We have been watching with growing concern the goings-on at Oxford School. The East Oxford secondary school seems to have become a political football to be kicked about.

We do not pretend to have an inside track on the goings-on. From the outside, however, it does not look good.

To its credit, the school has seen results improve recently, although clearly not enough for the county council or the Government to lose their concerns about attainment levels.

The plot thickened after half the governing body resigned, with the chairman saying it had become apparent that the governors could not work together constructively to take the school forward. Clearly there were disagreements about the best way forward.

Into the vacuum have stepped a couple of local Green councillors — the Greens having publicly backed the Save Oxford School campaign.

We now have political opponents of the ruling group at County Hall at the head of the governing group at a school that is at the heart of a significant and controversial policy discussion.

No wonder the head-teacher is not making any comment.

There are some parents at the school who feel strongly about the direction the school should take. We suspect that most, however, are bewildered about what is going on.

In the circumstances, it seems entirely reasonable that an interim executive board should be parachuted in to the school — but it should be one that is sufficiently independent to cut through all the politics and, in consultation with parents, decide what is the best way ahead for Oxford School.