School must stay open - children

Children from a Shropshire primary school which was threatened with closure have written to the Shropshire Star to demand it is never closed.

Youngsters at Rushbury Primary School, near Church Stretton, read about the possible closure of their school in their evening newspaper. About 60 children were faced with having to go to Brockton Church of England School, in Much Wenlock, Corvedale near Craven Arms or St Laurence's in Church Stretton.

The county council had planned to close 22 of the smallest primary schools in the county in a bid to save money.

The move was voted against at the end of January though some schools are still slated to merge.

Hannah Duffield, aged 10, said she wanted to lend her backing to people who had campaigned against the closures.

She said: "If we get closed down we will have to go to a school further away, so it will cause more pollution and lots of people are complaining about global warming, this would just make it worse."

Lee Davies, in Year Six, agreed with the idea that closing schools would add to global warming.

He also said in his letter: "I strongly disagree with what is happening to all of our small schools and if we all go to larger schools we won't get the education we need and want.

"The council have used a lot of money on our school. That money would be wasted."

Both children also paid homage to the fact their school has been open since 1821 so it would be sad for families to see it go.

Lucy Adams, a class teacher, said although the children were aware there was no longer an immediate threat to the school, they had very strong feelings about it.

She added that the children were keen to receive replies from the council.

The community in Rushbury was one of the most vocal in the county about their opposition. Residents went ahead with planned opposition meetings, despite Shropshire County Council's decision in January to keep 22 threatened small schools open.