School Chain Locks Out Public Service Values?

An article in the Observer declares Academy chain accused of ‘privatisation by stealth’ over plan to outsource jobs, a report on how the Academy Enterprise Trust (AET) has “selected” PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to partner with it in establishing an LLP “to take over responsibility for providing school business managers, IT staff, secretarial staff, and finanicial expertise, along with speech and language therapy provision, education psychology, education welfare, curriculum development and professional development”.

Here’s a quick chart of academy groupings with at least 15 academies in the group:

As you might expect, when talking about their performance, the group in part assumes you must be referring to their financial rather than just educational performance:

(By the by, they really need to talk to their webteam about the domain mapping…)

As well as outsourcing everything, it looks like the AET is of a size where they can start raking it in as a provider of teacher training courses:

(I don’t know if this means they can use their own academies for placements, getting cheap labour and perhaps a training grant bung, as well as the more general student fees, for each placement?)

School Direct places are offered by the AET National Teaching School Alliance in partnership with an good or outstanding Ofsted accredited teacher training provider.

You will spend the majority of your training in the classroom, building your confidence in an academy environment whilst receiving excellent mentoring support.
You will complete placements in academies who are experienced in initial teacher training and who excel at training and developing their staff.
All School Direct places will lead to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). In addition, some providers also accredit a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

Participating AET academies recruit and select their own trainees with the expectation that they will then go on to work within the Academies Enterprise Trust, although there is no absolute guarantee of employment.

You may apply directly to the Academies Enterprise Trust National Teaching School Alliance or directly to the AET academy that you wish to be trained in or contact the AET National Teaching School Alliance.

Scale-up, plug-in, live-off public money and private student debt, partner with “trusted auditors” to disburse funds to private providers (because they previously got rumbled when making disbursements to themselves…?) – is that how it works?

By the by, the following schools are part of the AET group:

– primary: Westerings Primary Academy (Rayleigh and Wickford), Plumberow Primary School (Rayleigh and Wickford), Ashingdon School (Rayleigh and Wickford), Weston Academy (Isle of Wight), Hamford Primary Academy (Clacton), Oaks Academy (Faversham and Mid Kent), St James the Great Academy (Tonbridge and Malling), Tree Tops Academy (Faversham and Mid Kent), Langer Primary Academy (Suffolk Coastal), Molehill Copse Primary School (Faversham and Mid Kent), Percy Shurmer Academy (Birmingham, Hall Green), Brockworth Primary Academy (Tewkesbury), Offa’s Mead Academy (Forest of Dean), Severn View Academy (Stroud), Noel Park Primary School (Hornsey and Wood Green), Trinity Primary Academy (Hornsey and Wood Green), Hall Road Academy (Kingston upon Hull North), Newington Academy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle), The Green Way Academy (Kingston upon Hull North), Charles Warren Academy (Milton Keynes South), Barton Hill Academy (Torbay), North Ormesby Primary Academy (Middlesbrough), Montgomery Primary Academy (Birmingham, Hall Green), Feversham Primary Academy (Bradford East), Shafton Primary Academy (Barnsley East), St Helen’s Primary School (Barnsley Central), Lea Forest Academy (Birmingham, Hodge Hill), Cottingley Primary Academy (Leeds Central), Beacon Academy (Loughborough), Anglesey Primary Academy (Burton), Four Dwellings Primary Academy (Birmingham, Edgbaston), Caldicotes Primary Academy (Middlesbrough), Meadstead Primary Academy (Barnsley Central), Hazelwood Academy (South Swindon), North Thoresby Primary School (Louth and Horncastle), The Utterby Primary School (Louth and Horncastle);
– secondary: Unity City Academy (Middlesbrough), New Rickstones Academy (Witham), Greensward Academy (Rayleigh and Wickford), Maltings Academy (Witham), Clacton Coastal Academy (Clacton), Aylward Academy (Edmonton), Nightingale Academy (Edmonton), Richmond Park Academy (Richmond Park), Tendring Technology College (Clacton), Bexleyheath Academy (Bexleyheath and Crayford), Everest Community Academy (Basingstoke), Ryde Academy (Isle of Wight), Sandown Bay Academy (Isle of Wight), East Point Academy (Waveney), Felixstowe Academy (Suffolk Coastal), Millbrook Academy (Tewkesbury), The Duston School (South Northamptonshire), The Rawlett School (An Aet Academy) (Tamworth), The New Forest Academy (New Forest East), Childwall Sports & Science Academy (Liverpool, Wavertree), Sir Herbert Leon Academy (Milton Keynes South), Tamworth Enterprise College and AET Academy (Tamworth), Winton Community Academy (North West Hampshire), Broadlands Academy (North East Somerset), Greenwood Academy (Birmingham, Erdington), Cordeaux Academy (Louth and Horncastle), Four Dwellings Academy (Birmingham, Edgbaston), Kingsley Academy (Brentford and Isleworth), Kingswood Academy (Kingston upon Hull North), Swallow Hill Community College (Leeds West), Firth Park Academy (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough), Hillsview Academy (Redcar);
– special: Columbus School and College (Chelmsford), The Pioneer School (Basildon and Billericay), Wishmore Cross Academy (Surrey Heath), Greenfield Academy (Stroud), Peak Academy (Stroud), The Ridge Academy (Cheltenham), Newlands School (Camberwell and Peckham).