Decision due on closure of school

Monday 26th May 2008, 11:20AM BST.

Parents, staff and pupils at a north Shropshire primary school facing the axe expect to find out next week whether their school can be saved.

Dr Peter Matthews, independent schools adjudicator, is expected to announce his decision on whether or not Childs Ercall Primary School, near Market Drayton, should be closed next Monday.

Shropshire County Council decided to close the school earlier this year because it did not have enough pupils to run efficiently, but the church school appealed against the closure through the Diocese of Lichfield, so the matter was referred for adjudication.

Parent-governor Peter Bosher said a decision from Dr Matthews was expected to be announced on the first day back after half term.

He said everyone at the school was keeping their fingers crossed.

“Hopefully it will be good news, but we’ve done all we can here to fight against it,” he said.

This month, about 100 people from the village packed out a public meeting, called by Dr Matthews, in a bid to save the school.

The meeting aimed to give people the chance to express their views on the proposed closure of the school.

School governor Patrick Playfair said teaching standards at the school had been improving, and former pupil Carolyne Vaughan said four generations of her family had attended the school, and it would be a tragedy to lose it.

Dr Matthews’s decision will be final.

View more: North Shropshire news.