Harrogate Woodfield Primary: No final decision on closure - councillor

The school in Harrogate has been unable to find an academy sponsor

A school facing closure after pupil numbers fell sharply could yet be saved, a councillor has said.

Woodfield Community Primary School in Harrogate, which now has just 37 pupils, was rated "inadequate" by Ofsted inspectors in January.

Governors have asked the council to consult on its closure after its bid to become a sponsored academy failed.

But councillor and governor Paul Haslam said the consultation "doesn't necessarily mean" closure was certain.

Numbers at Woodfield have dropped dramatically since 2018, when 155 pupils were in attendance.

A total of 11 of the 37 pupils now remaining at the school were due to leave in July, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Because pupil numbers determined the level of funding a school received, Woodfield was forecast to lose £329,800 by 2023-24.

'Important consultation'

Merger talks with nearby Grove Road Community Primary School had also failed when that school pulled out of the proposals.

But Mr Haslam, a Conservative councillor representing the Bilton area on North Yorkshire County Council, who has also been a Woodfield governor for four years, said he believed the views of parents and the local community would have a "big sway" on the school's future.

"It will be a very important consultation when it gets started and I will be very keen for lots of people - not just parents - to get involved," he said.

He added he was "devastated" the school was facing possible closure, but said he believed it could have a future if there was a demand for pupil places.

"If we were able to get back to 70 or 80 pupils, that would show progress and we would be able to work out of this," he said.

Stuart Carlton, North Yorkshire County Council's director of children and young people's services, said the absence of an academy sponsor had left the school in a difficult position.

A statement from North Yorkshire County Council said the authority would communicate directly with parents in the coming days "on the many questions they will have".