Members' library

• Leading schools
  • Academies
    • Research into the leadership of sponsored and converting academies
      • Background and aims of the study
      • Context, sponsorship, governance and collaboration
      • Leading an academy
      • Converting to an academy

Context, sponsorship, governance and collaboration

Converting to academy status has implications for school leadership and management and in this regard, sponsorship, governance and the relationship with the local authority are important contextual factors. There will be changes in terms of governance for all schools that convert to academy status. In addition, academy status signals a new relationship with the local authority for all academies and being independent from the local authority, will impact on the nature and degree of collaboration with other schools.

Sponsorship, governance and the local authority is discussed in chapter six of the full report.

Academy context

The context within which academies operate is critical to the understanding of what is distinctive about leading an academy. The context of the school includes the challenges that the school faces and these challenges influence their motives for becoming an academy.

Context includes a range of factors such as:

• previous socio-economic background of pupils
• previous status, for example grant maintained (GM), foundation or trust
• the school’s previous history of relationships with the local authority and working in collaboration with other schools

Our findings suggest that independence and autonomy are key motivating factors in themselves for both sponsored and converting academies, but for different reasons. For example, financial autonomy and increased levels of funding were of particular importance for converting academies to enable them to achieve better value for money and better student outcomes, whereas the primary motivation for independence in sponsored academies was to use their independence to help raise standards rapidly.

Sponsors

• Sponsored academies were generally of the view that sponsors add value in many ways. For example, 71per cent of survey respondents from sponsored academies indicated that the sponsor provided them with access to new networks and contacts and 70 per cent of survey respondents indicated that the sponsor contributed to the ethos and values of the academy.
• In contrast, converting academies were generally averse to having a sponsor, with 70 per cent of survey respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that not being required to have a sponsor is a good thing.

Governance

• In sponsored academies, the structure and function of governance changed with academy status. For example, for academies with chain sponsorship there are two tiers of governance (one operating at a central level for all academies within the chain and a separate local governing body for each academy). This was reported to have resulted in sharper scrutiny of performance. Governors, under the direction of the sponsor, played a key role in both setting and communicating the new vision and ethos of the school.
• Apart from the new legal obligations, the case study data from converting academies indicated that there had been little change in either the composition or role of the governing body. However, governors recognised that they have taken on more responsibility for accountability.

"As the white paper made clear, we believe that governing bodies should be the key strategic body in schools, responsible for the overall direction that a school takes. In that respect, governors are also therefore the key body for school improvement".

Local authorities

• Both sponsored and converting academies indicated that there was still a role for the local authority, but primarily as a service provider. Sponsored academies indicated that there had been a shift in the balance of power, with the local authority now having to compete with other providers in the market place for their business. However, in approximately one-half of sponsored academies the relationship with the local authority had weakened. A number of the case study schools felt their local authority overlooked them in terms of the expertise they could share with other schools in their area.
  • 78 per cent of sponsored academy survey respondents believed that their local authority should have some degree of continuing involvement with their academy (for example, in terms of co-ordinating admissions).
  • A similar proportion of respondents in converting academies indicated that the local authority should have some type of involvement, for example, in the provision of operational support and services such as human resource support, which academies can buy into.
  • The cost of buying in services from the local authority was highlighted as an issue by both sponsored and converting academies.

Working with other schools

• Academy status brings new opportunities for working with other schools. The research indicates that, to date, academy status has had little impact on the nature and degree of collaboration. However, few schools (including those that are National Support Schools (NSS)) had plans to reduce the amount of collaboration and, in particular, primary schools indicated a desire to expand their networks with other schools.
• Collaborative arrangements between sponsored academies and other schools varied depending on, for example, the sponsorship model, or the history of relations with other schools. The fact that 93 per cent of survey respondents in converting academies were interested in becoming a teaching school, suggests that this new policy initiative may help to progress collaboration between converting academies, in particular, and other schools.