The Bristol Evening Post is quoting Dave Baker, head of Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS), as saying he is “interested in the idea of [the school] becoming an academy”.
The news follows the announcement in yesterday’s Queen’s Speech of plans to take thousands more schools out of local authority control, enabling them to decide how to spend their own budgets.
According to The Guardian, schools such as BSCS that are rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted – about 600 secondaries and 2,000 primaries – will be “pre-approved”, effectively meaning their applications are fast-tracked.
Read more: Bristol Evening Post
Dave Baker, writing to parents/carers in the BSCS school newsletter on Friday (28th May):
“We have received a letter of invitation [to become an academy] this week but will not be rushing to make a decision about changing status but will look closely at the details. Although there would probably be financial benefits overall and greater freedom, we do not want to jeopardise local partnerships which we have worked hard to develop in the last 5 years, including with the local authority. I will keep you fully informed if there are any developments in the coming weeks.”