Nettleham Infants School Will Become An Academy

The Governing Body of Nettleham Infants School resolved last night to make an application to the Secretary of State for Education to attain Academy status, giving the school greater operational independence.

Despite a small number of comments received questioning the move, during the consultation, Governors resolved unanimously to become an Academy.

Nettleham Parish Council had raised concern that the size of the school was not viable to go alone, recommending consideration of an umbrella, hard federation academy model. This was rejected by Governors owing to the lack of obvious candidates to join in such a model. The School, however, does expect to work with other schools in a soft collaborative approach.

Giles McNeill, a Local Education Authority Governor at the school said:

"This is an excellent  move, it promises a brighter future for parents, staff but most importantly the children at the School. 

"We have had to move on this now, we wanted to move at the time of our choosing, not when we are forced to by the local authority or central government."

A further concern raised by parents was the impact upon pupils feeding into Nettleham C.E. Junior School. However, it was felt that the change to Academy status would have limited impact as the two schools are very different already.

School Governors to Decide on Academy Conversion for Nettleham Infants School

This evening the Governing Body of Nettleham Infant School will meet to decide if converting to Academy Status is the right decision for the school.

Academy status means that a school becomes free of local authority control, receiving funding from the Department for Education. An Academy is a limited company with charitables states, an independent school, underpinned by statute, publically funded and operating outside of the local authority.

As a Foundation School, Nettleham Infant School seems well placed to take advantage and benefit from conversion to Academy Status. There have been a number of objections during the consultation period, most notably from Nettleham Parish Council, these, it is understood, have been few in number and some have even been resolved upon further explanation.

The Governor's at the School have given a clear undertaking that the terms and condidtions of employment would remain the same, that the term times would remain unchanged, and that they currently see no reason to re-brand the school's identity.

The local authority, Lincolnshire County Council, is eager to see all schools in the county convert to Academy status and recommended conversion at the start of the academic year, last September. Cllr. Mrs.  Patricia Bradwell, Conservative (Billinghay and Metheringham Division), speaking at the time, said:

"The council has children’s interests at the heart of this. Any decision about becoming an academy rests with the governing bodies but we want to provide some clear guidance to schools who may be unsure of what to do."

Over four hundred schools in England have become academies since September 2010 with the majority being secondary schools.

Nettleham Parish Councillor Giles McNeill, who is a Governor at the School, thinks it is important for the School to be at the forefront of changes in education. He said:

"The Governor's felt we would reap the benefits by moving quickly on this. We made our initial decision to consult independently of the local authority, we do not envisage being part of the CfBT grouping arrangements. 

"Becoming an academy will potentially give us more financial freedom to look at what we need and meet the needs of our pupils. It gives us the freedom to be in complete control of the future direction of the school so that if we, or parents or staff want changes, we can make them."

Decision Day: Nettleham Infants School Governors to Discuss Academy Status

The Governor's of Nettleham Infants' School, on All Saints Lane, will today consider if they should pursue moving to Academy Status.

An academy is a school that is directly funded by central government (specifically, the Department for Education) and independent of control by local government in England. An academy may receive additional support from personal or corporate sponsors, either financially or in kind. They must meet the National Curriculum core subject requirements and are subject to inspection by Ofsted.

Academies are established in a way that is intended to be 'creative' and 'innovative' in order to give them the freedoms considered necessary to deal with the long-term issues they are intended to solve. 

In terms of their governance, academies are established as companies limited by guarantee with a governing body that acts as a Trust. The governors also act as the Trust's Board of Directors (they are legally, but not financially, accountable for the operation of the academy). The Trust serves as the legal entity which the school is part of, and the governing body oversees the running of the school (although the day to day management of the school is, as in most schools, conducted by the principal and their senior management team, who are appointed by the sponsor).

Should the governing body decide to pursue Academy status then a consultation will begin with parents and the wider, local community to canvass their views. This will finish on Saturday, 21st April 2012.

UPDATE
The consultation will now take place between Tuesday, 17th April and conclude on Friday, 25th May.

Local Conservatives Welcome Minister of State, John Hayes MP

Local Conservatives yesterday evening welcomed Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning John Hayes MP to a dinner at the acclaimed Cross Keys Restaurant and Bar in Stow, north west of Lincoln.


Above: John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further
Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, answers
a question, Cllr. & Mrs. Parry observe.

Speaking to local activists the Minister talked about renewal as the key theme of what he wants to achieve and the achievements that have already occurred since becoming a Minister last year - including the creation of 90,000 apprenticeship places. The Minister paid tribute to Gainsborough parliamentarian, Edward Leigh MP, he said:

"Edward is my closest parliamentary colleague; which comes from, as yet, not having found anything that we disagree about."

Chairman of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr. William Parry, Conservative (Scotter Ward), who is the Gainsborough Constituency Conservative Association's Deputy Chairman (Membership and Fundraising), chaired proceeding giving local party members - both young and old - and others from outside the constituency, the opportunity to ask questions of the Minister. The questions were answered with considerable poise and the minister gave a number of undertakings to bring local people's concerns back to the Departments of Education and Business, Innovation and Science and their respective Secretaries of State. The Minister noted that he was in the unusual position of belonging to two departments. In a surprising revelation the Minister described his working relationship with Secretary of State for Business, Rt. Hon. Vince Cable MP (Liberal Democrat):

"I have never had any interference from the Secretary of State, he has supported me in a number of areas: but I am delivering the Conservative manifesto on further education that I was elected on, and you voted for, and spent my time in opposition, in apprenticeship - if I may put it like that - preparing."

Local Schools Forced to Face Reality by Lincolnshire County Council

Lincolnshire County Council are taking tough decisions in light of the recession and local schools face necessary cutbacks after years of generous investment.

Some limited job losses and cuts in resources are predicted for Lincolnshire schools, when their budgets are announced at the end of the month, as they tighten their belts along with everybody else.

The Lincolnshire Echo reports that headteachers are bracing themselves for Wednesday, 31st March 2010 when they learn how much money they will receive from the local education authority - Lincolnshire County Council.

One thing they do know, is that it will be significantly less than in the last few years. The cuts, which are an inevitable effect of the economic mess brought about the recession, will challenge all schools in the county.

The paper reports that St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic High School in Lincoln is believed to be losing four staff members and up to eight support staff. Although the County Council can not at this stage comment on this sort of speculation.

Mr. David Hellier, Chairman of the Governors, is reported to have said:

"As with every school in the country, the headteacher and governing body are having to acknowledge that school budgets are not going to be as generously funded as they have been in the last ten years."

Mr. Ed Fitzpatrick, Headteacher at Cherry Willingham Community School, said:

"Most headteachers should have been aware that it has been coming for a long time – in other words, we have had ten years of relatively generous investment and we have known for a while there are going to be significant cuts. It's unavoidable."

The paper criticises the County Council who have decided, earlier in February, to re-direct £1.5m of the schools budget to primary schools for children with special need.

David launches Maths Taskforce with Carol Vorderman

David Cameron and Michael Gove have launched a new Maths Taskforce to be led by Carol Vorderman and examine how to make maths teaching in Britain’s state schools as good as anywhere else in the world.


Under Labour, more than three and a half million children have left school without at least a ‘C’ in maths GSCE – and nearly half of all eleven-year-olds leave primary school without basic numeracy skills.

David stressed there are

“few things more important than getting maths in our schools right: Basic numeracy is not a nice-to-have, it’s a must have. From checking your bank balance, to doing the weekly shop or making the most of the sales being able to add, subtract, times and divide is something we rely on often without thinking about it.”

He described Carol as the 'perfect choice' to lead our Maths Taskforce:

“She’s a well-respected public figure who not only knows maths inside out, but also how to extend that knowledge to a wider audience in an interesting and inspirational way.”

Give teachers the powers they need to sort out discipline – Giles McNeill

Growing concerns over violence and disruption in schools and on the streets

Giles McNeill, Conservative Candidate for West Lindsey District Council, today welcomed new policy proposals announced by Conservative leader, David Cameron, to restore classroom discipline and raise standards of behaviour in schools.

Life in local communities is being marred by violence and disruption in schools - and on the streets as well from children playing truant. These social problems hit the poorest areas the hardest. Bureaucratic rules imposed by the Labour Government have made it harder for teachers to keep order, while false allegations and assaults on teachers have never been higher.


Since 1997, across Lincolnshire, the number of permanent exclusions from secondary schools has fallen by 3% as a proportion of the school population – not because of better discipline, but because it has become more difficult to exclude troublemakers.

Conservative proposals include:

· Restoring the authority of headteachers, by ending the right to appeal against exclusions to external panels. Parents would still have a right of appeal to school governors – who are the people who should decide such matters.

· Changing the law so that teachers can physically restrain violent pupils if they need to.

· Establishing new protections for teachers from false and malicious allegations.

· Giving headteachers the freedom to pay bonuses to teachers who do a good job.

· Allowing headteachers to ban any items they think may cause violence or disruption in schools.

Giles McNeill said:

“In too many of our schools, good education is ruined by bad behaviour. The problem doesn’t lie with teachers – but with the Labour Government’s rules and regulations that stop teachers instilling proper discipline. Conservatives will give teachers and heads the powers they need to tackle disruptive kids, improve standards and ensure parents have a real choice over where to send their child.”

Action plan to raise school standards and offer opportunity for all

Giles McNeill offers support on plans to give children the best education.

Giles McNeill, Nettleham Parish Councillor, welcomed new proposals this week to raise standards in schools, create more good school places and increase equality of opportunity. The action plan, entitled ‘Raising the bar, closing the gap’, has been published by Conservative leader, David Cameron.

The paper outlines plans to raise the standards of the worst-performing schools so they can catch up with the best, improve school discipline, get every child who is capable of doing so reading by the age of six, allow new schools to open and create an additional 220,000 good school places. Other proposals include:

· Charities, voluntary groups and groups of parents would be assisted in setting up new schools in the state sector.

· Increasing teachers’ ability to stop the distruptive use of mobile phones in classrooms.

· Promoting best practice and excellence, including school uniform policies, more extra-curricular activities, a system of prefects, and awards for pupils for academic and sporting achievement.

· Strengthening the powers of head teachers to expel pupils who ruin others’ education.

Giles McNeill said:

“I welcome these proposals which will help raise standards in our schools, tackle unruly behaviour, and deliver more teaching by ability to stretch the strongest and help the weakest.

“It is right that we make it easier for charities, groups of parents and other providers to start new schools where there is a need for more good local schools. They should be helped to do that, not blocked by the Government or town halls. These plans will complement the excellent work Lincolnshire County Council is already doing to help raise standards for all our children.”