Secondary ‘minnow’ faces axe as just 40 seek place

Just 40 pupils have applied for a place at Burnholme Community College in September, which has around 270 pupils.

There will be a parent’s meeting tonight at 6pm where proposals to close the school – rated “good” in its last Ofsted inspection – by 2014 will be discussed.

Coun Janet Looker, Cabinet Member for Education, Children and Young People’s Services, said: “The school isn’t on an upward spiral – it is on a downward spiral.

“The school itself is fine but there are two factors, when you have only 270 children because the school is funded on pupil numbers it doesn’t attract enough funding to sustain the staff.

“The other issue is you can’t attract sufficient staff to really give you a broad curriculum.

“The demographics have changed, there are more secondary school places then secondary school pupils... there are lots of spaces in the sector so parents can move onto different schools and it just started to slide away. If every parent in the area had chosen Burnholme we would probably be keeping the school open.

“It is also an area that has been significantly affected by student housing and that has had an impact on the number of families with school-age children living in the area.”

Coun Looker said Archbishop’s Holgate School, which is an academy, could take most of the children.

City of York Council will be holding a public consultation next month. If the closure is agreed the 172 students in Years 9,10 and 11 will finish their education at Burnholme before it closes.

The 114 students in Year 8 and Year 7 would move to new schools in 2013 and 2014 in order to start their GCSE courses at neighbouring schools.

Chairman of governors Kim Daniells said: “The governors at Burnholme are very proud of the outstanding achievements of our staff and students and recognise the impact that any closure would have upon all those who know and value our school.

“We also recognise our duty to ensure that resources are used for the benefit of all. We would be deeply saddened by the closure of our school but are committed to working towards a solution that safeguards the best interests of all concerned.”