GOVERNMENT plans to turn all schools into academies have received a mixed reaction in Whitehill and Bordon.

Draft legislation to force every school in England to take on academy status was unveiled in March, and has already received criticism.

This week a Hampshire County Council spokesman said that it was still looking at the Government’s proposals and will respond in due course.

However, the council’s executive member for education Peter Edgar has said he is “horrified” by the plans which will see the county council’s role in education “destroyed”.

Most local schools are not academies, and are overseen by the local education authority (the county council), with the exception of The Holme Primary School, in Headley, and Mill Chase Academy, in Bordon.

Bordon Infant School headteacher Matthew Greenhalgh said this week that he did not agree with “forced academisation” and suspects the plans have “a political agenda”.

While not opposed to academies when the status is adopted voluntarily, Mr Greenhalgh said the process of forcing schools “won’t necessarily benefit” Hampshire’s children.

Mainly, he said, because the county council is a “very strong” and “robust” local authority, from which the school gets lots of support.

And the very process of transitioning - operating autonomously or coming under the control of an academy sponsor - will not be an easy operation.

“All of that is going to take a huge amount of time and effort away from teaching children, which is what we’re here for,” he added.

“I can’t seen how it will improve standards, not in Hampshire.”

However, headteacher Christopher James, from neighbouring Bordon Junior School, has more optimism about a change in how the school receives funding. He said he was “excited” by the various options for the future, especially with the relocation of Mill Chase Academy as part of Whitehill and Bordon’s regeneration, which will allow further overlap between the schools.

Following improvements at Mill Chase, the number of Bordon Junior School pupils moving on to the town’s secondary school has seen a boost, up to around 80 per cent.

Mr James said Bordon Junior School was going through a transitional time - notable by the temporary 11 per cent drop in student numbers, which came as a result of the Army’s departure late last year.

If forced to become an academy, he said the school would find a way to make it work. “It doesn’t fill me full of horror, there is time to look at the options,” he said. “At the end of the day, we will pick the best option for the children.”

A county council spokesman said: “Like many other local authorities, the county council is considering the contents of the Government’s education white paper and will be responding directly to the Department for Education in due course.

“Hampshire has one of the lowest ratios of schools that are already academies, and we know that this is because of the quality of the work and relationships that the county council has built with its schools over many years. The county council is confident that it can continue to work effectively with, and in support of, Hampshire’s schools.”

But Mr Edgar said that 84 per cent of Hampshire’s 534 schools had been rated “good” or “outstanding” while only three had been classed as inadequate.

“What on earth are we doing so wrong that we need to be abolished?” he added.

“I am a lifelong Conservative but this statement of policy could lead to the country’s education system imploding. I do not understand it, particularly as there is no evidence whatsoever that the conversion of schools to academies is improving standards. Now with academy chains paying their chief executives more than the Prime Minister, the whole thing needs to be put on hold.”

And yet for some schools, academy status has seen largely benefits for both staff and children.

Paul Hemmings, principal, praised the work of the University of Chichester Academy Trust.

“As an academy, I have support from the Academy Trust, for example, with human resource and some finance functions,” he said.

“However, I also have the flexibility to purchase services from local authorities and we continue to work with, and buy some services from, Hampshire County Council, for example with school catering and property services.”

Despite recruitment difficulties across the country, he said Mill Chase was “fully staffed” with “excellent teachers”.

This is largely thanks to the teacher training at the University of Chichester, rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, which has “contributed positively” to Mill Chase’s recruitment.

Mr Hemmings said the aim was to attract “local graduates” who share “our passion for providing excellent education for every child in our town”.

Sue Samson, chief executive of the University of Chichester Academy Trust, said: “The University of Chichester Academy Trust is part of an expert and generous university learning community, which greatly supports our family of schools in raising aspirations and achievement.

“As an academy, Mill Chase has made great strides on its Journey to Excellence, led by its excellent headteacher Paul Hemmings and supported by a great team of staff and the University of Chichester. The Academy Trust is also working in partnership with Hampshire County Council to secure a new school for Mill Chase pupils.”