In October, Grindon Hall Christian School was opposed to the Department for Education’s attempt to impose the Stockport-based Bright Tribe chain on them. The founders had put out a statement saying the sponsor ‘had no record of improving schools’. They wrote to Lord Nash, the academies minister, with a six-page letter of concerns. But in late November, the school’s trustees, governors and principal wrote to parents, saying: ‘We believe that Bright Tribe sponsorship is the best way forward.’