Hertfordshire school with only 21 pupils facing closure

The school had been given time to increase its number of pupils, but they have continued to fall

Education officials have drawn-up plans to consult on the closure of the smallest school in a county for the second time in three years.

Hertfordshire County Council agreed not to close Hexton JMI School in 2021 - when it had 31 pupils - to allow governors to increase pupil numbers.

However the number of pupils at the school has dropped to 21.

At a meeting last week, the council revealed proposals which would see the primary school would close next year.

Councillors at the Conservative-controlled authority were told that the school now has so few pupils that they have to be taught in just two mixed-age classes.

Conservative councillor David Barnard - a former governor at the school who had asked for a "stay of execution" in 2021 - told the meeting the school was no longer viable.

"I suspect that there is little more than can be done," said Cllr Barnard. "And it is with a very heavy heart that I think that it is going to happen and the school is not viable anymore."

According to a report presented to the council, just six of the school's 21 pupils actually live in the village of Hexton, near Barton-le-Clay.

A final decision on whether to consult - or not - on proposals to close the school will be taken by a meeting of the council's cabinet.