School:Barnby Road Academy
Converted: September 2010
Location: Nottinghamshire
Type: Primary and Nursery school
Size: 360 pupils and 40 nursery places
Head: Kevin Eveleigh, OBE
Why did you decide to become an Academy?
I was convinced we could spend our budget better locally and protect our staffing, particularly a team of brilliant teaching assistants.
What have been the main changes since becoming an Academy?
We have more control over the allocation of resources to meet our own needs. I choose the education initiatives I want to get involved in and can ignore those that aren’t relevant - all my meetings are about the school I work in and the children I know. And we are genuinely giving hands on support to a local school in a very deprived area.
What are you doing to support other schools in your area?
We’ve worked with a ‘satisfactory’ partner school in a deprived area struggling to make the benchmark. We joined Nottinghamshire local authority in a joint review of maths teaching and supported the school with two of our leading maths teachers, working on their one-to-one strategies and devising support plans with their excellent young head. The school was revisited within the year and had made good progress but it was the professional development and exchange of ideas that we valued most.
What has been the reaction from staff, parents and governors?
Trustees and governors have become far more hands on. They seem to feel more responsible for our standalone status and the impact on their community. They are proud of what has been achieved.
What would you say to schools that are unsure about whether or not to convert/become involved in the Academies programme?
We love making our own decisions for our own children - the community is vibrant! Academies are about localisation, not privatisation.
