Newall Green High School's re-opening is good news for Wythenshawe - but too late for the lives turned upside down

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

When Newall Green High School closed its doors in August last year, hundreds of young students were left displaced. Many were forced to start afresh in schools miles from home where they had no friends.

A controversial decision was made to close the academy, formally run by Prospere Learning Trust, after a 'significant' fall in pupil numbers and a damning Ofsted inspection which rated the school inadequate.

The move was strongly opposed by parents, local councillors and Wythenshawe's MP - who pushed for the then Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to reconsider his decision, but he never responded.

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Pupils were instead left to find new schools in an already heavily-subscribed catchment area, meaning children were allocated places out of their local area, and staff who had worked at the school for years were left without a job whilst in the midst of the Covid pandemic.

"Transition to high school should be a time of excitement of pupils and parents but too many residents this year have had to contact me about their school allocation," Wythenshawe MP, Mike Kane said.

This week, Manchester City Council announced that the school would be reopening to students from September 2023, under the Dixons Academies Trust - which also took over the running of former Manchester Health Academy in January this year.

The decision to reopen the school as Dixons Newall Green has been met with mixed emotions by the local community. Whilst it's agreed another school is desperately needed, for those whose lives have already been turned upside down, the announcement has come too late.

One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said her