This article considers the implications of Academies for the diversity of schooling in England. It seeks to establish the extent to which Academies are distinctive compared to other types of state secondary schools and whether this has been affected by a number of recent reforms. Different types of Academies are also be examined. Previous work in…

In August 2008, the then Schools Minister, Andrew Adonis, gave the go-ahead for the privately funded Hereford Waldorf School to reopen as a tax-payer-funded Academy, sponsored by the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship of Great Britain. Accordingly, the Steiner Academy Hereford opened in September 2008. In common with the 132 other Academies opened…

The Researching Academies (RA) Conference, hosted by the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham on 12 November 2008 and organised by the authors, was a unique one-day event, funded as part of a research project (a case study of an Academy) supported by a British Academy (BA) grant, with additional support and funding from BELMAS. The RA…

In this article the author seeks to look at the policy on Academies from a broader perspective, briefly touching on issues of democracy, autonomy, governance and accountability and arguing that the policy must be considered holistically. Individuals should focus not on an Academy or Academies in isolation but on their relationship with the rest of…

Based on initial analyses of a case study of an Academy with a specialism in business and enterprise, this article examines how the Academy appears to be constructing meanings around enterprise. It tests the usefulness of a typology of entrepreneurialism (Woods et al., 2007) as a means of exploring the degree to which meanings ascribed to…

The Emmanuel Schools Foundation (ESF) has so far sponsored four schools in England. Beginning with Emmanuel College in Gateshead in 1990 (which remains a City Technology College) the Foundation sponsors the King's Academy in Middlesbrough, which opened in 2003, and Trinity Academy in Thorne near Doncaster, which opened in 2005. The Foundation's…

Research has long accorded heads of subject departments a key middle leadership role in secondary schools. Unfortunately, researchers have found that the exact nature of this leadership is "blurred" in that it is difficult to isolate its distinctive qualities. In addition, there are also debates concerning whether professional and emotional…

This article presents the text of a lecture delivered to an imaginary History of Education class in the year 2084. In the lecture, the speaker explains that historians have often come across evidence of human activities and beliefs which seem to them odd or even inexplicable. The latter half of the twentieth century was remarkable for the number…

In leading the construction of knowledge in educational organisations, what is in the mix? "People . . . Power . . . Culture/Curriculum" all of which are located in particular contexts which lead, through people's interactions with them, to the construction of knowledge. In this article, the author outlines and deconstructs each of these factors.…

The need for educational administrators at all levels has been the subject of much attention for many years now. The shortage seems evident. The numbers of qualified applicants for principal and superintendent vacancies seems at an all time low according to local personnel departments and human resource officers. Where there previously had been 20…

The principle of lay people taking important strategic decisions and holding lead professionals to account has a long and illustrious pedigree in British public life; it applies to police authorities, primary care trusts, local councils as well as schools. However, influential voices have been raised over recent months about the suitability of…

In New Zealand, private language schools, although controversial, are popular for international travellers who want to study and travel simultaneously. These alternative schools are run in a business-like fashion and their educational administrators have embraced the use of marketing as part of their everyday educational management practice. Even…

In 2002 the New Labour government launched the Academies programme (known initially as City Academies) with the target of 400, of which 200 are to opened by 2010. The espoused aim has been to tackle underachievement and encourage diversity of provision. However, it continues to be a controversial policy that is being driven by the Specialist…

Responsibilities placed on a governing body are profound--starting with governors' own performance and the achievement of the pupils. In recognition of the weight of duty placed upon them, every governing body has, by law, to appoint a clerk who is not a governor. Committees of the governing body may be clerked by governors, but the main meeting…

The School Governor's One-Stop Shop (SGOSS) was established by the Department of Education and Employment in 1999. Its mission was to recruit volunteers from the business, industry and the public sector who had transferable management skills and experience in order to add value to the governing bodies of those inner-city schools facing the…