St Simon Stock Catholic School, in Oakwood Park, Maidstone

by political editor Paul Francis

Catholic schools across Kent could all become academies under proposals
being discussed.

The plan could see 33 primary and secondary schools seeking academy
status as part of multi-academy partnership.

The discussions by the church's diocesan officials and a working party of principals and governors are at an early stage.

If agreed by schools, it would see a significant increase in
the number of academies in the county, currently at 86 with a further 25
in the pipeline.

While individual church schools, including some Catholic schools, have
become academies, this is the first time a large group has considered doing so together.

Dr Anne Bamford, the director of education at the Archdiocese's
Commission for Schools and Colleges, said: "These are very early discussions and no decision has been made.

It is about forming a multi-academy partnership. Collectively, schools could
share a lot of expertise and we could get some economies of scale
working together and working to support each other."

If it went ahead, several popular secondary schools such as Maidstone's
St Simon Stock School and St Anselm's School in Canterbury could
effectively "opt out".

Education secretary Michael Gove has encouraged Catholic schools to opt
to become academies.

Last year, he said opting out of local authority control would ensure a Catholic school could "remain true to its Catholic traditions".

Brendan Wall, the head of St Simon Stock school, said: "The main advantage is Kent's catholic schools will be able to provide a more cohesive 3-19-year-old education. Schools will be able to learn from each other and share expertise."

The National Secular Society expressed reservations.

Spokesman Terry Anderson said: "Academies are completely outside local
authority control and nobody other the Secretary of State has any idea
about what is going on in them.

"So they are free to do as much religious education as they like. It cannot help community cohesion and people to better understand each other."

As academies, schools are independent of the local authority, do not
have to follow the national curriculum, can set their own pay and
conditions for staff and are exempt from some regulations covering other
state-funded schools.

They also receive money that would previously have been spent on their
behalf by local authorities to provide services, often to support pupils
with special needs.