The trustees of a troubled Derby free school have written an end-of-term letter to parents urging them to support the school and help it “move forward”.
They also apologised in the letter to parents and children of Al-Madinah School “as we have been unable to see the dream, vision and hope become a reality”.
The trustees – who it is believed now consist of Shazia Parveen and Shahban Rehmat, after the third, Zaid Amjad, resigned – are due to step down at the end of January after the Government threatened to close the school.
Although they launched the Islamic free school in 2012, damning reports from the Office for Standards in Education, the Education Funding Agency and the Department for Education led to intervention by Schools Minister Lord Nash.
He has now asked Barry Day, chief executive of the education charity Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust, which has set up 22 academies at previously failing schools, to step in.
Mr Day, although willing to support the school with staff and forward planning, has said he is unwilling to ask his trustees to take it into the foundation, preferring instead to aid the school’s recovery so that it can run successfully on its own.
He has already visited the school, spoken with staff and invited parents to spend time at one of his academies in Nottingham.
The trustees do not mention Mr Day and the trust in their letter but ask parents for their “moral support behind the interim head, Safeena Higgins, and her team to ensure they move the school forward”.
They ask that parents remember the school during their prayers, known as duas. The trustees add: “To say the least, it has been a very testing time for the staff, pupils and parents of Al-Madinah School.
“The trust has faced much difficulty over the past seven months and is doing what it can to ensure a smooth transition takes place.
“I request you to resist from division and join together in goodness to give our children the best possible education for their future.
“We hope and pray that our parents and children, continue to see the vision and ethos, through, so we can ensure a positive contribution to our city, communities and generations to come.”
The school, which has sites in Nelson Street and Friar Gate, caters for children aged three to 16.
It had up to 400 pupils at one point during the autumn term, although more than 40 have now left.
It received a poor report from Ofsted, meaning it was placed in special measures in October.
Since then, it has undergone a further monitoring visit, which indicated that no improvements had been made and it had slipped further back.
If the school does not receive a better report during its next monitoring visit, it could face calls for closure.
Mr Day has prepared an action plan for taking the school forward, which he says has been accepted by Ofsted.
He is also proposing to close the primary section of the school, in Friar Gate, and move everyone to the Nelson Street site because he claims it is unviable and a health and safety risk.
Previously, the trustees had proposed moving the primary children into the former Faraday and Hartley railway buildings in London Road, despite objections from rail enthusiasts.
In their latest letter, the trustees allude to the proposal and have said the Education Funding Agency is “working through capital issues in regards to the new primary site”.
But Mr Day has said the school is not viable on more than one site until it improves its pupil numbers.