SCHOOL head teachers from across South Devon met a senior Government minister to talk about acquiring academy status.

Schools Minister Lord Hill visited Blackpool primary school, which has converted to an academy, to talk about the process with local head teachers.

Since the introduction of the Academies Act around 18 months ago, hundreds of schools have converted to become academies.

Academies are state-funded schools which have more freedoms than schools run by local councils — leaving heads and teachers in charge.

Fifty-seven per cent of all Devon secondary schools are academies, or are going to convert, as are 10 per cent of all primary schools in Devon.

The Government has argued the system gives schools a greater flexibility over what is included in the curriculum and more say over things like how much teachers are paid and what the school budget is spent on.

Critics say removing local authority control could result in less support and guidance for schools, and schools having to procure services previously organised by the local authority — meaning it may not necessarily provide better services.

The Government says evidence shows that, by giving local people greater freedom over how they run their schools, standards in education improve and GCSE results in academies improved twice as fast as those in maintained schools.

The Conservative peer and parliamentary undersecretary said: "I want to make sure that all schools — and particularly primaries — have the information they need to decide whether or not academy status is for them.

"The head teachers of schools which have already become academies talk about the greater sense of freedom, purpose and control which academy status has brought them."

Blackpool primary school in Liverton is part of a family of five schools known as the First Federation.

The federation was first formed in September 2006 and consists of Blackpool, Chudleigh Knighton, Salcombe, Lady Seawards and Newton Ferrers primary schools.

Executive head teacher Paul Jones said: "As a successful federation of five schools, we have always believed in the power of sharing best practice and innovative school to school support. By converting to a group of academies within the Primary Academies Trust, we will be able to target resources — intellectual, physical and financial — to improve outcomes for all children in every school.

"With all the schools working together, we will be able to continually improve learning and teaching, develop distributed leadership at every level and enable exciting curriculum development and innovation."