Robert Cottingham

Biography

Robert is one of the lead partners at Lee Bolton Monier Williams advising schools (both those which have a religious designation and those which do not) , groups of schools, diocesan boards of education and the National Society (the Church of England national body which leads on education issues) on the implications of the Academies Act 2010 and the prospect of all schools eventually becoming academies (which is the current government’s express objective by 2015).   Robert has been involved with academies work under the previous Labour administration.  He was closely involved in the creation of Church of England model academy documents produced after the Academies Act 2010 and subsequent to that and ever since  in advising schools, foundation trustees, Diocesan Boards of Education and the National Society on the opportunities and risks involved (both at a local school level, but also at a strategic level) (a) with large  scale conversions of schools to academies and (b) sponsored academies.