A Coventry pupil guidance centre is set to convert to an academy in September after failing to receive a ‘good’ rating in its last two Ofsted inspections. The Coventry Extended Learning Centre (CELC) was rated ‘requires improvement’ by inspectors in 2018 and 2022.
According to a new council report, the school was asked by the Foreign Secretary to convert to an academic system in March last year. According to the inspection results, the school is “committed to convert to an academic system”, the report states.
The move means Coventry City Council will no longer maintain the so-called referral unit and it will move to a trust in Solihull. The unit, based in Wyken and Potter’s Green, is for pupils who are struggling with mainstream schooling due to social, emotional and mental health issues.
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It caters for students in Years 7 to 11 of secondary school, known as Key Stage 3 and 4, and has just under 80 pupils. An Ofsted report from June 2022 said the centre had undergone a period of “significant change”.
Inspectors found several opportunities to improve teaching, including supporting children in the early stages of reading. They also said that leaders had a “clear vision” and plans for improvement, but that these had “not yet been implemented”.
The unit is set to join the Solihull Alternative Provision Multi Academy Trust (“SAPMAT”) as a sponsored academy. The Solihull Trust was established in 2022 and operates two other alternative institutions.
As part of the move, the group will become the employer of the centre’s staff, the report said. Normally, the decision to convert academies is made by a senior councillor, but the “unique nature” of the move, which includes multiple leases, means the decision goes to the group, it added.
The aim is to complete the conversion of the school by September 1 of this year. The relevant agreements should be in place by the beginning of July.
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