One year to improve failing schools

Tuesday, 6 September 2005 12:00 AM

Failing schools will receive only one year to improve standards before they are taken over, the government has announced today.

In on a speech to the Local Government Association, education secretary Ruth Kelly said that failing schools must not hold back the education of students.

"We cannot ask children in our weakest schools to be patient while their school gets a second, third or fourth chance to improve," Ms Kelly argued.

Currently schools that receive the poorest Ofsted ratings are given two years to improve before they are placed under new management - for example, by being taken under the control of a successful school in their area.

The move is supported by the chief inspector of schools David Bell, who told the Guardian: "Ofsted's evidence over the years would suggest that if no progress has been made after one year in a failing school, it is unlikely to happen at all."

But some teachers groups argue that one year is not enough time to turn around a failing school, while the Conservatives have questioned whether the government will follow through with their 'tough talk'.

In the speech on the future of education in Britain, Ms Kelly said she wanted to build a "genuinely comprehensive system of education - one that succeeds for every pupil".

She said failing schools could not be allowed to continue for too long, and indicated that new city academies could play a key role in replacing failing institutions.

She also indicated parents should become more closely involved with schools - and should be seen as "partners" in education, and not just consumers.

In the future, organisations could be involved in providing education - such as educational charities, faith and parents' groups, she added.

But the NASUWT criticised moves to close down failing schools within one year. General secretary Chris Keates said if schools continued to fail over a long period, it was a "failure of the system, not the schools".

"No school fails overnight. No school deliberately sets out to fail its pupils. The reasons for decline are highly complex and often outside the school's control," he said.

Other unions suggested that the government wanted to close down more schools so that more city academies could be opened up in their place.

General secretary of the Secondary Heads Association (SHA) John Dunford said: "There must be a strong suspicion that this is a ruse to increase the number of schools that can be turned into academies, so that the prime minister's target of 200 academies can be met."

Meanwhile, the Conservatives said the government would not deliver on it tough message.

Shadow schools minister Mark Hoban said: "The government have been talking tough on failing schools since 1997. They made these same proposals last year but Ruth Kelly failed to take the opportunity of this year's Education Act to put them into practice."

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