Ifton Heath Primary School still in dark over academy bid

Staff at an under-threat primary school near Oswestry will never know why their bid for academy status was rejected – because the Department for Education is refusing to tell them, it has been claimed.

Education bosses have told Ifton Heath Primary School in St Martins it is 'not in the public interest' to reveal the reasons why the academy status bid was refused, headteacher Nicola Bradley said.

The school had applied for academy status in a last-gasp bid to stop a controversial merger with the village's Rhyn Park Secondary School going ahead.

If the primary school had won academy status it would have come out of Shropshire Council's control and its future would be assured.

But now the academy bid has failed, the school's staff have said it is now more likely it will have to move from its present site to an expanded school at the Rhyn Park site in 2014.

Mrs Bradley said governors had written to the Department for Education requesting further details and an explanation of why the academy application had been turned down.

She said: "We have had a reply which is extremely disappointing. Under the Freedom of Information Act, we are entitled to this information but there is also an exemption clause.

"Negotiations with Rhyn Park School have resumed."

Ifton Heath parent Steve Younger said the Department for Education's reluctance to give full reasons for the academy bid refusal 'was a huge concern'.

He said: "This is in the public interest as the public in St Martins are very interested to know the reasons."

A Department for Education spokesman said: "The Freedom Of Information request was for the minutes of any meetings about Ifton Heath Primary School's application to become an academy.

"Under the FOI Act, any information that would inhibit free and frank discussion or the provision of advice can be withheld.

"After careful consideration, it was decided this exemption applied."