Pupils in limbo as failing school shuts
210 STUDENTS NEED TO FIND PLACES FOR SEPTEMBER AND 25 STAFF COULD LOSE JOBS
A FAILING free school is to close after a catalogue of controversies and ‘the worst Ofsted’ its local MP had ever seen.
Staff and students at The Collective Spirit school in Oldham were informed of the decision at the end of lessons yesterday. It comes after months of criticism over how it – as well as its sister school in Manchester – was being run.
It means 210 students will now have to find new schools for September and around 25 teachers and staff are at risk of redundancy.
Council bosses say parents have been contacted and work is underway to relocate the pupils to new schools, including the Oasis Academy in Hollinwood and Manchester Creative and Media Academy.
Collective Spirit, which opened in 2013, was set up by former charity boss Raja Miah on the site of the old South Chadderton School.
It was the subject of an M.E.N. investigation last year, which revealed concerns over ‘catastrophic’ failures in education, inedible lunches and questions over the financial management of its chain, which also runs the failing Manchester Creative Studio in Manchester.
Ofsted had placed Collective Spirit in special measures after rating it inadequate in its first report, which was described by MP and long-standing critic Jim McMahon as the most damning he’d ever seen.
The school was run by the Collective Spirit Multi-Academy Trust, whose board was disbanded in May to be replaced with a new one chaired by Martin Shevill, who yesterday said: “In the last couple of months we have spent significant time in the school reviewing every aspect of how it operates and is run.
“Addressing these problems would have taken some considerable time, and it would not have been right or fair to continue to accept children into the school when we could not guarantee them appropriate educational opportunities.”
Coun Amanda Chadderton, cabinet member for education and early years at Oldham council, said: “The closure of Collective Spirit is the right decision.
“This free school does not provide our young people with the education and opportunities they deserve.
“And with problems at the school being so severe and deep-rooted, the only way forward is to close it.”
Long-time critic of the school Mr McMahon said: “A great deal of public money has been spent on this failed free school, which central government imposed on the town.
“The government had a responsibility to get it right. However, along with the leadership and governing body, they failed.
“Serious questions remain about the use of public money and I hope the National Audit Office look seriously into the concerns I raised with them in February this year.
“Even though the school has closed, the public have a right to know if money was used appropriately.”
Collective Spirit’s other school, Manchester Creative Studio, was placed in special measures last month amid ongoing major concerns about its management and standards.