THE head of the academy chain taking over a beleaguered free school says parents had been fully consulted about the upcoming changes - and that the vast majority support them.

Bradford West MP George Galloway has requested a meeting with the Secretary of State for Education over the transfer of Kings Science Academy in Lidget Green to the Dixon's Academy Group.

The change will happen on January 1, and it has now been revealed that the school will be called Dixons Kings Academy when pupils return after the Christmas break.

Earlier this year the flagship free school's principal and founder Sajid Raza was dismissed, having already been suspended for several months. The suspension followed a damning report by the Department for Education, which revealed that tens of thousands of pounds in start up money for the school had not been spent for its intended purpose.

After the dismissal, the school announced it had approached the DfE and was looking for an academy chain to join and to help it move forward. In September it was confirmed that Dixons, which has several schools in Bradford, was the chosen chain.

Last week Mr Galloway called for a special meeting over concerns from some parents that there had not been enough consultation with parents over the changes. He said the switch had to be something that parents had confidence in.

But Nick Weller, executive principal of Dixons academies, said there had been two meetings with parents, and both were "very well attended." He added: "They were open meetings and there was a lot of support for Dixon's to take over. We took a survey of parents and over 90 per cent were in favour. There are a small amount of parents who are loyal to Mr Raza, but most want the school to move forward."

He also said that parents were split over whether Dixons should keep the Kings name when it made the switch. He said: "It was about 40/60, 40 per cent of parents wanted us to reference the school's past. We are changing things but still acknowledging the school's past."

A Department for Education spokesman has said: "The governors of Kings Science Academy voted unanimously in favour of joining a multi academy trust to secure the school’s long term future.

"Both the Department and the governors considered a number of partners and Dixons MAT was the most appropriate, given its local experience and expertise.”

The Dixons Academy chain currently operates schools including Dixons Trinity Academy, Dixons City Academy and Dixons Allerton Academy.

Mr Raza is currently on police bail after being arrested on suspicion of fraud in January.

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