'No Academies for Sheffield' say City Lib Dems

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 21st Jun 2005

The Liberal Democrat group on Sheffield City Council have called for the plan to turn Waltheof and Myrtle Springs schools into academies to be dropped, in favour of a scheme which will be able to provide investment for refurbishment but will not take the schools out of the LEA.

The Lib Dem group believe that the two improving schools should remain within the LEA and enter into the 'Building Schools for the Future' programme, Council officers have already confirmed this possible. This way the schools will still receive significant investment to provide new buildings but will not be taken over by a private sponsor.

This would mean that the schools stay within the LEA family and policies such as admissions and the curriculum will be consistent with other schools in Sheffield. If the schools became academies the private sponsor could change the admissions policy and curriculum without agreement with anyone.

Liberal Democrats are against the idea of academies in Sheffield because they would create a two-tier system of education in the City. They also oppose allowing the private sponsor to change the admissions policy and the schools curriculum without agreement from the LEA.

Nationally there have been concerns that academies are not performing up to standard, only recently Ofstead failed an academy school in Middlesborough. Also the proposed sponsor for both Sheffield schools, the Christian based United Learning Trust, managed to bring pupil attainment down in their new school in Manchester to make it the second worst in the country.

Cllr Sylvia Anginotti, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet member for Children's Services, said: -

"There should be no two-tier system of education in Sheffield, all schools should be given investment equally to achieve, without being blackmailed into taking on a private sponsor who would have the power to change the admissions policy and curriculum of the school"

"We have been told that funding can be gained for both Myrtle Springs and Waltheof through the 'Building Schools for the Future' programme. There is no need to take these schools out of the LEA family, especially when you consider they are improving and achieving their best ever exam results"

"There is evidence nationally that academies do not achieve the desired results, only recently one was found to be failing by an Ofstead inspection. The proposed sponsor for our schools, the ULT, managed to make its school in Manchester the second worst in the country. Why should we now be asked to let them take over our schools when we can still get the investment by keeping the schools within the LEA"