Headteachers of council maintained schools are launching a collective group to give them a “voice” in policy-making after being “marginalised” by the Conservatives.
Founder Andrew O’Neill, a London head, said the previous government “effectively put a muzzle” on maintained schools and “shamefully” allowed them to “wither on the vine” with “no other choice but to become an academy”.
As well as influencing policy, the new Maintained School Collective wants to provide a supportive network for council schools to collaborate, sound out innovative ideas and share professional development.
More than 100 schools have expressed an interest in joining.
O’Neill, head of All Saints Catholic College in west London, said the previous government’s push towards full academisation was “concerted, intentional and relentless”.
“During that time, it seemed that participating in policy-making was contingent upon being the chief executive of a large trust.”
Labour plans to ‘smooth the difference’
Labour was more agnostic on school structures, with the upcoming children’s and wellbeing bill “smoothing the difference” between school types. For instance, academies would be forced to follow the national curriculum and cooperate with councils on admissions.
“The under-representation, not to say marginalisation, of the local authority-maintained sector is a political oversight,” O’Neill said.
“The government’s role is to govern for all, not just for the segments that align with specific policy positions.”
This approach had also led to a “broader and more profound issue. We need policies that make a significant and lasting impact on school standards and enhance the opportunities we provide for children.
“It is possible that those occupying seats at the policy table have become too detached from the daily realities of post-Covid school settings to contribute pragmatically to the conversation.”
Still thousands of maintained schools
Since 2015-16, the number of maintained schools has dropped by a third, compared with a 96 per cent rise in academies. About half of schools are now academies.
But there are still 11,000 local authority-maintained schools, commanding yearly budgets of £24.9 billion, educating 3.3 million pupils and employing 528,000 people.
Those involved in the collective are keen to stress they are not “anti-academy”, saying the collective will provide a space for maintained school heads to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” and share experiences.
O’Neill “wants to replicate some of the great work” of the Confederation of School Trusts, the membership body for trusts, “but on a smaller scale.
The group could also collaborate on specific projects to address common challenges, such as falling rolls.
Academisation ‘reduces parent choice’
Kate Tramoni, the head of Christ the Saviour Church of England Primary School in west London, hoped schools could share good practice, resources and expertise.
She said academisation had sometimes “reduced parental choice”.
“Maintained schools are unique, offering different values within each school.”
O’Neill said financial autonomy had also been “crucial” to his school’s success.
Most trusts top-slice their schools’ budgets to fund their central services, with the average top slice inbetween 5.4 and 7.4 per cent, according to the latest Kreston Reeves report on academy finances.
O’Neill, at the lower end, said this be £400,000 of his current budget, compared with the £70,000 de-delegation he pays to the council.
“Having the autonomy to allocate these funds allows us the flexibility to run our school in a manner that promptly meets the needs of our pupils, minimises bureaucracy and expedites delivery and implementation.”
Good work ‘not celebrated’
Duncan Spalding, the head of Aylsham High School, the only maintained secondary in Norfolk, said there was good work in the sector “that hasn’t been celebrated and shared as much as it could be”.
“I think there has been a change in the mood music – it feels like the voice of maintained schools has a chance to be heard. It is interesting to feel that sense that there’s a willingness to learn from good practice in all schools.”
The steering group is still being formed, but O’Neill is keen to have an academy voice to ensure “input from the other side of the sector that are part of this”.
Jonny Uttley, the chief executive of The Education Alliance Trust, will serve on the group.
“I’m hoping this sends an important message about collaboration,” he said. “There are misnomers about academies and trusts – and one of the things that has blighted the system is this tiresome debate about whether one structure is better than the other.”
The collective will launch formally in the new year.
