'Inadequate' school to be transferred to new trust

Anthem School Trust said it planned to transfer Oakbank Secondary Free School to another trust

A secondary school rated as inadequate in a recent inspection is set to be transferred to a new trust.

Oakbank Secondary Free School in Reading, managed by Anthem School Trust, was given the lowest possible rating by Ofsted in all four key areas following an inspection in November last year.

In July, parents complained that children were being "left behind" because of a high turnover of staff and parents and pupils held a protest on Wednesday.

The Anthem Schools Trust, said the the school's "best interests" would be served by a new trust which could "offer support at a more local level".

In November the school was deemed to be inadequate by inspectors in all four key areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership.

The Anthem School Trust was criticised in the report for having "not been successful in mitigating the negative impact of turbulence in staff".

The inspection report said the "turbulence in leadership" had "destabilised" the school community.

Parents and pupils protested against the way the school has been run

"We still have education needs for our children, especially the Year 11s," Lisa Powles, whose daughter attends the school, said.

"They've been through so much this year. And they have been failed. Who knows what they can get. They're doing their mocks right now.

"All this turmoil affects their future. I don't know if my daughter can do her A-Levels next year."

Yuan Yang, MP for Woodley and Earley, said the protest showed a "big loss in trust" in the school's leadership but that she saw the Ofsted report as a possible fresh start.

"We've seen things go downhill really quickly. I think there is the potential that things also can turn around quickly – that depends on the motivation of the trust," she said.

MP Yuan Yang joined parents at Wednesday's protest

In a statement, Anthem Schools Trust said it had started the process of transferring it to another trust, which would "offer more support at a local level".

It said until then, it would be working closely with the Greenshaw Learning Trust to "continue its improvement journey".

Anthem Schools Trust's chief executive, Mohsen Ojja, said the decision was made "with the school's students first and foremost in our minds."

He added a final decision about which multi-academy trust would take over the school would be made in March.

Another mother, Annie Lamping, said the changes themselves were potentially worrying.

"Now the concern is: is it going to be handed over to a safe pair of hands? We want a safe, local trust that can help Oakbank be what it should be," she said.

Anthem Schools Trust currently runs five secondary schools, including Oakbank, and 11 primary schools.