Closure of 26-pupil primary school ‘would be a disaster’

There has been uproar over proposals to close 26-pupil Gembling Primary School, 21-pupil Langtoft Primary School, the second smallest and smallest in the county, and 88-pupil Dunswell Primary School.

East Riding Council’s Cabinet will decide next week whether to recommend them for closure. If agreed, a further six weeks consultation will follow, with a final decision on June 25, three and a half weeks before the summer holidays.

Jacqui Sedman, a parent governor at the school, said staff had been placed in an “impossible” situation: “They are having to look for jobs now and they are succeeding. We can’t blame them. Every staff member lost is a huge blow; the main reason our school is so good is the dedicated tightly-knit team. Here every child really does matter.”

The council has said closing the school will allow Government funding to be redistributed, but Mrs Sedman said it would mean children across the county getting at most just £3.10 extra each - and this had to be counted against the £17,000 cost of transporting children to schools at North Frodingham and Burton Agnes and paying staff redundancy costs. Rising fuel costs and increasing numbers moving to the country could make savings “negligible.”

Parents have prepared a school rescue plan, and say starting a nursery would boost numbers. Mrs Sedman said: “I am hoping we have done enough with sending e-mails to members of the Cabinet to persuade them that closing the school would be short-sighted and a disaster academically and financially as well.”