Academy threat to Moulsecoomb Primary School could be receding

Education chiefs in Brighton and Hove expect to discuss what happens next in a meeting with the regional schools commissioner after receiving a recent phone call on the subject.

The news emerged when Green councillor Sarah Nield asked about the school’s situation a year after it was made the subject of an “academy order”.

Brighton and Hove City Council official Jo Lyons said that she had received a call saying that the commissioner “would like to talk” about supporting Moulsecoomb Primary School.

Dr Lyons, the council’s assistant director of families, children and learning, shared the news at a “virtual” meeting of the Children, Young People and Skills Committee on Monday (June 15).

She said: “To date, they’ve not been able to find any sponsors for Moulsecoomb Primary.

“It doesn’t sound like they have any sponsors in the pipeline at the moment.”

An Ofsted monitoring inspection in February found that the school was “making good progress”.

This came almost a year after the school was rated “inadequate” by inspectors.

The latest potential sponsor, New Horizons, pulled out from taking over the school just before Christmas last year.

Government plans to take the school out of local authority control faced strong opposition with most parents against the proposals.

Teachers and staff voted to strike in opposition to the plans, staging a walk-out in November.

The academy process is currently on hold because of the covid-19 coronavirus crisis.