CHILLERTON AND ROOKLEY PRIMARY TO CLOSE DOORS FOR FINAL TIME ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

With a ‘heavy heart’, a tiny Isle of Wight primary school in Chillerton has been given its final order to close. Chillerton and Rookley Primary School will now shut its doors for the final time at the end of December. The Isle of Wight Council’s cabinet unanimously agreed to the school’s closure on 31st December — now less than 7 weeks away. Councillor Jonathan Bacon, the new cabinet member for education, said the council ‘was where it was’ and they had looked for other potential options but the decision was made to publish the closure notice. It was previously said the council was ‘out of options’ when it came to Chillerton and Rookley. After a consultation, the council considered the responses, of which the majority were in favour of closing the school and amalgamating it with Godshill. The former cabinet member for education, Councillor Debbie Andre said no one wanted to have to close the school and they had been through a long process but she “was of the right mind that this is the right decision”. Councillor Paul Fuller said the closure of any school is with a “heavy heart” and while it was sad to lose a rural school, he hoped the move would help Godshill Primary grow. He said pupil numbers were falling across the Island and they needed to “buckle up” for the issues they are going to be facing in the future. Of the 9 primary-age children that lived in the village, only 2 of them attended Chillerton and Rookley Primary School but they have been taught, since January, in Godshill, due to a lack of teachers. The authority’s Alliance Administration has been criticised for the way it has handled school closures, being accused of ‘indecisions and gamesmanship’ and ‘appalling political decision-making’ by Chillerton and Rookley’s headteacher, Mark Snow. The school has been having financial troubles for more than five years, currently standing at a deficit of £74,372, and was deemed ‘unviable’ by Mr Snow. Island headteachers have been supportive of the move as it would lessen the burden on other primary schools.