Council chiefs to intervene in failing Sandwell academies

Academies are run independently of local authorities but Sandwell Council said it had a responsibility to ensure children in the borough were receiving a good education.

It said it would 'consider the mechanisms it could use' at academies which had fallen below expected levels and that it would take a 'robust approach' to challenging their performance.

Action is most urgently needed at Ace Academy in Tipton and Wodensborough Academy in Wednesbury, the council said, following a significant drop in GCSE results.

Concerns have also been raised about seven other academies. It said Bristnall Hall Academy, Oldbury Academy and Mesty Croft Primary Academy had all fallen below a good Ofsted rating since making the change.

RSA Academy, Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy and Forge Academy are all rated as requires improvement by Ofsted and there has been a three year decline in GCSE examination performance at both Sandwell Academy and Wood Green Academy.

The council's children's chief Simon Hackett said his priority was focusing on young people in Sandwell, not worrying about what the authority can and can't do.

Education chiefs have decided to act at a time when Sandwell secondary schools are the worst performing in the Black Country and Staffordshire.

It was ranked 127th out of 150 local authorities in Ofsted's latest annual report.

State schools have increasingly made the move to academy status over the last decade, moving out of reach of councils.

Sandwell Council is concerned that it is losing its grip of secondary schools with 12 of the 17 now academies and has watched from afar as many have struggled.

The authority has acknowledged that it has no legal powers to get involved with the running of academies but cited examples of other academies that had bent the rules in the interests of children.

Mr Hackett, cabinet member for children and families, said: "I take the position that whether or not they are academies or maintained schools they are all Sandwell children.

"It has never been about structure, it is about the need to make sure children and young people get a better education and a good start in life."

Councillor Hackett said he was not concerned about the council's powers regarding academies.

"My priority is the children and young people attending these schools, regardless of whether they are academies or not," he said.

"We will look at what we want to do, whether that is talking directly to academies or to head teachers. It is about building a relationship of these schools."