EAST Lancashire schools are set to start ‘empire building’ following the government’s announcement of a series of education reforms.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) in the region has said that schools will start to form large multi-academy trusts (MAT) after the Department for Education announced its intention for force all mainstream schools to convert into academies.

Bowland High School, which became an academy in 2001, has already received permission to form a MAT and is hoping to attract five or six schools in the first year.

It’s also intending to invite Witton Park Academy in Blackburn to join the partnership once it has been established.

It comes after 74 per cent of parents who took part in a consultation on the plan were in favour of it.

The figures, published by the school, revealed that 23 per cent were against with three per cent not sure.

Simon Jones, who represents the NUT in East Lancashire, said: “Multi-academy trusts are just another layer of bureaucracy and they don’t have any democratic accountability.

“The whole push towards them seems like empire building and you have got to question what the educational benefits of them are.”

The government announced a range of education reforms recently which also include changes to teacher training, the abolishing of parent governors positions and new Ofsted guidelines.

Bowland High School headteacher John Tarbox said: “We have had approval from the Department for Education and we have told parents and now the next step is to appoint lawyers to convert the single-academy trust into a multi-academy trust.

“It will be formed by ourselves but we are hoping and intending to invite Witton Park to join it soon.

“The first meeting of the trustees will take place on April 22 and a clearer plan for the future will start to be formed then.

“At the moment we would look to add five of six schools in the first year and then we will take stock and see where we want to go from there.

“The Department for Education has said that single academy trusts are not viable, so it’s right for us to go in this direction.

“It’s better for us to look at choosing partners now because in five years time everybody will have chosen theirs and it will be a bit like choosing from the last few students in an old-fashioned PE lesson.”