FURTHER concerns have been raised about the latest plan to turn a Bradford school into an academy after a decade of upheaval. 

The Department for Education made an order to convert Hanson School in 2011 following a critical Ofsted report. A number of academy chains have stepped in to take on the school over the past 10 years, but each arrangement has fallen through and Hanson remains in the hands of Bradford Council.

Wakefield-based Delta Academy Trust has been proposed as a sponsor, but both Bradford East MP Imran Hussain and Councillor Imran Khan, Bradford’s portfolio holder for education, have said it should remain in the hands of the local authority. 

In a letter sent to Regional Schools Commissioner Vicky Beer earlier this month, Councillors Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley); Brendan Stubbs (Lib Dem, Eccleshill) and Rachel Sunderland (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe) spoke of their concern at the plan. 

They said: “We have worked with Hanson for the last four years helping the school on its improvement journey. Over the last four years we have supported young people to transition from primary school to Hanson. This has been done in community settings where young people have been supported to become respectful of themselves and others, resilient in their responses and ready for starting secondary school in September. 

“We have done this with the support of the school and commitment from the many students who have participated.”

They said the response of the school through the pandemic had been “outstanding” and the students and its staff have become “increasingly respected” as a part of, and by, the local community. 

The letter said the mood of local people “is not for more intervention” and added: “People speak in a friendlier tone about the school, this is not the time for what seems to be a hasty intervention. The school needs a period of stability and consistency of governance which the current leadership is bringing.

“What the staff, students, families and community of Hanson need now is stability of leadership and governance not more intervention,” the letter said. 

It added: “The school is due to have a full Ofsted inspection towards the end of September. How can staff, students, families and the community help Hanson progress along their improvement journey when they find themselves in the middle of the maelstrom that a surprise, hurried intervention by the Delta Academy Trust will surely cause?”

They said “everything is moving in the right direction” for the school and urged: “Please give Team Hanson the time and stability to build on the undoubted progress they are making to move forward and do well.”

Last week, the Department for Education told the Telegraph & Argus: “Where schools are underperforming, we take action to help them improve by securing a strong academy sponsor with the capacity to support the school and secure the best long-term outcomes for students and their families.

"While it has taken longer than we would have liked to secure a sponsor for Hanson, we are pleased that Delta Academies Trust has now been proposed, and we will continue to work closely with the school’s governing body and Bradford Council as we move through the sponsor process.”

The DfE said the Trust has an “excellent track record” in supporting sponsored schools to improve.

Paul Tarn, chief executive at Delta Academies Trust, said Delta has the “capacity and expertise to help” and it is “privileged and delighted to work with colleagues in the school and local authority to transform outcomes for the students there [Hanson].”