A TROUBLED Tilbury primary school is set to become an academy as part of a complicated arrangement that will see more than half of its pupils moved to the Gateway Learning Community.

From April 2014, pupils in Years Three, Four, Five and Six at Manor Primary School, on Dickens Avenue, wil be transferred to the Gateway Academy Free School on Marshfoot Road, which opened to Reception pupils in September.

This means Manor school will be formed of pupils in Reception and Years One and Two until September 2015, when a new Reception class will be added.

The plan will see Manor and the free school become a two-form entry primary school, run and and sponsored by the Gateway Learning Community.

It is hoped this will tackle a surplus of school places in Tilbury and drive improvement at the beleagured Manor Primary School.

John Kent, Thurrock Council’s education boss, said: “The council’s education team, Gateway Academy and Manor’s head and governing body have come up with a scheme which should solve the short-term places issue and keep both Manor and the free school viable.

“We’re not sure if this sort of thing has been tried elsewhere, but as far as I can see, it is a win-win for everybody involved – schools, parents and most importantly, the children themselves.

“From September 2015 the free school will have year classes in every age group and Manor will have reception and Years 1, 2, and 3. As time goes on the Dickens Road school will fill up again in each year group.

“This means the whole Gateway Learning Community will have sufficient pupils for the places available, Manor will be able to continue on its improvement journey and there will be a smooth transition with all the pupils being guaranteed a secondary school place in Tilbury.”

Manor has endured a torrid 2013. In January, the governing board walked out ahead of an audit report - eventually published in March - which laid into the financial controls at the school.

In July, Ofsted visited and placed the school in special measures and just days before the summer break, head teacher Alex Seaford resigned.

But in recent weeks, there has been light at the end of the tunnel. Interim head teacher Adrian McNeillis started in September and after its most recent visit, Ofsted said the school was improving.