and blackmail" by Kenneth Hick, a member of the Petersfield Town Council. East Hampshire District Council defended the joint application by arguing that: "The two parts of the application are inextricably linked. Without the sale of part of its playing fields, the school would be unable to progress the sports facility improvements, and without the land, the extension to the Tesco store cannot be brought forward." Planning permission for the new development was granted on 5 June 2008. Permission was also later given to remove an ancient oak tree as part of the development, and consent was made by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for the sale of school land to Tesco. The AstroTurf pitch was completed in March 2010, with the expectation that all the new facilities were to be complete and open for use by September 2010. On 20 June 2008, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary by inviting the class of 1958 to a day at the school. Ninety people attended the event which included a tree planting ceremony. The passing of the Academies Act 2010 by the United Kingdom coalition government has allowed schools graded as "outstanding" by Ofsted, including The Petersfield School, to apply for academy status. In November 2010 the governors of the school voted unanimously for the school to apply to the Department for Education to become an academy. Academy status would allow the school to become independent from the local education authority (Hampshire County Council), and would as a result get an extra £500,000 of direct funding per year. The school announced that it aimed to have become an academy by the summer term of 2011. In May 2011 it was announced that permission had been granted for The Petersfield School to become an academy from 1 July 2011. In January 2011, the school was reported to have suspended a pupil two days after he joined as it was suspected that he was an adult. A statement from Nigel Poole, the head teacher, stated that the suspension had been carried out due to the school's "child safeguarding policies", and that the pupil would be allowed to return if it could be "reassured" that he is fourteen years old, as claimed. The pupil was later allowed to continue attending classes when his age was proven through a birth certificate, and Nigel Poole apologized for the incident. Rock Challenge The Petersfield