More than 7,000 schools in England have been turned into academies and are now run by private trusts. The people in charge are not supposed to profit from children's education, but what's to stop them from cashing in?
I’m a teacher at the Whitehaven Academy. I’m glad to say that in 2 days time I will be leaving that horrible building and we are now moving into our brand new state of the art building. And it’s all thanks to this woman featured in this Julie. We are now with a new academy trust and things are finally looking up.
As a former student there who went on to do a masters in architecture, I remember back in 2009 seeing the opportunity for a BSF build slip away due to cuts and even predict asset stripping happen whilst I saw the takeover when I was in 6th form, it's just criminal for both the students and the teachers like yourself to be expected to study and work in a building that was over 40 years past it's shelf life, I'm so happy for yous to finally have a building yous can take pride in.
@@1daruis0nyeoFantastic, the school so thriving in all areas. The Academy trust are still great and get involved a lot. Recently we was also graded good in all areas by Ofsted. We are doing really well. The new building in its self has become such a motivational tool we’ve seen discipline become ten times better because of the building alone. When we give children the best they will often show their best.
I am on TikTok and in recent years as more schools have gained their academy status all I see on TikTok are children saying they got excluded for not having a pen or being made to wear jumpers and blazers in 30+ temperature. I left school years ago and so I’m shocked at how strict it is for some younger people. This is while the heads all pay themselves big bucks.
The school i used to work for is an academy. My landlord and landlady told me that many many years ago the school was a community school providing activities like choir and yoga lessons for local community and although the school was small but students and teachers really enjoy studying/working there. But now it's closed up from the community and the children in the school does not enjoy the education nor respect the teachers. The headteacher, also the CEO if the education trust only cares about expanding the trust and invest in Asian education market. When i left the school, i said in the exit interview that i wish the school could be run like a school as opposed to a business. The worst thing is that Ofsted deliberately rates down schools that are non academies to force them into turning them into academies.
My head teacher was going to be investigated by OFSTED, but the investigator was made redundant. He was earning over 170,000 a year, yet our school couldn’t afford medication for students. My school was turned into apart of a two school academy. The same year that happened the other school, had a massive redevelopment, their numbers are 1250+ students ours is currently less than 500. It went by over 150 in the last five, where as school was around 700-800 students. There was no redevelopment... except replacing the fire doors after a friend of mine fingers were crushed. I went to the other school, in year 7 but was permanently excluded, I went back to sixth form. I spoke out about the overcrowding, the amazing new library, where’s my old schools one had barley any new books. I said something was going on, and it made certain teachers uncomfortable until one approached me and told me to basically shut up unless I didn’t want to be a student here. Some of the teachers from the main school were given more money to work at the one I went to from year 8-11. My school went to into local authority, the year before, it became an academy. The person who took over promised to turn things around, the highest GCSE pass rate ever was in 2014 (52%). Where as the other was around 60-70 pass. The sixth form was depressing, they basically forced you to resit the year if you didn’t get over 3 Ds in AS or you get kicked out. There was a massive drug problem with students, a few were involved in county lines. They rarely did much with mental health support, I had to support several of my students because they wanted to commit suicide. They are factories for children to get their grades and move on nothing else.
We need a massive overhaul of society. What's happening now is that honesty and decency, as well as intellect, are seen as weakness and all their opposites are seen as things to aspire too.
Society in general is brilliant - Profit makers with this much corruption and hate for the general public are minimal BUT have enough Narcissism in them to push themselves to the front. Government should NEVER sell off these necessities - especially schools, council departments and the NHS!!
Between 15:29 and 15:48, you can see how Mr Dwan is literally avoiding answering the question which makes it utterly obvious that he did not fire stop the ceiling, because he would rather take the risk of a school burning down so that he can add a little more cash to his pocket, (but obviously people like him would never admit this). This is the tipping point to my conclusion that this is the universal language spoken by all narrow-minded and greedy con-artists.
The AET (Academies Enterprise Trust) should be investigated too. They are the people that run the infamous Clacton Coastal Academy who do nothing but hire hire hire. There is no money that filters down to the classroom because they have more senior leaders than students, and they (along with the Academy bosses) are paid thousands and for what? They never do anything. The money is gutted and goes to pay for salaries and non-essential items like signs, picnic tables, etc. Homeschool your kids folks. And by the way, this became an academy while Labour were in charge.
It would seem all the politicians are involved, as are the higher ups in the police otherwise they would have charged these thieves immediately and put these bastards in jail for life!
Academies need to be policed so much better. Also I think they need to be run by teachers and parents of have teachers and parents represented on the board
My favorite programmes in BBC, my childhood very much influenced by BBC programmes like Holiday, Travel show,Panorama,Horizon ,Correspondent,Pandorous Box ,Window on europe,Rough guide to the world,Michael palin around the world in 80 days,Top gear,the curse of tutenkamen etc
Interesting how academies work - I went to a school under a multi-academy trust until I left last year, it started pretty good, got really bad with no AC in some blocks and a block with a caved ceiling, but when they closed one of the (stupidly opened in the first place) schools, everything became much much better. Quality of life and learning at the school skyrocketed.
Money doesn’t always get utilised correctly!!! Schools just want more pupils on roll, the more they have on roll the more funding they receive (market forces at play)!
the most efficient way to use taxpayers funds to support a school is the original system. a headteacher in charge of teachers and a caretaker at least 6 dinner ladies. all of the budget goes into paying the staff, materials and overheads such as fuel and building maintenance. no multi-tier system of middle management no outsourcing. no 50 secretaries in an office writing up diversity policy documents publishing web pages and fancy hardback new pupil prospectus. does anybody realise you don't even need a £5,000 electronic intelligent whiteboard? a blackboard with chalk does the job perfectly well. does every child need an iPad? no. if you don't believe me do a Google search on the exams children used to sit 50 years ago go and their results. for an even bigger laugh why don't you sit down and try to do one of those exams and see whether you qualify for an o level. despite Ofsted and the reams and reams of generated toilet paper fancy speeches team building exercises and poncy videos education in the UK has collapsed. numeracy and literacy is at an all-time low.
Many years ago, I remember watching a similar documentary about the miserable state of public schools in former communist countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, former Soviet Republics like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine and former Yugoslavia breakaway republics like Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia. Wasn't that one of the many reasons for which people took to the streets revolting against communist rule in the late 80s? Now we can see a similar pattern developing in democratic countries around the world. These countries with sufficient (but mismanaged) resources may turn this around by borrowing some socialist policies that were thrown out many years ago. I am not a communist. But I am definitely not a great admirer of American style capitalism either.
In London there r prostitute houses in soho that don't move. Prostitution is illegal in England. I'd say it beyond setting an example to the word these lot r pedigree. Shameful. Boycott uk today remember oxfam scandal? Double standards? Boycott uk
the thing about UK skools - for the jobs that most people do here, they will have learnt everything they need to know in primary skool - so there is no need for them to go to secondary skool, let alone higher edjumaction..........
Schools are continually getting worse. I was a grade A pupil and I got expelled for absolutely no reason- iq of 132- was sexually abused at home and abused growing up. Not once did I ever talk. They claimed by attendance was low but they continually emotionally abused me. My dad and his gf run the bus company and was signing abuse at me daily. My whole education they wanted to fuck up. I fell off the bus and was unable to attend school but no compensation for my injuries- no help for the abuse after either. Told your fat when there’s teachers twice my size working- told to sit where and when, sit and shut up, run when told, pee when allowed- facilities utterly crap. It’s about time they home educated everyone- it’s safer.
H'mm...strange. , I've been building brand new school academy's for quite some time. They are palaces and more than surpass the comprehensive crap hole I went to. Pretty sure this is more Panorama bullshit!
@Doctor Wood I wish I could as I will not compromise my identity to anyone; however be assured the client is always the Department of Education and the school which is built/refurbished to a high standard and then on a long lease to the Academy. There are sometimes temporary situations where modular cabins are used whilst waiting for planning/budget issues to be resolved, but the final product is good. Crappy old state schools do not become Academies just like that.
@ProfTheWood So how is it the Mike Dwan enquiry died a death without any sort of acceptable result? We all know Mr. Dwan is a very rich man. Is it a case of 'money talks'? Why has there been no follow up Panorama about this obvious scandal?
This is academisation - privatisation - to a tee. Designed to allow private sector providers, often masquerading as charities, to force out experienced, qualified teachers and embezzling what they can't pocket on the books. Tories want teaching to be a short-term career where the pay scales mean nothing and staff leave well before they've any substantial retirement provision or contribution. Gove and his Ofsted rottweiler Wilshaw, their conduct unforgivable.
