Paula Dixon, headteacher of Prenton High School for Girls _320
A HEADTEACHER from Wirral last night hit out at plans to convert one of the borough’s most successful independent schools into an academy.
Paula Dixon, headteacher of Prenton High School for Girls, questioned the need for an academy in Wirral, which she fears will divert precious resources away from other schools.
Her fears emerged as the government yesterday said it was carrying out an urgent review into whether its "independent state schools" were helping pupils from the poorest backgrounds.
Merseyside already has three academies, and Wirral will get its first next year when the independent Birkenhead High School for Girls joins the academies programme.
The private girls’ school said falling pupils numbers were making it difficult to continue without change, and the Girls Day School Trust which oversees it, had approached the government about turning the school into an academy.
But Mrs Dixon said academies were "not proven", unlike schools such as hers which last month was rated "outstanding" by Ofsted, despite drawing many of its pupils from some of the most deprived areas in the country.
Mrs Dixon said: "My question is why do we need an academy in Wirral? The government feels education is failing to target the most deprived pupils, but here we received an outstanding Ofsted report and many of our girls come from very deprived areas.
"Our ‘value-added’ puts us in the top 6% of all schools nationally.
"We are providing outstanding results and education for our girls and could do without this distraction.
"And as a Wirral parent myself I would be saying ‘why take a risk with your daughter’s education?’
"Why should the government plough millions of pounds into a failing business?"
Mrs Dixon also pointed to the problem of falling rolls issue facing schools across Wirral and Merseyside., as they struggle to deal with fewer pupils numbers in coming years.
Already primary schools have been closed across the region because there are too few pupils to fill them, and now secondaries are beginning to be hit.
The academies are a network of independent state schools, funded directly by the government rather than the LEA, intended to boost educational achievement, particularly in inner cities.
The programme reached Liverpool in 2005, when The Academy of St Francis of Assisi, in Kensington, replaced Our Lady’s Roman Catholic School.
North Liverpool Academy replaced Breckfield and Anfield Schools last year and Belvedere, one of Liverpool’s most prestigious fee-paying schools, switched to an academy this year.
A spokeswoman for Belvedere said last night they had received postive and negative feedback from other schools but most were waiting to see what impact the change-over would have.
She said: "We have had no shortage of people applying and our year seven has expanded, but the other pupils are the same ones who were here last year." She welcomed the review announced by the Secretary of State saying it would be a chance for new academies to learn from the experiences of others.
But research published yesterday said government schools policies had been responsible for less than a third of the improvements in GCSE results in recent years.
It suggested the billions of pounds spent had rewarded higher performing schools, leaving those with the most disadvantaged students little better off.
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls said he had asked for the review of academies by the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (PMDU), to report within a few months. The Number 10 unit will question academy headteachers and business sponsors, but last night Mr Balls dismissed suggestions academies would be abandoned, as "utter nonsense".
He said: "Far from retreating on the academies programme, I have already announced we want to accelerate it." so that we have more academies than previously planned, and open them faster than before.
He added: "The PMDU regularly peer reviews important aspects of government departments’ work, and adds value by analysing how delivery can be improved.
"The evidence shows academies are delivering faster improvements in results in areas with a high proportion of children receiving free school meals."
