pay and conditions arrangements for staff

• Freedom to deliver own curriculum - not constrained by the National Curriculum

Mr Kentfield added: “At this stage I must stress that we have merely registered an interest.

“Over the next few months we will be looking at whether it is actually the best for Bexhill High, or not.”