A FUNDING agreement to pay for two new academies in South Gloucestershire has been agreed, the Gazette can reveal.

A contract between the Government and The Ridings Federation of Academies was drawn up in principle last Thursday, paving the way for The Ridings High School in Winterbourne and King Edmund Community School in Yate to reopen under academy status in September.

The move is the surest sign yet that both schools will officially close and become independent of South Gloucestershire Council in the next academic year.

Mike Hayward, chairman of the federation’s highest body, the sponsor trust and the executive governing body, the academy trust, said: "This is the contract between the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Academy Trust that effectively states in return for funding from the government, the federation will provide education services at the academies. "Once this has happened there is certainty the academies will go ahead."

The DCSF approached The Ridings High School under its Pathfinder scheme, which links high achieving schools with neighbouring failing schools, in a bid to improve results at King Edmunds. The plan will see King Edmunds rebuilt within three years of opening as an academy.

The DCSF will now review detailed plans for the new academies, due to be named The Ridings’ Federation Winterbourne International Academy and The Ridings’ Federation Yate International Academy, at a meeting on July 9.

As a result, the Government will either back the plans and confirm both academies can open in September, request further information or delay the opening.

Ofsted inspectors are also due to evaluate both schools ahead of the scheduled opening date.

South Gloucestershire Council has already confirmed both The Ridings and King Edmunds will continue to be run as local authority schools if there is any delay in the academy process.

The progress comes after rumours were quashed that The Ridings headteacher Dr Rob Gibson, who has been appointed as chief executive principal of the federation, had stepped down as a member of the sponsor trust.

Mr Hayward said: "Dr Gibson is and remains a member of the sponsor trust. There is no intention of any sort that this will change."

Yate Town Council was informed that Dr Gibson was no longer part of the three-member sponsor trust after raising concerns that governors and members of the academy trust would be unable to criticise any actions taken by Dr Gibson because they were appointed by him.

Cllr Chris Willmore said: "They will have no real power to dismiss him."

Governors are now being sought to join each academy’s local governing body. Mr Hayward will write to existing governors at both schools inviting them to apply.