NEALE-WADE Community College is set to become an academy after The Active Learning Trust was selected as a preferred sponsor.

Letters have gone out to parents this week informing them that the governors of Fenland’s largest secondary school have passed a resolution for the ALT to become the sponsor.

The decision comes after government inspectors criticised Neale-Wade as inadequate in March’s Ofsted report - and placed it in special measures.

The ALT, which claims to offer “a new way to support schools to meet their aspirations”, was chosen as the favoured sponsor by the Department of Education and the local authority.

The sponsorship is still subject to ministerial approval

A message on the school’s website said: “It is hoped that the ALT will start work with the college from September prior to taking full accountability for the college in January or February 2013.

“ALT are committed to working with Mr Wing and the college staff to ensure rapid improvement in educational standards.”

The news comes days before the Keep March Academy Free Campaign hosts a meeting at Neale-Wade to discuss academies.

The campaign was launched as schools across Fenland started to break away from local authority control.

Labour activist Martin Field, who also teaches at Neale-Wade, had campaigned against the school becoming an academy last year, collecting hundreds of signatures.

He will be joined by speakers Alasdair Smith, secretary of the Anti Academies Alliance, and Peter Smith, who resigned as a governor when his school chose to become an academy, at Saturday’s meeting, which starts at 1.30pm.