Oasis withdraw Winterbourne International Academy bid

Oasis Community Learning has withdrawn its bid to take over Winterbourne International Academy. You can read their statement here.

This is welcome news for the many local people who have been campaigning to stop their bid. Last Saturday, hundreds of parents and students were joined by teachers and community representatives, at a peaceful demonstration outside Winterbourne International Academy. Well done to all involved in the campaign.

This is not the end of the story. Last month, the Education Funding Agency sent The Ridings Federation a Financial Notice to Improve. The Federation must get a recovery plan in place within the timescales set out. It's important that everyone locally comes together to ensure a bright future for both Winterbourne International Academy and Yate International Academy. The commitment shown in recent weeks suggests they will.

This process has also thrown up wider issues about the process for "re-brokering" academies that face difficulties, which lacks transparency and formal routes for parents to have their say . Earlier this week, before the announcement from Oasis, Claire Young wrote to the National Schools Commissioner asking questions about this situation but also asking for him to feed the wider concerns into the review of Multi-Academy Trusts currently being conducted by the Commons Select Committee on education.