Hundreds sign petition against Brackley school closure

Southfield Primary Academy will close next year

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition to stop the closure of a primary school.

The trustees of Southfield Primary Academy in Brackley, Northamptonshire, have decided that there is not enough demand for places and the school is no longer viable.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) said it would do everything it could to find suitable places for the pupils.

Local politicians said the community would be devastated by the closure.

The petition has been started by Lucy Conroy, who said that her older child's education improved after just a year at the school and her younger child "loves the school".

Closure 'makes no sense'

Ms Conroy believes the academy had gone through a difficult phase but the new head teacher had turned the school around.

She said: "Now the school is picking up greatly, rather than help, support and make it great once more, [they] have decided to close the school completely.

"This makes no sense with a growing population around the area, local schools are already full with waiting lists and houses being built at a rate of knots. We need a proper explanation."

Lucy Conroy's petition has been signed by more than 1,000 people

West Northamptonshire Council said it had hoped the school would stay open despite having only 109 children out of a possible roll of 420.

Fiona Baker, the cabinet member for schools, children and education, said: "I'm disappointed and saddened to hear about the academy and Department for Education's decision to close the school in summer next year and fully understand how distressing this news will be to children and their parents.

"We know Southfield has faced challenges in recent years but the school has worked hard to make improvements; we have also looked at how to help the school resolve its under-capacity, such as exploring other ways to use the space for alternative educational purposes, although unfortunately these did not prove viable in the end."

WNC said letters would be sent to parents this week about applying for a place at an alternative schools, and members of the council's admissions team would be attending sessions for parents and carers.