Schools to shut despite appeals for a rethink

THREE small Bristol schools are to close despite parents’ desperate pleas for the city council’s elected leaders to change their minds over the plans.

The council’s ruling Labour administration has agreed to the closure of St Pius X Catholic Primary School, in south Bristol, and St George’s and St Michael’s Church of England primary schools, in the city centre, because of falling pupil numbers.

It plans to open a new school on the site of St Michael’s on the Mount school on September 1 as a replacement for the two CoE primary schools, but pupils at St Pius will have to find a new school to go to.

The closure plans, approved by Bristol City Council cabinet members on Thursday night, were proposed by the governors of all three schools and the subject of public consultations and a parent campaign last year.

If they are backed by the Department for Education, the plans will see all three schools close on August 31.

Cabinet member for education, Cllr Anna Keen, said the “difficult” decisions made her feel “incredibly sad” as a teacher herself, but were necessary to ensure the schools on offer in the city were financially viable and “fit for purpose”.

“It’s not a day of glory for education in Bristol,” she admitted.

Cllr Keen said St Pius, a one-form entry primary school in Withywood, had struggled both in terms of pupil numbers and quality of education, having been in special measures for more than two and a half years.

St George’s and St Michael’s, on the other hand, were “good schools”, but between them had fewer than 150 pupils on the books and 185 spare places, she said.

The new amalgamated school would have 210 places so would be able to take all 150 children and more, giving it a “good chance” of surviving financially.

But parents of St George’s pupils, upset by the closure of the “special” little school, said the process had been “mismanaged” from the start.

Kayleigh Mossop, parent chair of the PTA at the school, said parents had been “excluded”, teachers had “had their hands tied”, and the governors’ wish to close the school had prompted a pupil exodus, which had worsened the school’s prospects.

“Our little school is such a special place in the community,” Ms Mossop said. “It is not just about figures on a document.”

John Mossop said parents who found the closure of St George’s “disappointing” would not necessarily send their children to the proposed new school.

The Government opened a free school, Cathedral Primary School, on St George’s “doorstep” and this no doubt contributed to the existing primary school’s demise, the meeting heard.

Education campaigner Jen Smith, a Liberal Democrat candidate for Bristol Central ward in May’s council elections, asked how the Labour group could “reconcile” closing three schools while so much additional housing was planned in the city.

Cllr Keen said Government funding for schools was based on existing pupil numbers, not projections of future demand for places.

It’s not a day of glory for education in Bristol CLLR ANNA KEEN

EFFORTS to build a new swimming pool in Minehead have suffered a setback as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Minehead has been without a publicly-operated swimming pool since West Somerset Council approved the closure of the Aquasplash facility on Seaward Way in 2008.

Somerset West and Taunton

Council – which replaced West Somerset in 2019 – has secured £10,000 from the Hinkley Point C construction for a feasibility study into a new council-run pool.

But this study has been put on the backburner to allow council officials to deal with the local response to the pandemic – including the support of existing leisure facilities elsewhere in the district. Councillor Richard Lees, portfolio holder for sport and leisure, announced the delay this week.

Those wishing to swim in Minehead now have to rely on the community-run pool at St Michael’s Church of England First School – which is run as a charitable venture by the school – or pay to use the Butlin’s facilities.