Governors fighting to save school

Sheffield Council's Cabinet voted to close Abbeydale Grange in Nether Edge, Sheffield, last month after education bosses warned that low pupil numbers meant it was unsustainable.

The school has 549 pupils, who would transferred to High Storrs, King Ecgbert, King Edward VII, Silverdale and Tapton schools.

If councillors approve the school closure at a meeting next month governors will complain to the independent Schools Adjudicator who would then have the final say.

Abbeydale Grange's chairman of governors John Coldron, who is also a professor of education at Sheffield Hallam University, has written to Sheffield Council urging the authority to revisit the plan which he claims would "scatter" pupils across Sheffield.

He said: "Governors are certain that harm is being done to students by the proposed closure process, and it will continue to affect their welfare and education, despite the efforts of staff in the school and the local authority.

"The Cabinet still have an opportunity to reverse this decision. It would be honourable and responsible to do so."