A ‘troubled’ Wokingham borough school looks set to be transferred to the Greenshaw Learning Trust.
Oakbank school in Ryeish Green school received an “inadequate” Ofsted report in November, and last month parents and pupils held a protest to air their feelings.
A statement from Greenshaw Learning Trust said: “The board of trustees at Anthem Schools Trust has been evaluating all possible strategies to further improve outcomes for students at Oakbank School.
“Anthem Schools Trust has been in discussion with the Department for Education (DfE) since December, to evaluate the best way forward for the school.
“After long deliberation, the Trust believes that it is in the best interests of Oakbank School to transfer it to a trust with links in the surrounding area that can offer support at a more local level.
“The Greenshaw Learning Trust is the Department for Education’s preferred sponsor, subject to approval by the board of trustees of the Greenshaw Learning Trust and the DfE Regional Director.
The decision by the Board of Trustees of the Greenshaw Learning Trust will be partly dependent on the agreement of appropriate school improvement funding by the DfE.
“In discussions with the DfE, it is proposed that Oakbank School transfers to the Greenshaw Learning Trust to enable the school to benefit from close collaboration with the Trust’s other schools.
“This proposal will be considered by the South East DfE Advisory Board and the Regional Director, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, later this month.
Mohsen Ojja, CEO of Anthem Schools Trust, said: “At Anthem, our goal will always be to do what is best for the young people we support, and this decision was made with the school’s students first and foremost in our minds.
“The Greenshaw Learning Trust shares our values and commitment to providing the very best education provision for students and has the ability to continue the work to transform Oakbank School into an outstanding school.”
Will Smith, CEO of the Greenshaw Learning Trust, said: “We look forward to welcoming Oakbank School into the Greenshaw family.
“Close collaboration with our other schools and the wider Trust will ensure that Oakbank School continues on its improvement journey.
“We are ambitious for all our schools and their students, and we are committed to providing a supportive and inclusive learning environment to enable every young person to fulfill their potential.”
Anthem Schools Trust and the Greenshaw Learning Trust are committed to working closely together and are planning to consult with staff, parents, and the school’s wider community on the proposal.
“Details of this consultation will be shared with stakeholders shortly.
“Confirmation of the transfer of Oakbank School to the Greenshaw Learning Trust is subject to approval by the board of trustees of the Greenshaw Learning Trust and the DfE Regional Director.”
The news comes following a damning report from Ofsted, in which the Ryeish Green school was rated as being “inadequate” in many aspects.
Anthem Schools Trust has been in discussion with the Department for Education (DfE) since December, to explore the best way forward for the school.
Ojja had previously said: “At Anthem, our goal will always be to do what is best for the young people we support, and this decision was made with the school’s students first and foremost in our minds.
“A final decision about which multi-academy trust will take over the running of the school will be made in March.
“In the meantime, we look forward to working with our improvement partner Greenshaw Learning Trust, which shares our values and commitment to providing the very best education provision for students.”
The recently-published Ofsted report based on an inspection of November 13 and 14 rated the school as inadequate in quality of education. behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. It had previously been rated as ‘requires improvement’.
That inspection was carried out following a number of complaints made to Ofsted that raised serious concerns.
The damning report noted: “Turbulence in leadership, and high staff turnover, have destabilised this school community. As a result, lots of changes have been introduced.
“Many systems and procedures are new and not applied consistently well. The school does not have high enough expectations of pupils’ behaviour and achievement.”
It said: “The board of trustees has failed in their statutory duty to keep pupils safe.
“The school and those responsible for governance have not done enough to ensure that pupils behave well and receive an acceptable standard of education.
“The school’s capacity to improve is weak. Recent instability in leadership and the high numbers of staff leaving the school have made this situation even worse.
“Many staff feel that they have too much to do in too little time. This negatively affects their well-being and workload.”
It also noted how the arrangements for safeguarding at the school are “not effective”.
At the recent full council meeting of Wokingham Borough Council, the leader of the council, Cllr Stephen Conway, said: “I am sure that all councillors across the chamber feel very much for the children at the school and their parents and families at this difficult time.
He said: “The council is, of course, going to continue to do all it can to support the school, the children, and the parents.”
“It is really important to emphasise that these bodies, these trusts, were set up to be completely independent of local authority control, and I have to say we are now seeing the fruits of that.”
