Academy switch is put back (From thisisoxfordshire)

Academy switch is put back

1:30pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in News By Fran Bardsley

Dr Fiona Hammans

TWO Oxfordshire schools set to be among the first in the county to convert to academy status will not now change until September.

Banbury School and Dashwood School, which are federated together, were originally set to become academies in September 2011 under provisions for good or outstanding rated schools opting out of local authority control.

The switch was then expected to happen on April 1, but now Banbury School headteacher Dr Fiona Hammans has confirmed the change will not take place until at least September.

She said: “The financial incentive has changed so there is no longer any reason for us to do it really quickly.

“We want to make sure that we have got enough time to do things.”

The name of the school was not expected to change, but Dr Hammans said the possibility of including ‘academy’ in the name was now under consideration.

This would mean changes to the website, signs and paperwork would need to be made.

Under academy status schools are free from the local authority and can decide what to spend their money on.

As all the necessary consultation has already been carried out for the two schools, all that will be required is a fresh resolution from the school governors to go ahead.

Dr Hammans said: “Previously, academies had to pay 1.1 per cent more in contributions to pensions for our support staff than local authority schools but the Government has now said there could be no disadvantage to academies for having to pay more for the Local Government pension scheme, so we won’t have to face that extra cost.”