‘Disgusted’ parents urge rethink on plans to shut primary school

A HUDDERSFIELD primary school is set to shut its doors as part of unpopular closure plans.

Lily Park in Golcar is one of three local schools facing reorganisation. Pupils will be moved to a new site with bus transport laid on.

It is the third restructure in six years. Parents are said to be “upset, disgusted and angry”.

They want the proposal to be reconsidered.

Critics of the move have said it echoes the closure by Kirklees Council in 2019 of Almondbury Community School.

One woman, whose child attends Lily Park, said: “The school has served the community of Golcar for many years and to hear they plan to shut it has caused outrage amongst the people of the village and surrounding areas.”

Opened in the 1970s as Beech Early Years Infant and Nursery School, the school on Beech Avenue serves the Trees Estate.

Re-branded as Lily Park, it now forms part of a multi-academy trust that also includes Royds Hall Community School and Luck Lane, which opened in 2016 to handle an increase in demand.

All three schools are on separate sites.

But pupil numbers at Lily Park have dropped and it is currently only at 60 per cent capacity with just 126 pupils on roll.

Luck Lane’s numbers are also lower than they should be.

Lily Park has received poor Ofsted reports in recent years and has been judged inadequate.

A report by the trust says Lily

Park needs more than £200,000 spending on it to fix the building and “considerably more” to improve standards to an acceptable level.

The school’s budget is also more than £360,000 in deficit, which the trust attributes to low pupil numbers. Luck Lane’s budget is also more than £100,000 in deficit.

The trust says transferring youngsters from Lily Park to Luck Lane to create a single primary school is the best option.

The trust’s report says: “We cannot fix the Lily Park budget without having a negative impact on children’s education.

“In fact, the changes would not be legally permissible, never mind ethical. We would have to create teaching groups of more than 30 pupils or remove additional support for children with special educational needs. With a few more pupils on roll and some restructuring, we can return Luck Lane to a budget surplus.”

Parents have until June 27 to give their views as part of a consultation.

A spokesman for SHARE MultiAcademy Trust said: “The changes, if agreed, will give all our primary children access to the first class facilities at Luck Lane, a new, purpose-built building.

“Our proposals are also designed to cause the least possible disruption to other schools in the area.”

The changes will give all our children access to first class facilities. Report from SHARE Multi-Academy Trust , which runs Lily Park school in Golcar.