Liberated heads back academies

One, Copthorne Primary, is an inner city school that is flourishing against the odds in one of Bradford's most deprived areas. Another, St Aidan's, is a popular secondary in Harrogate, and the best performing comprehensive school in the whole of Yorkshire.

Yet they both embrace the comments made by St Aidan's headteacher, Dennis Richards, who tells the Yorkshire Post today: "The day of the quangos, the day of the consultants, the day of the advisors and the day of ticking boxes for the sake of it has gone."

Few will disagree with his sentiments.

The meddling of Ministers, while well-intentioned, has, too often, seen schools become an extension of the government rather than places of learning that inspire pupils.

If the Government's plans genuinely liberate headteachers and raise standards, then they should be applauded.

However, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, must be careful to ensure that his reforms do not inadvertently create a two-tier schools system.

His efforts can be judged by the success, or otherwise, of his efforts to win over sceptics like David Hudson, the Rotherham headteacher who has warned parents, in a video message on his school's website, that academies are gimmicks.

It is also important that Mr Gove puts in place measures, for example, to ensure that his new academies do not exploit rules on school admissions in order to skew their position in various league tables.

Yet, in many respects, the academy programme should not be his top priority. It should be ensuring that there's a generation of heads and teachers in place who can help children fulfil their potential. Too many pupils continue to be let down by poor teaching.

Furthermore, Mr Gove needs to understand that youngsters need to grasp key skills at an early age if they're to succeed at secondary level – irrespective of whether that school is an academy or not.