THE only primary school academy in Brighton and Hove will be taken over by a national chain.

The change at City Academy Whitehawk has been hailed as “the right decision for pupils” by the school’s headteacher.

But Labour councillors on the city council are up in arms because they were not consulted.

The boss of the outgoing sponsor, Nick Juba of City College, praised the progress made by the school under the existing arrangement but said Whitehawk needed a partner focused on primary education if it was going to improve further.

After years of poor performance, Whitehawk Primary School was turned into an academy in September 2013 after being graded inadequate and put into special measures by Ofsted in 2011.

City College Brighton and Hove came on board as the new academy’s sponsor and results have improved dramatically.

Ofsted graded the school, located in one of the city’s most deprived areas, “good” in the latest inspection in 2015.

City College’s forthcoming merger with Northbrook College forced a reassessment of the sponsorship, since the Regional Schools Commissioner would have to approve the shift from City College to the new combined institution – to be called Metropolitan College.

Instead, City Academy Whitehawk has gone with Aurora Academies Trust, which runs four primary schools in Eastbourne and Bexhill, three rated “good” and one “requires improvement”.

The college merger will take place on April 1 but the legal entity which runs the academy – of which City College is a key member – has had its existence extended until August 31 so Aurora can take up the reins from September 1.

David Williams, executive headteacher of City Acamdey Whitehawk, said: “I’ve met the Aurora team and I’ve visited their schools.

“I’m excited about this, I think it’s the best thing for the school and the right decision for the pupils.”

But the decision was reached without the involvement of Brighton and Hove City Council.

A statement from the Labour group said the lack of consultation contradicted the principle of transparent and accountable education.

Children’s committee chairman Councillor Dan Chapman said: “We believe that schools and academies should be locally accountable and important decisions like this should not be made centrally without consultation.”

He said the group had “made its views known” to the Regional Schools Commissioner.

Mark Turner of the GMB union asked why there was no consultation with the public or parents when there would have to be if a school was going from LEA control to academy status.