Collective shambles

CLOSED for good . . . but the gates were locked a day early at Collective Spirit Free School.

ANGRY parents were given just hours notice that the closure of a failed free school had been brought forward.

Yesterday was to be the final day of the controversial Collective Spirit Free School which has been shut by the Department for Education because of appalling standards.

But parents received a text on Wednesday saying it was closing a day early and directed them to a letter on the school's website citing "unforeseen circumstances". Bosses told the Chronicle they had "no other option" because the school would not have met "statutory requirements" but did not want to explain further.

Daood Akram, whose son Ahad was in Year 7, said parents scrambled to find childcare while pupils were denied the chance to say goodbye to friends and teachers. "It beggars belief and doesn't show much professionalism but it is just indicative of the way we have been treated and the way the school has been run," added Mr Akram.

"It's a disgrace and a slap in the face to the parents and children who have put up with so much."

Collective Spirit has been dogged by controversy since before it even opened in 2013 in part of the former South Chadderton School.

The council strongly opposed the project but was forced by the government to hand over prime development land to the school, which was government funded but free from local authority control.

A damning Ofsted report - described by long-term critic Jim McMahon MP as the worst he had seen - said the school was inadequate and placed it in special measures.

The Chronicle reported how desperate parents were trying to find other schools for their children and also ran shocking accusations by a whistleblower who worked there

The trust which ran the school was replaced in May. Parents were only told at the end of June that it was to close - leaving councils to find other places for its 210 pupils.

Amanda Chadderton, Oldham's cabinet member for education, has joined parents in demanding a government inquiry into the saga.

The end of the school term at Collective Spirit had already been brought forward a week and one parent told the Chronicle: "When I told my daughter the school was closing a day early she thought I was joking.

"The kids were not told and she didn't get to say goodbye to her friends. She has six presents at home for the teachers. This is dreadful behaviour by the trust."

Another added: "To take away the only chance they had to say their final farewells to teachers and staff without any notice is a diabolical injustice. Have these children not suffered enough?".

Martin Shevill, chairman of the school's interim trust board, said: "The decision to close a day early was made after the school finished on Wednesday.

"It was a difficult decision, and one made with a great deal of consideration for the families and students concerned.

"It was becoming increasingly apparent, however, that we would not have been able to meet statutory requirements. This left us with no other option but to close the school.

"I appreciate that this has been an unsettling time for all concerned, and I would like to wish all the students and staff the best for the future."