GOVERNORS of a closure-threatened school have written to the Prime Minister in a final bid to save it.

The board at Startforth Morritt Memorial CofE Primary School, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, has also sent their plea to the Secretary of Education, Durham County Councillors and all members of Leeds Diocese.

In May, Durham County Council announced it was going to host a consultation over plans to close the school amid falling pupil numbers and “insufficient improvement” since its last inspection.

According to the council the school is less than one third full with just 36 out of a possible 112 pupils enrolled this year and an expectation that will drop to 25 in September while it was also judged by Ofsted as “Requiring Improvement” in 2014 and 2016.

For two years Durham County Council, governors and the Church of England diocese have sought a solution – including asking governors of other schools for support, and proposing an amalgamation with a nearby primary – but neither have gone ahead.

The consultation outlined plans to move pupils to larger schools that are “Good” or “Outstanding,” from January 2017.

However, angry parents said they would “fight tooth and nail” to keep the school open and have since held several meetings to try to find a solution.

Governor Sandra Moorhouse, said the board was hoping to become an academy as part of a Multi Academy Trust so there “continues to be a distinctive and inclusive Christian school in Startforth for the benefit of the ever growing community”

Releasing a statement on behalf of the board, Mrs Moorhouse, added: “The governors, parish council, many residents and the parents think that to close our school is a very short-sighted move.

“We know there have been difficulties within the management of the school over the past few years and as governors we hold up our hands if we have not done our best but we bring to your attention that things at the school have begun to change, not fast enough for the local authority but over the last three years our SATs results have been well above average and we could look forward to a brighter future with a little extra time to turn things around properly.

“We have the support of many parents who wish their children to continue to go to Startforth School and who have and are still running an active campaign to save the school.”

Mrs Moorhouse said the school did not have a deficit although it is overstaffed, but the school is working to tackle that as well as being promised a “substantial sum of money” from a charitable trust if it were to continue.

Mrs Moorhouse added: “The economic argument of the expense of keeping a small school open doesn’t allow for the fact that the alternative of closure also comes at a price.

“Closing the school involves hidden costs of redundancy, building new classrooms elsewhere, transporting children, the loss of the ability for pupils and future pupils to be able to walk safely to their school as well as the emotional cost.

“Smaller schools are the life blood of rural life, there is no post office, pub, or shop in Startforth and no meeting place for any groups or organisations, the only community facility is the school!”

The council’s Cabinet will meet next month to decide whether to close the school or not.

Durham County Council’s head of education, Caroline O’Neill, said: “Schools need to be sustainable in the long term, and we have for a number of years expressed concerns about Startforth Morritt Memorial C of E Primary.

“We began consultation on the schools future as we did not believe progress had been sufficient since Ofsted rated it as ‘requiring improvement’ in 2014, and the number of pupils continued to decline.

“Inspectors have since then, in June this year, found it is still ‘requiring improvement’ in five out of six areas, including the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils.

“We have been discussing these issues with the governors and the diocese for some time, and through our consultations received a number of representations regarding the proposed closure on December 31, 2016 and the transfer of Startforth’s 25 pupils to larger ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ schools in the local area from January 2017.

“We are now considering all views and a report will be presented in September to our Cabinet for a decision regarding the school’s future.”