AN academy trust which found itself at the centre of a discrimination row has made a U-turn.

The Dean Trust, which runs six schools in Manchester, Trafford and Knowsley, came under fire for proposing to ‘segregate’ pupils by sending new starters with special educational needs and disabilities to a school six miles away.

The trust informed parents of children with special needs due to start at Ashton-on-Mersey school in September that they will be shipped six miles away to another one of its schools, Broadoak, in Partington.

It claimed this was down to “limited resources” and “oversubscription” at Ashton-on-Mersey.

Angry parents blasted the trust for making the decision without consultation and threatened to take legal action.

But now it has been revealed that the trust has made a turnaround after coming to an agreement with Trafford Council.

Parents of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) have been told they will be educated ‘predominantly’ at the Ashton-on-Mersey site instead of being bussed daily to Partington.

Jill Colbert, Trafford Council’s Interim Corporate Director for Children, Families and Well-Being, said: “The council is working closely with the trust and have recently had a very positive meeting to consider how best the trust can continue to provide for all children at its schools and the council has agreed to provide additional resources to facilitate this.

“These additional resources will be used to maintain the high standards of education provision for all children attending the trust’s schools and to ensure that those children with EHCPs, which name Ashton-on-Mersey School for September 2016, will have their education delivered, as is the case with other pupils of Ashton-on-Mersey School, predominantly at the Ashton-on-Mersey site.”

Justine Bailey, director of Trafford Parents Forum, which provided support to the affected families, said the forum was 'absolutely delighted' with the outcome.

"The families can now prepare for the transition to secondary school, without the stresses and anxiety the last few months have brought," she added.

"The forum is proud of the part it has played in providing support and facilitation for the families.

"We believe that it shows that change can be achieved and that parent carer voices are stronger together.

"We are hugely disappointed, though, that The Dean Trust had taken so long to make a firm decision to educate the EHCP Y7 cohort at the Cecil Avenue site.

"Moving forward, we hope that The Dean Trust and Trafford Council will work together to find a way of capturing the SEND success of Ashton on Mersey School.

"We hope, too, that they will share experiences with other Trafford Secondary Schools and work with them, to create a beacon of best practice in SEND provision, within mainstream settings in Trafford.

"Trafford Parents Forum remains committed to our ethos of working together and would encourage all schools to always place families at the very heart of their decision making.”