Flagship city academy lambasted
One of the Government’s flagship city academies has been put into special measures by school inspectorate Ofsted.
Unity academy in Middlesbrough failed its Ofsted inspection after its pupils were labelled “out of control”.
Ofsted found that the academy, which was opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2002, has a range of problems, including poor student discipline, low levels of experienced teachers, problems in uniting students from two former schools, disappointing academic results and poor levels of teacher attendance.
According to the report, as many as one in every three teachers do not come into work on any given day.
The academy’s students were also found to have poor attendance rates, truancy rates more than twice the national average and high exclusion levels – two factors that Ofsted argues have heavily contributed to Unity’s academic performance.
Ofsted states that “the quality of the teaching is poor overall”.
However, despite the barrage of criticism, some teachers at the academy were found to be committed to their students, with the inspectorate finding examples of good, very good and excellent teaching during the inspection.
Unity said it accepted the report’s findings and had already begun to tackle many of the problems identified.
Shadow Education Secretary David Cameron said that academy heads must be given greater control over admissions – and expulsions.
Mr Cameron, said: “It is deeply worrying that so much money and effort has been expended to so little effect. It is now clear while some City academies are succeeding at improving standards of academic excellence, classroom discipline and school pride – some are failing.
“While we support the principles underlying City academies, until head teachers are given more control over admissions, curriculum, discipline and expulsions, they will find it hard to make improvements. Promoting change in our schools must mean more than a new coat of paint.”
And Liberal Democrat spokesman Ed Davey said the report called into question the future of the whole city academy project.
Mr Davey said: “The aim of city academies is to raise standards, yet despite huge injections of cash, standards have slipped yet further. No-one can deny the challenging situations faced by teachers in our inner cities but it is not clear that an academy offers all the answers.
“The Government should heed the advice of the [Education] Select Committee and halt the roll out of more academies until a proper analysis can be done of whether they really deliver the desired results.”
