An under-subscribed free school that opened last year is set to be merged with an academy that last week hit the headlines for its controversial behaviour policy.
The Trafalgar College, in Great Yarmouth, was opened by the Inspiration Trust in September 2016.
This summer, the same academy trust took over the only other secondary school in the town, Great Yarmouth High School, and renamed it the Great Yarmouth Charter Academy.
Its new headteacher, Barry Smith, had previously worked at Michaela Community School in Wembley, which has been dubbed the strictest school in England.
The Charter Academy made national news last week because of its strict behaviour policy.
Today, the Inspiration Trust announced a consultation on plans to merge the two secondary schools, which would then operate on the Charter Academy site, under the Charter Academy name.
‘Time to reassess secondary provision’
The government had bought the Trafalgar College site for the free school, and the Inspiration Trust said the Department for Education would consider its future use, together with the borough council.
The Inspiration Trust leases the site, and a spokesman said it would not benefit financially if it was sold.
He said Trafalgar College currently has 163 pupils and a capacity of 240.
Inspiration Trust chief executive Dame Rachel de Souza said: “Elsewhere in education, Great Yarmouth College and Lowestoft College have merged and Norfolk County Council is consulting on changes to primary schooling in North Yarmouth. The school-age population has grown much less quickly than forecast by the local authority.
“The time is now right to reassess secondary provision in the town and we think pupils and parents will be best served by a single enlarged high school.”
The trust said a phased merger would see all pupils at the enlarged school on the Charter Academy site by September 2019.
An Inspiration Trust spokesman said that, technically, the proposals will not see the free school close. Instead, it will move to the Charter Academy site, Charter Academy will close, and Trafalgar College will then be renamed Great Yarmouth Charter Academy.
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