Children the losers in merger

I would like to register my concern at the proposed amalgamation of Oakland and Longmeadow CE Primary Schools in Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury. These schools are now at Stage 5 in the procedure for the school reorganisation.

Bayston Hill is a large village which has two thriving primary schools. We chose the smaller - Oakland - for our eldest daughter.

Although there are more than a hundred pupils on roll, the care, guidance and support from every member of staff is focused on each child and this school is certainly meeting our daughter's needs for her to succeed in enjoying and achieving.

The SATs results / Ofsted report/SEN audits and national tables all demonstrate Oakland is reaching its goal to help children to enjoy and achieve. We therefore plan to send our two younger daughters to Oakland also.

The amalgamation, however, would result in the closure of Oakland school and the expansion of Longmeadow, causing disruption to both schools and depriving parents of choice.

A merger is likely to result in the loss of flexibility to meet individual learning needs and may prove more difficult to manage.

Shropshire schools perform in the top quartile nationally, yet the funding Shropshire County Council receives is significantly less than other local education authorities - we come 145th out of 149.

With the proposed school reorganisation, our children's education is under threat and our future success may not be so promising. The merger has been proposed to minimise expenditure - at the expense of excellent education.

Katharina & David Tozer, Adams Grammar School, Newport