No schools to be forced to become academies in Swindon
The council has reconsidered after teachers and parents' protests
Last updated 11th Nov 2021
No school in Swindon will be forced to become an academy and no stand-alone academy will be made to join a multi-academy trust.
Swindon Borough Council and the head teachers' union NAHT have agreed on a joint statement after discussions following protests against the council's attempt to bring in a policy that would see all the borough's schools in MATs.
Councillor David Renard, leader of the council, said: "Our meeting with the NAHT was extremely productive. It is very important we take a strategic approach to the government's Multi-Academy Trust policy and that means working with all our maintained schools and stand-alone multi-academy trusts to look at all the options that are available.
"This was always our intention as we want to secure the best outcomes for children and young people in our schools. I am pleased that the NAHT has agreed to work with Swindon Borough Council and schools.
"We look forward to working with school leaders, governors and our existing multi-academy and stand-alone trusts to do the very best for everyone involved in education in Swindon."
'Schools must be free to determine their own legal structures'
Rob Kelsall, NAHT National Secretary, said: "The joint statement with Swindon council is a welcome step in the right direction following recent concerns about the direction of travel for schools.
"In the midst of a global pandemic, which continues to add significant stress and pressure on schools, this is not the time to be distracted by top-down reorganisations. Schools of all types must be free to determine their own legal structures. What matters most is the outcomes for children and young people.
"I’m pleased that the Council have agreed to work collegiately with NAHT, school leaders and governors on the way forward, with no arbitrary deadlines or compulsion to convert to become an academy."
Teachers and parents protest outside council offices
Teachers and parents protested outside the council's Euclid Street offices and packed the committee room at a cabinet meeting where the policy was due to be put to cabinet last month.
Originally it said officers would be instructed to work to support central government policy that all schools be parts of "a family".
The council's plan would see the schools it still runs being made into academies that are under far less control by local authorities, and single academies would be encouraged to join MATs.
After the protests and a softening of the line from the central government the council said it would think again.