THE Government has targeted Oxfordshire among its “key areas” for sponsors to turn more schools into academies.

In a document leaked to the Oxford Mail, the county is one of 17 named as an area of shortage for academies in the country.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it reached the decision after assessing the number of “underperforming” schools in the county. Schools are usually sponsored when they are not doing well, in a bid to turn them around.

Cabinet member for education at Oxfordshire County Council Melinda Tilley said she was surprised the DfE was looking for more sponsors and felt it was treading on the county council’s toes.

She said: “I do think Ofsted is coming down a bit hard at the moment on schools.

“But we are really working hard in Oxfordshire, we have improved a lot of results and the DfE just doesn’t seem to be giving us any credit.

“We have a monthly meeting about schools of concern and when there are concerns it comes up before they are an official concern and we go in and do something about it. We send a school improvement team to work with the headteacher, staff and governors.”

The DfE said there was one primary school and one secondary school “below the floor” in terms of performance, 49 primary schools rated by Ofsted as “satisfactory” and five in the lowest category.

According to its data, there is one secondary school which is “satisfactory” and two in special measures.

When asked, the DfE would not explain how this compares with other counties.

In the leaked document it states that next month it will make decisions about which sponsors across the country will get part of a £10m fund.

There are 11 schools in the county that are currently sponsored and a further 44 schools which have converted to become academies.

DfE spokeswoman Charlotte Godber said: “We regularly examine the number of underperforming schools and the capacity of existing sponsors in each local authority area.

“The results of our recent analysis indicate Oxfordshire is an area where there could be a shortage of sponsors, so we are encouraging schools and other organisations to apply to become sponsors in the area.”

East Oxford MP Andrew Smith said: “It looks like the Government is working to a target of imposing more academies regardless of whether local parents, teachers and schools want them or not, and whether the proposed sponsors have any local connection or not.

“I strongly support academies where these are doing a good job of raising standards, but to impose them willy-nilly is just an ideological exercise which does not command local support or confidence.”

North Oxfordshire Academy in Drayton Road, Banbury, was the first county school to convert in 2007 when it was taken over by the United Learning Trust and sponsored by Vodafone – last year it was ranked the 27th most improved in the country having previously struggled with standards.

In 2011, Oxford Community School and previously The Oxford School became Oxford Spires Academy when it was sponsored by the CfBT Education Trust. The East Oxford school in Glanville Road was told by the Government to become an academy to improve its results.

Principal of Oxford Spires Academy Sue Croft said: “I’m delighted with our sponsor CfBT. It has had a major impact on the progress we have made at Oxford Spires, and has a track record of school improvement and outstanding research.

“I absolutely would recommend a sponsored academy for improving standards.”

John Henry Newman Academy was the first primary school in the county to be sponsored by the Diocese of Oxford.
The Littlemore school has now been part of the multi-academy trust since last September.
It came out of special measures just a few months before it gained academy status, and this February was judged to be “satisfactory” by Ofsted.
New principal Jackie Ranger, who took up the helm at the beginning of September, said there were always two sides to the story when it came to becoming academies.
She said: “There are many benefits to being an academy. If those who are running the academy put the children at the heart of everything it does, then that can only be a good thing.
“Here, the Diocese is driven by a moral purpose and they care about values and I know they are dedicated to the children.
“Where academy trusts don’t have children at the heart of what they do, if they are in it for business reasons, then I don’t think academies are always the best option.”
She added: “The original notion of an academy is not a new thing, but they haven’t always in the past done what they set out to do.
“On a personal level, here in Oxfordshire, I do think as a sponsored academy we have the best of both worlds. I have a great level of support from the Diocese, but we can still access many of the good resources from the local authority.”

Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Nicola Blackwood said she hoped to see more academies across Oxfordshire.

She said: “The sponsor academy programme means that heads and teachers of some of our outstanding, local schools can work alongside other schools to improve standards for all pupils.”

Jill Hudson is executive head of three primary schools – Pegasus, Windale and Orchard Meadow – which have now formed the Blackbird Academy Trust and are sponsored by the Dragon School, in Bardwell Road, North Oxford.

She said: “I think if there was a magic bullet for raising standards we would have found it by now.

“When the academies programme came along we thought it was the best thing for us, but it might not be the best thing for other schools.”

  • SPONSORED academies already in existence:
  • North Oxfordshire Academy
  • The Oxford Academy
  • Oxford Spires Academy
  • Banbury Academy
  • Dashwood Banbury Academy
  • John Henry Newman Academy
  • Kingfisher School
  • Cutteslowe Primary School
  • Orchard Meadow Primary School
  • Windale Community Primary School
  • Abbey Woods Academy
  •  
  • SCHOOLS NOW IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING:
  • St Christopher’s Church of England School, Cowley, by the Diocese of Oxford. No set date for opening
  • Wheatley Church of England School in Henley, by the Diocese of Oxford. Proposed opening date of December 1
  •  Eynsham Community Primary School in Eynsham, by nearby Bartholomew School. Proposed opening date of May 1, 2014
  • A special school, to be sponsored by charity MacIntyre, to open on September 1, 2014