General Chit Chat

[Beefheart]

Police are said to be following all leads.

[thebish]

Police are said to be following all leads.

bravo!!

[Bruce Rioja]

What the feck is a 'free school' and what the feck is an 'academy'?

[Worthy4England]

What the feck is a 'free school' and what the feck is an 'academy'?

Free schools are academies. Introduced under the Academies Act I think. When some Academies were criticized as being shite, I think the terminology switched to Free School. They're funded by govt, but outside of LEA control. They can be applied for/run by groups of parents, teachers, religious groups, non-religious groups, businesses etc. Basically they have to do the same exams etc. As LEA Schools. Receive they same funding per pupil as LEA schools but don't have to follow the National Curriculum etc. They still have OFSTED marking them etc.

So probably a government funded not profit making private school would probably cover it (don't think they can charge to attend)..

[Beefheart]

What the feck is a 'free school' and what the feck is an 'academy'?

Free schools are academies. Introduced under the Academies Act I think. When some Academies were criticized as being shite, I think the terminology switched to Free School. They're funded by govt, but outside of LEA control. They can be applied for/run by groups of parents, teachers, religious groups, non-religious groups, businesses etc. Basically they have to do the same exams etc. As LEA Schools. Receive they same funding per pupil as LEA schools but don't have to follow the National Curriculum etc. They still have OFSTED marking them etc.

So probably a government funded not profit making private school would probably cover it (don't think they can charge to attend)..

I thought they could make profit? Which was a lot of peoples problem with them.

[Worthy4England]

Not at the minute, they can't....(as far as I can tell)...you could conceive of the possibility somewhere round the corner though.

[Bruce Rioja]

Get the 11+ reinstated. Grammar schools for us juvenile brainboxes, the local comp fert' rest.

[thebish]

given that local groups/businesses/franchises apply to open Free Schools (not the govt or the local authority) - how can Cameron promise to open over 500 if the tories are elected? Surely it would depend on 500 groups independantly-of-government applying to do it...

[thebish]

What the feck is a 'free school' and what the feck is an 'academy'?

Free schools are academies. Introduced under the Academies Act I think. When some Academies were criticized as being shite, I think the terminology switched to Free School. They're funded by govt, but outside of LEA control. They can be applied for/run by groups of parents, teachers, religious groups, non-religious groups, businesses etc. Basically they have to do the same exams etc. As LEA Schools. Receive they same funding per pupil as LEA schools but don't have to follow the National Curriculum etc. They still have OFSTED marking them etc.

So probably a government funded not profit making private school would probably cover it (don't think they can charge to attend)..

aye.. and they were largely sold as groups of parents providing local-solutions when they felt their kids were let down by the existing schiools in the area... as it turns out - groups of parents setting them up is very rare, it's mostly businesses/franchises and rich philanthropists (sometimes with an axe to grind)

critics say (among other things) that the Free Schools concept opens new schools in areas that don't really need new schools - they are not opened according to "need" or according to any coordinated locally or regionally strategic plan about where schools will need to be - but according to someone's desire to open one...

[Lord Kangana]

What the feck is a 'free school' and what the feck is an 'academy'?

In laymen's terms, nothing new under the sun. Politically, despite rhetoric very much to the contrary, the Tories have always felt that Local Government is dominated politically by Labour, and so attempt to centralise as much as possible (usually in a clandestine manner, using airy fairy words that actually mean "centralising control").

It works in the reverse sort of way for Labour, again, counter intuitively. I always feel that watching an episode of Yes, Minister and then considering these issues is usually the best way of getting your head round them. A bit like the hospital with no patients, the actual pupils are very much of secondary* importance.

*Pun intended.

[Bruce Rioja]

So, and yes I'm struggling here, are Free Schools and Academies basically one and the same?

[Lord Kangana]

Yes.

[Worthy4England]

So, and yes I'm struggling here, are Free Schools and Academies basically one and the same?

They were introduced in the Academies Act. A number of the originals got slated by OFSTED. I suspect a memo went out saying "Don't mention the war", so they're now Free Schools.

[Bruce Rioja]

Cheers All. There's one near our plant in Burslem that's either owned or sponsored by Britannia. Why? I've no idea.

[thebish]

Cheers All. There's one near our plant in Burslem that's either owned or sponsored by Britannia. Why? I've no idea.

cos one day - if Gove's plan comes to fruition - they will be able to sell off (council-owned) land, dabble in hedge funds and reward shareholders...

[Bruce Rioja]

Cheers All. There's one near our plant in Burslem that's either owned or sponsored by Britannia. Why? I've no idea.

cos one day - if Gove's plan comes to fruition - they will be able to sell off (council-owned) land, dabble in hedge funds and reward shareholders...

Oh, good stuff. Where do I go to buy-in?

[malcd1]

What the feck is a 'free school' and what the feck is an 'academy'?

A 'Free School' is a school started by an individual or group of people at the governments expense. Just an aside, around a quarter of free schools are religious. For someone like me who believes religion does not belong in schools, this really saddens me.

An Academy is a school that has got above its station.

[Little Green Man]

Cheers All. There's one near our plant in Burslem that's either owned or sponsored by Britannia. Why? I've no idea.

There's a new one in Chester that's just been given the go-ahead. It's being overseen by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Bank of America also do banking, though not as well as they like to think they do.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-mon ... ca-economy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lord Kangana]

When did the Guardian start writing in Americanish?

[Bruce Rioja]

The product will be adversely affected....

The product will be adversely effected....

Which?