Collective Spirit Free School was a secondary school in South

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. The ...

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

. It opened in 2013 on the old site of South Chadderton School. The school had 4 year groups (

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia and England) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 ...

, 8, 9 and 10). The school had around 210 students.

History

Collective Spirit Free School was opened in September 2013 on the old site of South Chadderton School which joined with Kaskenmoor School to create Oasis Academy Oldham in 2012. The opening of the school was controversial due to it being the first Free school in the Borough of Oldham to be opened. The school was given the green light in 2012 and opened in September 2013 with 50 Year 7 students. The opening was controversial due to the land that the school is situated on is prime development land and is worth £1.1 million. Many people thought that 'giving' the school the land was a lost opportunity to sell the land to a developer. In May 2016, Collective Spirit Free School had its first

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

inspection. The school was rated inadequate in all areas and there were even calls by local MP

Jim McMahon James Robert McMahon Jr. (born August 21, 1959) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, most notably with the Chicago Bears. McMahon played col ...

to close down the school and send students to other mainstream secondary schools in the area. As a result of this, the school closed in July 2017.

Ofsted

Collective Spirit Free School came under heavy controversy because it was the first free school to be opened in the borough of Oldham. In June 2016, the

report for the school was released, and it was rated inadequate which is the lowest grade a school can receive. Local MP

pleaded for the school to be closed saying that students weren't being given an acceptable standard of education and that students felt unsafe due to bullying and fighting, also adding that the school didn't even have a library. He went on to say it was one of the 'most damming' Ofsted reports he's ever seen.

References

External links

* {{authority control Defunct free schools in England Defunct schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Chadderton Educational institutions established in 2013 Educational institutions disestablished in 2017 2013 establishments in England