This week we discovered the true state of affairs at the Rye Academy group of schools, and it is not a happy one.
The lower school is bursting at the seams with more potential pupils than it can handle, the College is operating out of old and inadequate buildings, with staff shortages and existing staff struggling to fill the gaps and the Studio School is, frankly, a financial mess.
Running at a possible loss of £1 million and with debts to the Education Funding Agency of over £1/2 million, it is hardly surprising that the new CEO of the Rye Academy Trust, that is ultimately responsible for the three schools, has decided to call time on the Studio in its present form. To to allow an already cash-starved institution to continue to haemorrhage money at that rate would not only be an act of madness, but would impact dramatically on the other two schools.
The original idea of providing a school for those whose talents were creative rather than purely academic, was surely a good one in theory and it is certain that many - students, parents and teachers - will be sad at its passing. But the fact remains that it was comparatively expensive to run and, however well intentioned, simply did not attract the number of students to make it financially viable in these cash-strapped days of ever-greater cuts imposed by central government.
The comments of Trust CEO Tim Hulme spell out the very real financial difficulties faced, and the fact that Sussex seems to be suffering more from imposed economies than other areas of the country is clearly not helping. However, whatever one's standpoint may be on the current age of austerity, not all the blame can be laid at the door of government. The Trust, itself, must accept a share.
Membership of the Board has changed significantly over the past months with a number of resignations, including the chairman as well as the head of the Studio itself. A primary cause of the problems has been a lack of students and staffing levels too high for the numbers that they had. Why low student numbers? Surely there must be many - especially in this part of the world, who would like the option of a more creative path in their education? Were the Trust pro-active enough in their student recruitment campaigns? It would appear that the answer is that they were not.
In the past, schools had been able simply to rely on their catchment area to produce the students on almost an automated production line basis. But with a concept as different as the Studio School the assumption that students would just turn up was clearly badly misplaced.
Opportunities offered by the DfE to make changes for 2016-17 which might have helped to mitigate the situation were missed because, we understand, the Trust did not have the financial expertise to pursue them. Following resignations mentioned above, together with the new CEO's appointment, this has now been remedied. But surely, such a situation should never have been allowed in the first place.
So what happens now? Well, the Trust have recognised the problem and, like an alcoholic admitting his addiction, that is one hopes, the first sign that things are possibly on the mend. The closure of the Studio to pre-GCSE students is sad but part of the cure, as seen by CEO Tim Hulme. A recent article in Further Education Week suggests that the Studio will be re-named Studio 6 and become a sixth form college offering both academic and vocational courses. Time will tell if that is what happens.
In the meantime Hulme and the Trust under him have a mountain to climb and from actions to date, it seems that the will is there to tackle it. We wish him well. Rye needs a good education system and our young people deserve it.
Photo: Rye News library
