Update: Several updates below. On Radio Kent Drivetime at 5.10 p.m. and BBC SE at 6.30 p.m.
One of the very worst academy chains operating in Kent in my view, as illustrated many times elsewhere on this website is Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust (LSSAT), founded by Mr Trevor Averre-Beeson in 2009. It therefore comes as no surprise to learn that the Academies operation of Lilac Sky is to be closed down by the Regional Schools Commissioner, all the schools to be passed over to other chains, with parents being quietly informed on academy websites. The Chair of the Academy Trust has already gone, to be replaced by a new Interim Chair.
At present, I have only come across two other academy chains in the country that have had all their academies removed: Prospects Academy Trust in 2014, in that case for poor performance; and Perry Beeches Trust earlier this year, for 'financial shortcomings'.
It is not yet clear what has encouraged the RSC to make the decision for Lilac Sky, but probably the worst examples of the Trust's operation in Kent were: at the now closed Furness Special School in Hextable, where the Trust was allowed to run up a £1.63 million deficit in the school accounts which was then paid for out of the budget for the remaining Kent schools, when Furness was closed, the school being replaced by Broomhill Bank North; and at Castle Hill Community College in Deal where under Lilac Sky tutelage, the school plunged from OFSTED Outstanding to Special Measures in less than three years....
Notification of Decision
There is a somewhat hidden reference on each school website to a letter informing parents from the new Interim Chairman of the LSSAT Board:
| “Hello, I am your new interim Chair of the Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust Board, and I have only been recently taken up this role. I realise that my first letter to you all is about change, but it is important for you to know that this decision has not been taken lightly, but is an essential strategic move for the future. Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust has decided that in order to serve the needs of our children we should seek an alternative Trust to take over the running of some of our schools. We have worked with the Regional Schools Commissioner to identify strong multi-academy trusts (MATs) with capacity to work with us in order to commence a successful handover, starting September 2016. We will use the Autumn term to facilitate the formal transfer of our academies to these other Trusts.” |
Actually this is not true as ALL Lilac Sky Academies are being transferred to other Academy Trusts "to serve the needs of our children!" One can only speculate on how the Regional Schools Commissioner feels the current needs of children have not been met under LSSAT.
The haste with which the decision to close the academies operation has been reached can be gauged by the previous decision to move the move the Trust Headquarters to the Thistle Hill Academy on the Isle of Sheppey just a fortnight ago on 4th July, according to Companies House.
A statement from the Trust on the BBC Website reads: "Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust has decided that in order to serve the needs of our children we should seek new partners to take on the running of our schools. We are also working closely with the principal of each school, as well as the new trusts, to ensure that the children's education is not disrupted. All of the schools will finish the academic year as planned and be able to reopen for the new academic year in September." Of course it is not true that Lilac Sky has found new partners. The new Trusts taking over the schools will be completely independent of Lilac Sky whose interest is being terminated. The statement also confirms the changeover is to happen in September.
Lilac Sky and Kent County Council
A few years ago Lilac Sky was very close to KCC, and indeed Kent’s Director of Education Quality and Standards moved across as Lilac Sky’s Managing Director in January 2015, although like many of their senior staff, she did not last long, and five months later had been airbrushed out of the Lilac Sky website. Meanwhile at the KCC Meeting to close Furness, Kent’s Executive Director of Education praised the Trust FOUR times, also writing to me demanding that I withdraw allegations he wrongly claimed I had made about the relations between the two organisations. He also wrongly claimed the Headteacher of Furness was an experienced SEN practitioner, presumably having been misled as she had no SEN background, which may well have played its part in the failure of the school. She moved to the new Martello Grove Primary School, in Folkestone last September but, I see from newsletters, was replaced around 6th June, an odd leaving date. The academy is being handed over to ‘Turner Schools’ along with Morehall Academy, also in Folkestone. There is little information available about this organisation, but: “Jo Saxton, Ph.D. is founder of Turner Schools, a new MAT dedicated to improving outcomes in East and North Kent, and is a Trustee of NSN, the charity that helps people set-up new state funded schools. Until recently Jo was Chief Executive of Future Academies, the MAT chaired by Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, and Jo remains a Director of the Trust”. Turner Schools has also been reported as being interested in taking over the controversial Spires Academy in Canterbury.
Staffing and Services
I have previously looked at the backgrounds of a number of senior Lilac Sky staff and too many have a record of failure in previous schools, perhaps being fortunate that Lilac Sky had subsequently picked them up. It now appears that this policy may have contributed to the failure of the Trust. Talking to Furness staff at the time of the closure, it was very clear that, like a number of the more commercially minded Academy Trusts, Lilac Sky was providing a number of lucrative services for the school without apparently being questioned by KCC. Most if not all of the LSSAT schools require uniform bought from a single supplier from Nottinghamshire, Price and Buckland, who write: “We pride ourselves on providing unrivalled range of primary school uniform and sportswear, with fresh new styles and bespoke finishes.” To me 'bespoke' bespeaks expensive, although no prices are on show. This sole supplier approach is heavily criticised on a variety of government policies, but is seen by some academy chains as a profitable source of funds through commission. The standardisation of Academy Websites allows generalisations to be posted across the chain but also creating gaping holes, for example in staffing and Local Governing Bodies lists.
Castle Community College, Deal
Lilac Sky were heavily involved, assisting KCC, during the decline of Castle Community College from OFSTED Outstanding to Special Measures., but failed somehow to stop the rot. Headteacher Philip Bunn, who joined the school in 2011 at the peak of its performance, left suddenly in April 2014, shortly after the school was plunged into Special Measures in March 2014. However, he was clearly not to blame for the debacle, for he was subsequently hired by Lilac Sky as one of their four sponsor appointed Trust Board Directors, as Lead for Safeguarding and is now "an executive coach to a number of Headteachers and senior leaders, as well as being a consultant leader on Lilac Sky’s Outstanding Teacher Diploma Programme." According to Companies House, he resigned from the LSSAT Board, with effect from 1st July 2016, along with the Chairman, Angela Gartland, two other Directors having resigned earlier this year. . This also records that latest accounts are overdue, but the most recent published balance sheet of the Lilac Schools Trust shows a net worth of £26.5 million up to March 2014, within its three years of operation, so it does not look as if shortage of money is a problem! These figures include income for the year 2013-14 of £16.4 million transferred from Local Authorities on academy conversion, for the four academies then run by the Trust.
Knockhall Academy
After LLSAT was displaced from Essex apparently because of the failure of one of its secondary academies, and refusal by DfE to allow it to set up a Free School, it somehow attracted three million pounds to allow the Trust to set up its headquarters at Knockhall Academy in Dartford, and to offer a range of new educational facilities. This was to take place in 2015, but a letter on the academy website this week confirms the academy is being transferred to the Woodland Academy Trust from Bexley. One wonders about the fate of the Principal, who had previously had a series of senior posts in struggling Essex secondary schools. I haven’t found any reference to the new building schemes. The Company address changed from Chelmsford to the Thistle Hill Academy site in Sheerness on 4th July. This may explain why the name of the Principal of Thistle Hill Primary Academy is often missing from school documentation, if she is caught up with Trust matters.
Other Lilac Sky Academies
In Kent, these are Thistle Hill Primary on the Isle of Sheppey, Principal Ms Averre, and Richmond Primary in Sheerness, both to pass to Stour Academy Trust, see letter. There are also four primary academies in East Sussex, Hailsham and Newhaven, new build one form entry academies opened in September 2015, White House Academy new build one form entry primary opened September 2014; and Marshlands Academy, served with a Government Pre-Termination Warning in November 2015, because of unacceptably low standards.
Lilac Sky Academies Trust and the Regional Schools Commissioner.
The website Schools Week reports that three LLSAT Advisers have been appointed "to help regional schools commissioners (RSCs) drive up standards. They will be called on to help 'deliver the department’s aim to ensure high educational standards'. The DfE aims to appoint as many contractors as possible to the pool, but only those who are assigned by RSCs are paid. The contract states bidders must be “high-calibre-contractors with a proven track record in developing and leading outstanding schools and/or multi academy trusts”. With five of the nine LSSAT academies less than two years old and, being purpose, built represent an enormous capital investment, the Trust clearly having had a recent vote of confidence by the RSC who will have awarded the contracts, it is even more bewildering why all children in LSSAT schools are so soon after deemed to be better off with another Trust! The News Week article goes into further detail about the Tabor Academy, that failed so badly under LSSAT management in Essex last year, that the Trust was also stripped of running a new primary school in Chelmsford to be opened this summer.
Why Lilac Sky?
From the Lilac Sky Academy Trust Website: "Lilac is perceived to be an aspirational and creative colour and as one Ofsted inspector commented when visiting one of Trevor’s London schools, lilac is a 'feminising' colour recognised by educational psychologists to calm and focus children, (particularly boys) and create a zen like state of educational utopia".