Axe to fall on city's girls school

Leeds City Council's executive board yesterday approved the closure of Parklands Girls High and the co-educational Primrose High after the 2011 summer term.

They will be replaced by mixed academies from September, next year, which could both receive funding for redevelopment after the projects survived cuts to the Building Schools for the Future programme announced by the Government earlier this month.

Primrose and Parklands were both identified for closure as part of Education Leeds' response to the National Challenge initiative which called for councils to intervene to ensure all schools had 30 per cent of pupils achieving five good GCSEs by next year.

The academy being set up on the Parklands site will be sponsored by Edutrust Academies Charitable Trust, while the academy opening on the Primrose site will be sponsored by the Co-operative Group.

The City of Leeds School was also identified for closure but will stay open after councillors agreed to retain a school on the site in Hyde Park.