Councillor says closure of under threat Great Gidding School is 'foregone conclusion'

A councillor has claimed the closure of an under threat school is a ‘foregone conclusion’ after a consultation on its future was launched.

The consultation on the future of Great Gidding CofE Primary School was confirmed on Tuesday, January 17, at a meeting of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Children and Young People Committee at Shire Hall in Alconbury,

The council have said that the future viability of the school – which counts Paralympic champion triathlete Lauren Steadman as a former pupil – is being considered because of a continuing drop in pupil numbers.  

In the past 10 years the number of pupils at the school has fallen from 75 to 47 - 35 of whom come from outside the school’s mainly rural catchment area. The council said that this pattern is projected to continue, with the total number of pupils on roll likely to fall below 40 by September 2024. 

But during the meeting, cllr Jonas King said he believed the consultation was a ‘foregone conclusion,’ and the school will be closed.

He said: “The Department of Education says, and I quote, 'that we need to adopt a presumption against closure.' How can we say we are adopting a presumption against closure when the only option given to us today is a consultation option on closure.

“So I have a really big problem with that. I would have expected officers to bring to us all the various options so we can make decisions on before we can even think about consultations on closures, let alone closures."

Cllr Bryony Goodliffe, the chair of the committee, said: “We have to have a consultation so that we can say yes or no to closing the school, we are not making the decision on closure."

But cllr King replied: "Well where are the other options before us? This is clearly a foregone conclusion. You've not given us any other option.

"We shouldn't be in this stage without considering other options first."

The committee agreed to start a consultation period which will seek views on the potential closure of the school, and the redeployment of pupils to other suitable local schools.

The consultation will start on January 23 and end on February 21. A public consultation meeting will be held on January 31 at 7pm at Great Gidding Primary School.

 A wide range of interested parties – including parents and the wider community – will be asked for their views before a decision on the next steps is taken. 

The consultation will include details of the other schools where pupils would be offered places, including arrangements for pupils who receive educational provision recognised by the local authority as reserved for children with special educational needs, the impact on the community and on travel. 

The committee are due to make a final decision on the school’s future in April. 

Cllr Goodliffe said: “I am confident that the committee has taken the right decision. The consultation process will be thorough and transparent – we want as many people as possible to respond so we can take all views into consideration before deciding what to do next.”

A petition was set up by parents earlier this month in a bid to try and save the school.