15-pupil Dales school set to close as rural communities decline

It was announced yesterday that St Peter and St Paul RC Primary School in Leyburn is to be the latest casualty after governors voted to ask North Yorkshire County Council to publish statutory notices about the closure of the school from next year.

The school currently has just 15 children, with none in reception or year one, and if kept open faces a funding deficit of 75,000 by 2013.

Coun John Watson, North Yorkshire County Council's executive member for schools, says the closures are not to do with saving money but are part of a wider concern that not enough young families are bringing up their children in rural communities.

He said: "There are more than 300 primary schools in the county and the rate of closure has been running at about one per year.

"These schools are in the heart of rural communities and it is very sad.

"It is a very difficult job because people say if you close this school it will tear the heart out of local communities and these are powerful arguments and in many ways are right.

"But if you get down to a school which can have as few as four children attending it, there is usually an acceptance that we cannot go on like this.

"Normally the county council does not instigate the closure but the governors approach us.

"The main reason for the closures is obviously the reduction in the number of children – the evidence shows not many families with young children are coming in. But it is not to do with us cutting costs, if we close a school it costs the county council money because local children are then travelling further to school and we pick up the bill for the transport.

"St Peter and St Paul school has done remarkably well in the course of the last year but we do understand how difficult it is when numbers on roll fall below what is educationally as well as financially viable."

The county council says that a growing number of governors and headteachers have been concerned to pre-empt the financial difficulties which are expected to affect many schools locally as they face the prospect of continuing falling rolls, difficulties in recruiting headteachers, challenges in the development of appropriate provision where numbers are particularly small and a lack of access to early years provision and childcare.

The decision to close St Peter and St Paul primary school was made following a consultation involving parents, staff and the wider community, but still needs to be confirmed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough.

Stephen Brown, the chair of governors, said: "This was an emotionally very difficult decision to make but we believe that we have made it with the best interests of our children at heart.

"Energies will now be devoted to making this a year of celebration and to give the children in the school the best possible foundation for life in their new schools. Staff will also be supported in their search for new jobs and in dealing with the process of closure."

The county council started a consultation process in Upper Wharfedale on October 18 which comes to an end this week. Coun Watson said following the consultation he expects the closure of another school, Arncliffe Church of England primary school, to also be announced.

Meanwhile Raincliffe School in Scarborough has lodged a formal complaint with Ofsted following a recent inspection which claimed it needed to improve.

The school, a member of the National Challenge – schools across the country whose GCSE A*-C passes including English and Maths had fallen below 30 per cent, says the inspection did not take into account that in 2008 it became a federation with nearby Graham School, sharing an executive head teacher.