academies | Schools Week

Academy trust will take battle to keep school to the High Court

An academy trust will take its legal battle to keep hold of one of its schools to the High Court in a claim which, if successful, could create “new possibilities” for trusts in similar positions. Khalsa Academies Trust has won permission to apply for a judicial review of a government decision to terminate the funding […]

Safeguarding failures exposed at free school where staff had ‘too many responsibilities’

Vulnerable children were put at serious risk because stretched staff had “too many responsibilities” to carry out safeguarding duties, Ofsted found, at a school where the head had resigned over “indefensible” funding cuts. Inspectors discovered “serious failings in safeguarding arrangements” at Northampton International Academy (NIA), part of the East Midlands Academy Trust (EMAT). Ofsted visited […]

Council seeking £500,000 back from ex-superhead Sir Craig Tunstall over ‘unauthorised payments’

A council is attempting to recover damages of potentially £500,000 from former superhead Sir Craig Tunstall, who is alleged to have received unauthorised payments, court papers reveal. The development follows news that Sir Craig Tunstall is suing Lambeth council and the Gipsy Hill Federation (GHF) in south London for at least £200,000, over claims that […]

Academy orders can be revoked if schools improve to ‘good’, DfE confirms

Failing maintained schools that become ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before converting into academies can have their academy orders revoked, the Department for Education has officially confirmed. The DfE has today updated its statutory guidance on “schools causing concern” with more detail on the scenarios in which academy orders can be revoked. This appears to be the […]

Green: ‘Messing’ with school structures not priority

“Messing around” with school structures should not be a Labour priority, the shadow education secretary has said. Speaking at an online event at Labour’s “Connected” party conference, Kate Green said she would not be “scrambling successful schools for the sake of having perfect structures”, indicating the party would not move to bring all academies back […]

Fraud police drop Bright Tribe investigation

Fraud police have dropped their investigation into the Bright Tribe academy trust, Schools Week can reveal. The investigation was launched after a Panorama probe accused the trust, founded by businessman Michael Dwan, of making false claims for hundreds of thousands of pounds for building and maintenance government grants. They’ve previously said they can’t release such […]

Break the rules and you’re out, minister tells academy bosses

The academies minister has declared there is “simply no place” in education for discredited academy bosses – and vowed to “take action” against those who flout the rules. Baroness Berridge’s threat comes after the education secretary barred a third school leader this month for breaking academy rules. Nardeep Sharma, the former chief executive of the […]

DfE paid £490k to rebroker three failing Steiner schools

The government paid out almost half a million pounds in grant funding to rebroker three failing Steiner schools, new data shows. Steiner free schools in Bristol, Exeter and Frome were moved to the Avanti Schools Trust last year after all three were placed into special measures by Ofsted. The schools are now called Avanti Gardens […]

ESFA raps trust that spent £2.4k on wellbeing conference and spa break for senior staff

An academy trust that spent over £2,400 on a wellbeing conference and spa break for senior managers has been ordered by the government to take “urgent action” to resolve issues with its financial management. The Education and Skills Funding Agency has published a report of an investigation into the Learning Academy Partnership (South West), a […]