POLITICIANS have welcomed the news that a once failing school has been rescued from closing down.
Members of Oxfordshire County Council’s (OCC) decided not to publish a statutory notice, proposing closure of the secondary school, after Chiltern Edge School received an 'Inadequate' rating from Ofsted in March.
The Sonning Common school was plunged into special measures and the council launched an unpopular consultation to discuss the possibility of shutting it down.
A decision was made to remove the threat of closure at a cabinet meeting today.
Around 400 pupils from the Reading area attend Chiltern Edge and Matt Rodda, MP for Reading East was delighted to hear of the excellent progress made by the school.
He said: “I am delighted to hear that Chiltern Edge has been given a chance to stay open on a longer basis by OCC.
We have only gone and done it! Cabinet have decided to remove the threat of closure and keep the school open. THANK YOU so so much to everyone who supported our campaign and never gave up, we could not have done it without you. #SAVEDOUREDGE!
— Save Our Edge (@saveouredge) November 28, 2017
"Chiltern Edge is a much-loved local school, which is improving under an impressive new head and where students and staff are working hard to achieve outstanding results.”
The proposal for the school to become sponsored by Maiden Erlegh, a multi-academy trust in Wokingham, is currently being considered by the Department for Education.
Moira Green, head teacher at Chiltern Edge, has been at the heart of the improvements, while campaigners from Save our Edge urged the council not to close the school.
Councillor Tony Jones, lead member for Education at Reading Borough Council, added: “The decision to keep Chiltern Edge School open is excellent news for parents, pupils and teachers at the school.
“We never believed closure of Chiltern Edge was acceptable and I am delighted that Oxfordshire’s cabinet members have reached the same conclusion.
“The threat to the school’s future brought out a huge amount of support for Chiltern Edge and I hope to see that goodwill continue as it continues on its improvement journey.
“I am pleased to hear that progress is being made in key areas since the Ofsted inspection and that the school appears to be heading in the right direction towards providing good quality education for its pupils, which includes many Reading children.”
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