Merging Good Schools With Bad Could Produce A Mediocre Educational Result.
Alistair Owens www.keen2learn.co.uk
Ed Balls, Minister of State for Children Schools and Families plans to merge selected good schools with failing schools. The idea is to allow the strength of the good school to infiltrate the bad school and also reduce costs. This educational game is fraught with issues and could result in the good school being dragged down more that the bad school is moved up.
About two years ago the Association of School and College Leaders reviewed the concept of a strong Headteacher being able to run two schools. This was a possibility provided such a Headteacher existed and was interested. It was also an indictment that schools were failing to attract the right calibre of Headteacher in the first place.
The idea we could have chains of school management companies supposedly to tighten the running and reduce costs is a significant move. But the bottom line is the bottom line; the emphasis is not of primarily improving the performance of the weaker schools flagged up by Ofsted, but a way to reduce the costs by pooling budgets between the schools. Another indication that UK Ltd is running our of cash.
Are we really to mess with the educational goals by adjusting the budgets and have area or regional Head teachers. This would be worth considering if they currently existed and a role many would relish. Somehow I doubt it. The current reluctance of deputy heads wishing to seek promotion due to stress of the job is a pretty clear indicator the heads role is not for everyone.
If we are looking for commercial managers to reduce budgets and manage pooled resources there are a number now available due to the recession. But if it is teaching leadership to improve performance across several schools – these guys are scarce.
