Academies
Academies are described by the Department for Education (DfE) as ‘publicly funded independent schools, free from local authority and national government control’. Since the passing of the Academies Act 2010, many schools have converted to academies.
The Catholic Education Service (CES) has worked closely with the DfE to ensure that Catholic schools are able to convert to academy status, if their Bishop wishes them to do so. Our Chairman, Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP, issued a statement in January 2011 explaining that the necessary legal safeguards are now in place for Catholic schools which become academies.
“We should make conversion to Academies a ready possibility for Catholic schools, subject to the wishes of their Bishop, Trustees and Governing Body.”
(The Right Reverend Malcolm McMahon OP, Chairman of the CES)
Catholic schools which convert to academy status are known as Catholic Voluntary Academies.
Further information about Catholic academies may be found on www.catholicacademies.org.uk.
Model Policies and Procedures
These can be found in the schools section via this link as the roles are applicable to both schools and academies.
Contracts
Please note that should you require contracts for academies you will need to contact your diocesan schools commission direct. CES model contracts for academies will be available from your diocese on request.
There are currently 185 Catholic voluntary academies open, of which 175 are convertor academies and 10 are sponsored academies. The full list of open academies is below, broken down by diocese.
The Catholic Bishops’ position on academies was set out by Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP, Chairman of the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales, in a statement in January 2011.
The documents below have been agreed jointly between the CES and the Department for Education for use by Catholic schools wishing to become Catholic Voluntary Academies. These documents are also available on the DfE website.
Below you can find answers to a series of frequently asked questions about Catholic Voluntary Academies and the different articles of association which are used for Catholic schools converting to academies. The answers to these questions have been supplied by the Department for Education, which also has a very comprehensive FAQs section about academies on its website. You will find answers to most general academies queries there.
Free schools are described by the Department for Education as:
all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to what local people say they want and need in order to improve education for children in their community.
