Schools_as_Organisations

Section 1 – Know the structure of education from early years to post – compulsory education 1.1 Summarise the entitlement and provision for early year’s education. The entitlement of all 3 – 4 year old is 15 hours (per week) of free early year’s education across 38 weeks of the year. If parents/carers wish for their child to have additional hours of education to suit there needs there will be an extra charge from the provider. There are various providers of this early year’s education: - Nursery private / public Sure start children centres Childminders (registered) Playgroups / pre schools Reception class Early year’s provision in schools is all about supporting very young children. The Early years foundation stage (EYFS) is a statutory framework that sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that all children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. EYFS is based on the concept of learning through play. 1.2 Explain the characteristics of the different types of schools in relation to educational stage (s) and school governance. Depending on the area the schools could be two or three tier system: - Two tier three tier Primary (4-11) First /lower (4-8) Secondary (11-16+) Middle (8-11) High/upper (11-16+) There are lots of different types of schools within the UK: - State schools There are four main types of state schools they are all funded by the local government and follow the national curriculum they are regularly inspected by OFSTEAD.s 1. Community school These are run and owned by the local authority and look to develop links with the local community (childcare classes or adult education) 2. Foundation / trust school These are schools that are run by their own governing body and usually own land and buildings will also be owned by the governing body or by a charitable foundation. A trust school is a type of foundation school but will form a charitable trust from an outside partner (a business). 3. Voluntary schools (2 types) Voluntary aided Many are faith schools. The governing body employs the staff, decides admission arrangements and contributes towards the capital costs of running the school. The land and buildings are normally owned by a religious organisation or charity. Most aided schools are linked to either the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church, but some are linked to other faith groups. Voluntary – controlled These are almost always church schools, and the land and buildings are often owned by a religious organisation. But the LEA employs the school’s staff and has primary responsibility for admission arrangements 4. Specialist schools These are usually secondary schools. Special schools cater for children with specific special educational needs. These may include physical disabilities or learning difficulties. Independent schools Are schools that are funded by fees paid by parents and income from investments, gifts and charitable donations. They do not have to follow the national curriculum and the head teacher and the governors can set the admissions policy. They will be monitored and inspected by either OFSTEAD or ISI (independent schools inspectorate) Academies Academies are independently managed, all ability schools. They are set up by sponsors from business, faith or voluntary groups in partnership with the Department for Education (DFE) and the local authority. Together they fund the land and buildings, with the government covering the running costs. Most state secondary schools have converted to academies. The governing body has greater freedom. Academies benefit from greater freedom to innovate and raise standards. These include:- Freedom from local authority Set own pay and conditions of staff Freedom on and delivery of the curriculum Change length and term of school days Free Schools A free school is funded by the government it is free to attend but not controlled by the local authority. Free schools are subject to the School Admissions Code of Practice, other than that they are allowed to give priority to founders' children. Free schools are set up by Parents, teachers, charities and businesses; they are an extension of the academies program. Ongoing funding is on an equivalent basis with other locally controlled state maintained schools, although grants to create schools are also paid. Free schools are expected to offer a broad and balanced curriculum. They are still subject to OFSTEAD inspections. My views on academies are that there are lots of pros and cons to academies:- Pros • Raise education standards and academies often replace poor – performing schools • They seem to focus on nurturing the students in a supportive environment so that they can bring the best out of them • They use an innovative approach to learning and often focus on bringing out the creative side of students some of the building are designed to inspire the children. • More scope to innovate in term of school day • They try and motivate pupils who maybe did not respond to tradional teaching techniques with new inspiring learning methods Cons • They are primary controlled by sponsors who have control over how the school is run. • Teaching staff worry about job uncertainty and parents worry about teaching methods and educational standards • This for me is a major factor they pose a threat to other state schools, meaning academies are mainly set up in new state of the art well equipped building which means they have a high percentage of children wanting to go to them. This means that other state schools in that area will suffer as fewer parents will be enrolling their children, which means less money from the government. • People also worry that are academies are leading to the privatization of education ( local towns will lose democratic control over the school , local councils will not have say either which means no local input ) • The sponsor who funds the academy status also has a degree of control over how it is run - including parts of the curriculum, which means that the LEA (Local Education Authority) lose elements of control. There are many more pros and cons to this story but I feel as though the academies programme is not about providing better education it’s about dismantling our state education system. It’s about privatisation and creating new market for business and ultimately having schools run for profit. And in the end it will be the children who suffer…….