Rushbury CE facing the axe
Seven Shrewsbury schools hit by ‘devastating’ closure plans have vowed to fight until the bitter end.
Buildwas, Church Preen, Dorrington CE, Hope CE, Myddle CE, Rushbury CE and St Andrew’s CE in Nesscliffe are all on Shropshire County Council’s list of 22 schools which face the axe under radical re-organisation plans.
A further five schools face amalgamation in Shrewsbury – Oakland Primary School and Longmeadow CE Primary School in Bayston Hill, Mount Pleasant Infant and Junior Schools, Grange Infant and Junior Schools, Meole Brace Infant and Junior Schools and Springfield Infant and Holy Cross Junior Schools.
The planned primary school reorganisation will be considered by SCC’s cabinet next Wednesday (January 30). If members agree to a full consultation, every school on the list will undergo an 11-stage public consultation process with no changes until September 2009.
The proposed closures are the county council’s response to dramatically falling pupil numbers in Shropshire and could save up to £1.8 million a year.
Councillor Ann Hartley, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “At the moment there are 3,250 surplus places and that figure is expected to rise to 5,450 by 2012.
“If we do not act now, the standard of education would ultimately fall as funding would be used to supplement the empty places.
“I would like to emphasise the schools on the list are being put forward for consultation and no decisions have been made at this stage.”
SCC assistant director of children and young people’s services, Ian Budd, said several schools would also be expanded and given more investment.
The re-organisation policy states that no child should have to travel further than six miles for a primary school place.
But Rachel Warner, chair of governors at St Andrew’s, Nesscliffe, said: “We do not have another school within a three-miles radius and the roads to access other surrounding schools are either unclassified, single track or the main A5 dual carriageway which rapidly changes to a single track road.
“Obviously these roads are very dangerous. We do not want our children travelling these roads every day and risking their lives.
“Many of our children have already had to relocate from Grafton. To disturb their friendship groups again would have a detrimental effect on their emotional development and well-being.
“We feel very strongly about our school in Nesscliffe, it is a vital focus and integral part of our community. We have a currently rising roll situation which will increase further with our pre-school and wrap around care club provision. We do not intend to lose it.”
The school held a public meeting yesterday for worried parents to decide upon the next step.
Carla Lowndes, chair of Buildwas Primary School PTA, said that parents were reeling from the announcement that their top performing school could be closed next year as part of the council’s cost cutting plan.
She said: “This is an absolute farce. Shropshire County Council is embarking on the same plan that Herefordshire County Council abandoned earlier in the week.
“Buildwas School was sixth in the 2007 league table, being one of only six schools in Shropshire and 250 nationally with 100 per cent score in each subject.
“Many of the top performing schools are also smaller, yet that doesn’t seem to be a consideration for the council. Several of the year groups are at full capacity, pupil numbers are increasing and there is even a waiting list for some ages.
“However, because the school has three classes rather than four it must be closed.
“The council’s strategy claims to consider the needs of the children above all else, yet this type of disruption is definitely not in their best interests. The council’s Primary School Vision that Every Child Matters should be changed to Every Pound Matters.”
Parents and pupils of the school, which has 84 pupils, held a demonstration to protest about the planned closure yesterday.
Meanwhile, nine year six pupils from Church Preen Primary School were today on a trip to Westminster and will use the opportunity to protest about rural school closures. They are meeting with Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski to voice their concerns.
l Continued on page 2 of the Shrewsbury Chronicle on sale now.