WHATEVER the rights and wrongs of Littlemore people’s concerns about the Oxford Academy, senior figures from the school must give them fair hearing.

The parish council has called a special meeting tonight to air worries that the Academy, which replaced Peers School in September 2008, is not playing as full a part in the community as others elsewhere.

A school is a vital part of any neighbourhood so Academy chiefs must not only listen but be seen to listen, otherwise relationships with the community will deteriorate.