Arena Academy

Last updated

Arena Academy
Address
Arena Academy
Beeches Road

Perry Beeches

Birmingham
,
West Midlands
,
B42 2PY

England
Information
Type Academy
Local authority Birmingham City Council
TrustCORE Education Trust
Department for Education URN 145580 Tables
Ofsted Reports
HeadteacherRaj Mann
Gender Coeducational
Age11to 16
Website https://www.corearena.academy/

Arena Academy, formally known as the Perry Beeches Academy, is a coeducational secondary school located in the Perry Beeches area of Birmingham in the West Midlands of England. [1]

Contents

Previously a community school administered by Birmingham City Council, Perry Beeches School converted to academy status on 3 May 2012 and was renamed Perry Beeches The Academy. It has since been renamed a third time to Arena Academy.

The school offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils. [2]

Financial Mismanagement Scandal

While it was known as Perry Beeches Academy, the school was the leader of the Perry Beeches Trust, a multi-academy trust formed of the Academy and four other Perry Beeches academies in the area. Together, the schools offered a combined sixth form provision. [3]

In March 2016 the Education Funding Agency published a critical report on the financial management and governance of the Trust. The report showed that the chief executive of the Trust, Liam Nolan, was being paid by sub-contractors as well as by the Trust. In addition more than £2.5 million of free school meal funding could not be checked because financial records had been deleted, that £1.3 million had been paid to a sub-contractor without a written contract or after a formal procurement exercise, and there was not effective oversight by trustees. [4] [5] [6] In April 2016 the Education Funding Agency started investigating additional allegations. [7] [8]

In May 2016 it was announced that the chief executive of the trust, Liam Nolan had resigned, as well as the trust's entire governing board. The five academies and free schools that were formerly part of the trust were then administered directly by the Department for Education until a new sponsor could be found for the schools. [9] The trust had a debt of £2.1 million, and was running at a significant deficit. [10] [11]

Perry Beeches III was put in special measures in October 2015 by Ofsted, and in November 2016 the academy trust was rated "inadequate". [12]

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References

  1. ↑ "Perry Beeches The Academy -".
  2. ↑ "Curriculum Information - Perry Beeches The Academy".
  3. ↑ "Perry Beeches Academy Trust -".
  4. ↑ Richard Adams (28 March 2016). "Lauded academy chain to be stripped of schools after finances inquiry". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Jonathan Walker (24 March 2016). "Perry Beeches Trust condemned for 'paying superhead Liam Nolan a £160,000 second salary'". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Financial management and governance review: Perry Beeches The Academy Trust (PDF) (Report). Education Funding Agency. October 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  7. ↑ John Dickens (15 April 2016). "Perry Beeches saga: who was involved". Schools Week. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Jonathan Walker (18 April 2016). "Funding watchdog launches new inquiry into fresh allegations about Perry Beeches school chain". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Richard Adams (10 May 2016). "Academy trust lauded by Cameron falls apart as executive head quits". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  10. ↑ James Cartledge (11 May 2016). "Liam Nolan quits Perry Beeches academy chain following damning financial report". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "Deficit of £2.1m found at Perry Beeches The Academy Trust". BBC News. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Perry Beeches The Academy Trust school is 'inadequate'". BBC News. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2017.

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