Campaign launched to re-open Sheffield college which catered for students with special educational needs

Sheffield Independent Film and Television (SHIFT) Media, which was based on Paternoster Row, helped young people aged between 16 and 25 gain qualifications, training and work experience.

About a third of its students had special educational needs or disabilities.

But after more than 10 years it had its funding removed by the Education Skills Funding Agency after Ofsted inspectors gave them an ‘inadequate’ rating, forcing it to close doors in September last year.

Now, Jillian Fearn has launched a petition calling for the funding to be reinstated and urged Sheffield Council to give its support.

In a petition statement, she said: "Shift Media offers a specialist and unique provision that is learner focused using gentle teaching techniques which engages the students. There is no other comparable post sixteen education within Sheffield or the city region which offers this unique and specialised provision."

Ofsted inspectors rated them inadequate in all but one area - personal development, behaviour and welfare - in which they were rated 'requires improvement'.

In previous inspections, they were rated 'good' twice, 'satisfactory' once and 'inadequate' in their first inspection in 2008.

But Ms Fearn said the inspection was unfair as the ‘impact on students with protected characteristics was not assessed’.

She added: "Ofsted do more harm than good and are ill equipped and inadequately trained to judge specialist provision working with students who have complex needs.

"Had SHIFT Media been a limited company and not a limited company with charitable status and therefore not for profit, the organisation would not have had their contract terminated."

Shift has since made a formal complaint about how the inspection was carried out and challenged the decision - it is now in the process of an appeal.

So far 33 people have signed the petition on the council's website - which will run there until February 4, on the Sheffield Council website and can be found here.

The petition is also available on Change.org where it has gathered 35 signatures.

Click here to sign the petition.