PARENTS are battling to save a junior school from being “taken over” by an academy trust.

The Brightlingsea residents fear the move by the Thrive Partnership Academy Trust would compromise their sense of community identity and have a negative impact on children’s education.

An online petition to save the town’s junior school has around 400 signatures.

Marion Harrison, whose son attends Brightlingsea Infant School, said governors at the town’s junior school were backing plans for it to become part of the academy trust.

The academy trust was launched in September 2016 and comprises Colne Community School and College in Brightlingsea and Philip Morant School in Colchester.

But Mrs Harrison said parents at Brightlingsea Infant School would rather see a merger of the Infant and Junior schools to form one primary school.

She added: “Our concerns are mainly it would lead to isolation of the Infant School and would be led by specialists in secondary education.

“Being made part of one primary school means the Infant and Junior schools would have one head teacher and there would be more unified leadership.

“To us there are huge benefits of it becoming a primary school, massively outweighing the benefits of it becoming an academy trust.”

Parents learned of the proposed trust takeover last week.

It follows news the head teacher of the Junior school, Claire Claydon, is leaving this July.

Mrs Harrison said a number of parents including herself, raised their concerns among one another.

“Every parent of the school we spoke to said the obvious thing is for them to become a primary school,” she added.

“We don’t want to lose the community feel about the schools.

“We are a happy little town and it has a village mentality.

“The best people to support the Junior School is the Infant School – they are all primary educators.”

Opponents also fear if the academy struggles educationally or financially, there is no back up from the local authority, which could result in its closure.

But Nardeep Sharma, chief executive and executive principal of the Thrive Partnership Academy Trust, said: “We are talking to lots of schools about possibilities but it is the governing bodies’ decision if they wish to engage in conversations around the trust.”

A governors’ recommendation goes to Dr Tim Coulson, Regional Schools Commissioner for East of England, and then an advisory board, before a final decision is made.

The petition will ultimately be delivered to the governors and Dr Coulson.

A statement from the Governing Body at the Junior School said governors have been looking at options for the future of the school.

“Our exploration of the options available to us has reached an important stage and we will be holding a number of key meetings this week before our governors reach their final view about the best way forward for our school. We would like to reassure parents and other interested parties that we are committed to thoroughly exploring all proposals; which include joining a local Multi-Academy Trust or amalgamating with Brightlingsea Infant School. It is of the utmost importance that we act decisively to secure the best possible outcome for our pupils, both current and in the future, and we are clear that it is our responsibility as a governing body to do so.”