A COMMUNITY meeting will take place on Friday about the Government’s forced academisation of Darwen Vale High School.

The school has been told by the Department for Education it will be turned into an academy after it was rated ‘inadequate’ by inspectors.

The move has met with opposition from parents, staff and unions, and seen the board of governors removed and replaced with an interim executive board.

The meeting will discuss the impact of the changeover on the school and the local area.

One of the primary concerns has been over the choice of sponsor for the new academy, with the Government seemingly preferring the Aldridge Foundation, which already runs the town’s two other secondary schools. Parents have said there should be a consultation.