Five-pupil school in line for closure

Rookhope Primary has effectively been shut since last year

A remote primary school which has just five children on its register is likely to be officially closed this year.

Councillors will decide on 14 February whether to permanently shut Rookhope Primary School in Weardale, Bishop Auckland.

The school has in effect been closed since summer 2023 as its pupils have been taught at another school about seven miles away.

Councillors will now decide whether to back a permanent closure.

Rookhope was previously saved from closure in 2016 when it served 20 children, but this time “the bottom line is that there’s just no kids to go to the school,” said Independent councillor John Shuttleworth.

He said there are about 260 residents in the village, many of whom are older, while most children there are of secondary school age.

No applications were made for Reception at the school for either September 2022 or September 2023.

“There are lots of houses that go up for sale when people die and people are buying them up as second or holiday homes,” he said.

'Something else that's gone'

“The last thing I wanted was the school to shut,” Mr Shuttleworth added.

“It’s sad. It’s not helpful to the village.

"You need your school, you need your pub, you need your shop… and now it’s just something else that’s gone.

“I haven’t got an answer to it.”

Since September 2023, the five pupils on Rookhope’s register have been transported to St John’s Chapel Primary School using a council-funded minibus.

Parents were consulted on this decision and all agreed to the plans, said Mr Shuttleworth.

There are ongoing discussions about what will happen to the building if Durham County Council does decide to permanently shut the school.