CECIL Jones College Lower School is to close and up to 300 pupils moved into the upper school.

Parents with children in Years 7 and 8 were informed in a newsletter their children would be moved from the lower school in Wentworth Road to the main school building, in Eastern Avenue, Southend, in September.

The decision to accommodate the school’s 1,139 pupils on one site was taken by the Interim Executive Board, which took over from the board of governors after the school was put into special measures by Ofsted in March last year.

Bev Williams, executive principal of Belfairs Academy who took over running the college in February, said: “It’s been a well known idea for quite a while. We will have everything on one site.

“The idea is to create a family and community feel with everybody working together.

“There is enough capacity in the school. Being all together will improve communication because we will all be working together as one.”

Ms Williams added: “Parents have been informed and there will beameeting on Thursday in case parents have any questions.

They have been really positive and supportive and staff are really for it. There’s a really positive vibe.”

In its newsletter to parents, the college said working on separate sites had presented difficulties.

It added: “We believe this decision will benefit our students and staff in many ways.

“We will be able to deliver a broader curriculum, enabling access to all students of the high quality facilities we have and concentrate the expertise of our staff in one area in order to maximise challenge and support to all of our students.”

However, a former governor of the college, who asked not to be named, said the decision had been taken in secret.

He said: “The Interim Executive Board is responsible to the local authority and its members are paid.

“It is not an independent body that is free to make the decisions. I feel that iswrong.

“This was decided behind closed doors by a group of people paid to make a decision.

It wasn’t open to any debate.”

Jane Theadom head of learning at Southend Council said: “Cecil Jones Interim Executive Board has decided to locate the school on one site, which will minimise disruption to pupils’ learning and enable the school to develop as a single school community.

“It has been a well-known aspiration for this to happen and we support this decision. There has been no decision to sell the Wentworth Road site, or the land.”

WORKING HARD TO IMPROVE STANDARDS

CECIL Jones College has begun to turn its fortunes around, following its recent troubled times.

The school was brought out of special measures in 2012, by former headteacher Pauline Harris.

However, its recovery didn’t last and it slipped back into special measures in March last year, after it was branded inadequate on almost every level by Ofsted inspectors.

Mark Schofield, headteacher of Shoeburyness High School took over the school, but was replaced by Belfairs High School executive headteacher Bev Williams in February.

The school has foundation academy status and is working towards becoming a full academy in September.

To do this it had to be linked with an academy like Belfairs, with specific sponsoring status.

Ofsted inspectors this year praised the school’s progress.

Following its latest monitoring inspection in February, The Government’s education watchdog said: “The college is making reasonable progress towards the removal of special measures."