MAT used unapproved loans to cover slow EFA payments

Unauthorised loans with a value of £150,000 were taken out by Chapel Street Schools, a multi-academy trust (MAT) which runs six schools. Another loan of £85,000 was also borrowed around the time the initial loans were repaid.

Aldridge Foundation sponsorship model for Darwen Vale High School

UPDATE: Frank Green supports academisation despite consultation results

The Aldridge Foundation has agreed to sponsor Darwen Vale High School according to the Lancashire Telegraph - however this does not appear to be as part of a multi-academy trust but as a traditional sponsor.

SBM at private school turned free school criticises Regional Commissioner plan

From the Lancashire Telegraph: 'Nick Kershaw, business manager at QEGS, said the move (to create a 'middle tier' of Regional Commissioners) was a retrograde step. He said: 'The idea behind free schools is that they are free to fail or succeed on their own merits.''

Three Blackpool schools plan catholic MAT

From the Blackpool Gazette: 'Three Blackpool schools have been handed orders to convert to academy status... The schools intend to convert from September 1, to form the Blessed Edward Bamber Catholic Multi-Academy Trust.'

Lancashire free school overcomes council opposition

From the Burnley Citizen: 'Burnley High School is now set to open in September after receiving the all clear to set up the facility.... The school, part of the the Chapel Street Schools Trust, has been told that the former Habergham High School has been secured as the permanent site for Burnley High School.'

Tauheedul's Blackburn school 'outstanding' in second year of existence

From the Lancashire Telegraph: 'Tauheedul Islam Boys (High) School (TIBHS) has achieved an outstanding Ofsted rating in just its second year in existence.'

Catholic primary becomes Anglican primary academy

From the BBC: 'Sacred Heart RC Primary School in Lynwood Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, will become an Anglican academy (because of falling numbers of Catholic pupils)... (it) will be sponsored by the Cidari Trust... the school is currently overseen by the Catholic Diocese of Salford.'

Council pulls plug on free school property deal before September opening

From This is Lancashire: Trustees of Burnley High School had hoped to use the old Habergham High School buildings, in Byron Street, from September... but Lancashire County Council (LCC) leader Jennifer Mein has blocked the move... the refusal of a long-term lease is set to spark a legal tug-of-war between Labour-led LCC and the Department for Education (DfE)...'

Forced academy governors 'sacked' despite deal to stay

From This is Lancashire: Governors at Elton Primary School were told they would be replaced by an interim executive board (IEB), put in place by the Department for Education (DfE)... governors accepted the switch to academy status on the basis that they could continue in their roles.'

Burnley free school begins site suitability negotiations

From Lancashire Telegraph

'Talks on the suitability of the former Habergham High School, in Byron Street, (as the site for Burnley's first free school) are now expected to lead to weeks of discussions between the Chapel Street School’s Trust, the Department for Education and Lancashire County Council. It is expected to be several weeks before a decision is announced.'

Free school bid raises concerns after failed studio school

From the Lancashire Telegraph

The Red Rose Free School.... has been proposed by a group of local teachers and parents... just months after a ‘pioneering’ studio school was forced to move less than a year after it opened.

Lancashire free school targets empty school site

From the Lancashire Telegraph:


Backers (of Burnley High School - up to 700 pupils, cost £5m) have chosen the former Habergham High School (vacated as part of the £250 million Building Schools for the Future programme) as the preferred site for the ‘Christian ethos’ school.

Accuracy check could delay forced academy

From the Bolton News: http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/NEWS/10976114.Gorsefield_Primary_School_awaits_government_s_academy_decision/

'Gorsefield Primary School in Robertson Street has been placed in special measures after government education watchdogs inspected the establishment last November.'

Local chain gives slight relief to forced academy

From This is Lancashire:

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/10946700.Contrversial_Elton_Primary_School_academy_plan_approved/

'Elton Primary School (headteacher: Tony Emmott)...'

'Governors at the school... “reluctantly” signed the papers last Thursday in front of Gena Merrett, a Department for Education adviser, which confirm that the school will become an academy.'

Lancashire: more questions over claims for academy conversion

From the Lancashire Telegraph:
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/blackburndarwenhyndburnribble/10921211.St_Luke_and_St_Philips_CofE_in_Blackburn_set_to_become_academy/


'St Luke and St Philips CofE in Blackburn has been approved to become an academy with the conversion expected by April.

'The school has already been included in a new Government report by Michael Gove’s department that says the academisation process is improving standards nationally.'


Deputy director of education at the diocese (Blackburn Church of England Diocese) Fred Kershaw said: “They were not performing very well but have improved significantly. The governors willingly sought out academy status as the best way forward.”

Prospective MP wins support to challenge DFE sponsor choice

From the Guardian's Education in brief: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/07/free-school-governor-criticises-education-policy

Prospective Labour MP (Darwen Lancashire) Will Straw said:'Essentially the DfE are trying to impose the Aldridge Foundation on the school (Darwen Vale High) without consultation with parents, teachers or children.'

More from This is Lancashire: http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/10857455.Will_Straw_voices_his_concerns_for_the_future_of_Darwen_Vale_High_School/?ref=rss

Bolton councillors pressed to lobby government against academy status

This is Lancashire:
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/10890176.Parents_ask_Bury_Council_to_lobby_government_against_controversial_Elton_Primary_academy_plans/



"Members of protest group Save Elton Primary School used public question time at last Wednesday’s full council meeting at Bury Town Hall to raise the issue with Cllr Mike Connolly. Cllr Connolly was asked if he would write to Education Secretary Michael Gove to reconsider the decision.

"Elton is the second local primary school to be turned into an academy, following Radcliffe Primary, which is set to be converted on January 1.

"The process for Elton to be turned into an academy will continue on January 28, when Gena Merrett, a Department for Education adviser, will attend the school to hand over papers. If governors object at that meeting, the current board could be replaced by an interim executive board to force through the change."

Ditched free school in Chorley cost £200k

From This is Lancashire/ Chorley Citizen: http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/10853309.Free_school_bid_in_Chorley____waste_of_cash___/


"Plans to open Chorley Career and Sixth Form Academy were abandoned just three months before it was due to open last year. Documents obtained by the Chorley Citizen under the Freedom of Information Act show the Department for Education spent £211,821.43 on the project."

Battle over academy status and DFE sponsor choice

From this is Lancashire/Lancashire Telegraph:
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/10850888.Darwen_school_faces_forced_academy_status/


"Darwen Vale High is the first secondary school in East Lancashire to be told it has to make the move.
The decision by the Government comes after it received the worst possible rating from inspectors in August....
Angry governers, who have also vowed to continue to fight the decision, last night refused a suggestion from the Department for Education that it become the latest Aldridge Foundation sponsored school. The Lancashire Telegraph understands the governors favour Blackburn Diocese as the school sponsor."

Headteacher: Fiona Jack

UPDATE: Another Darwen academy story - Burnley Academy to join forces with Darwen Aldridge Community Academy: http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/10860568.Darwen_academy_in_link_to_new_free_school/

Forced academy: Lancashire primary

From this is Lancashire:

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/10845340.Parents_protest_over_plans_to_force_Elton_Primary_School_to_become_academy/

The move comes after the school was placed in special measures by Ofsted inspectors in May. Both Bury Council and Elton headteacher Tony Emmott have objected to the academy move.