Chillerton and Gatcombe Parish Council wants the village primary school to be taken away from the federation which manages it, to save it from closure.
In response to an informal consultation about the potential closure of the village school to merge it with Stenbury Foundation’s other school at Godshill, Chillerton and Gatcombe Parish Council (GCPC) unanimously voted in favour of supporting the Save Our School campaign to keep the school in the village.
The 2 schools are proposed to be amalgamated with the Chillerton site closing, in a move governors say would reduce the risk of both schools closing, due to budget constraints and falling pupil numbers.
No official decision has been made yet about the future of the schools but consultation is underway.
At a meeting earlier this week, councillors criticised the management of the school by the Stenbury Federation, saying education standards had fallen with the number of pupils ‘consistently declining’.
Councillor Nigel Phillips, Chair, said:
“Rather than effectively closing the school and sending pupils to Godshill, which is similarly challenged and managed by Stenbury, we believe the way forward is to take the management of the school away from the Federation.”
However, Headteacher Mark Snow says the school has become untenable with the issue of school numbers a ‘vicious circle’, with the federation falling into a black hole. Speaking at the parish council meeting, the executive head said:
“Fundamentally as a school we need children to be in it.
“We need the bums on seats but if they are not there the school is difficult to manage with a budget that is shrinking by the day. We have to make some difficult decisions.”
With even fewer children predicted to enrol in the coming years, Mr Snow said without doing something radical or different the school’s deficit would not get any smaller. He said:
“It is not just about money, it is about the wellbeing of children but if the funding is not there, what can I do? I have no financial or emotional gain for going through this.
“I have a passionate desire to do the best I can but there is a point where we have to ask what is still sustainable? And we are at that point where we are seeking that support to say, what do we do next?
Chair of governors, Di Barker, has said without the proper funding they cannot offer the children the proper education they deserve. She said:
“I would far rather not be in this position; I am a huge supporter of small rural primary schools but we are in danger of loosing more than one.”
No decision has been made yet on the future of the school and the informal consultation is set to run until 19th March.
Roy Westmore would turn in his grave at the thought of the school closing