I see many benefits in the new landscape of schools working together, as Local Authorities shed staff and influence, either as extended Academies, or as collaborative trusts. However, there is one area where I have real reservations and that is where schools are effectively being forced to become academies.
If you are a primary, or a secondary and your results are around floor targets, no matter what progress your pupils make (and in the case of some “low” performing schools in difficult areas, this pupils progress can be exceptional) the combined pressure to convert, from your Local Authority and from the DfE, can be immense. It leads to very difficult decisions for governors and headteachers. Having seen this process first hand, the best way forward for a school facing those pressures would be to seek a local Academy sponsor themselves, or to search out trust partners.
Here’s one example of a school in North London and there are hundreds more around the country that find themselves in the same position:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/dec/19/schools-forced-to-become-academies
if you’d like some advice, please call.