A TROUBLED secondary school will be forced to become an academy, it has emerged.

In a letter sent to Castlebrook High School parents last week, acting headteacher Sue Armstrong confirmed that the Government is forcing the school to take on academy status – making it the first secondary school in the borough to do so.

The news comes shortly after the school was labelled "inadequate" by Ofsted inspectors, who said pupils had been left vulnerable because of a lack of adequate safeguarding training and out-of-date policies.

Cllr Sharon Briggs, Cabinet Member Children and Families, said the council was "disappointed" with the decision and believed the local authority should have been trusted to turn the school around.

The Government is now seeking an appropriate sponsor for the school before academy status can be confirmed, which is expected will happen by November.

In the letter, Mrs Armstrong said: "She [Vicky Beer CBE, Regional Schools Commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire] has written to confirm that in order to secure the most effective school improvement, Castlebrook High School will become an academy."

She adds: "The Regional Schools Commissioner is in the process of considering a suitable academy sponsor for the school. Once she has done this she will contact the local authority to confirm this, and they will work with us to help the smooth transition to academy status (which we expect to secure by November 2016).

"As acting headteacher, I look forward to this new partnership, one which will enable the school to improve at a faster rate and quickly address the issues raised in the Ofsted report, which are currently slowing down the pace at which we want the school to improve."

Mrs Armstrong praised parents for their "overwhelming support" since the Ofsted report was published, adding that safeguarding policies had been revised and that new training is underway.

There are currently four schools in the borough, all primary schools, that are academies – Radcliffe, Gorsefield, Elton, and Yesoiday Hatorah.

Cllr Briggs said: "We were very disappointed with the outcome of the inspection and, based on our track record, we believe we could have worked with the school to turn things around.

"It was acknowledged that there had been some improvement at the school, but the report said it was not enough.

"The next step is for the Regional Commissioner to find a sponsor. That will probably be confirmed some time during the autumn term and it should not have any impact on the day to day running of the school."

When contacted by the Bury Times, the school declined to comment further.