Rural primary school to close amid falling numbers

Councillors have rejected calls to save a rural primary school which is set to become the 34th to close in North Yorkshire since 2018.

The county council's executive pressed ahead with a move to shut St Hilda's Primary School in Ampleforth, despite a campaign by the village's residents to save it.

A meeting of the executive was told that the decision of most parents in the catchment area to send their children elsewhere had sealed its fate, with the number of pupils at the school having fallen to 13.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act showed more rural primary schools have been shut in North Yorkshire than anywhere else in England over the last six years.

The figures, from the Department for Education, showed 33 such schools had closed for good since 2018, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Head of school Faye Dodds-Aston said there had been tears from both parents and pupils at the prospect of it closing.

Speaking to BBC Radio York before the decision was confirmed, she said: "It's a great place to grow up.

"Some of our children have been out leafleting for the school in the evenings and then come in the next day saying, 'I just don't want it to shut - I love it here'.

"It's quite traumatic at the moment for them to have to walk past their old school, or what will be an empty building.

"It will be sad and difficult for them, but I believe they'll be OK in the end and they'll look back and have fond memories."

Year 6 pupil Isobel said even though she was due to leave St Hilda's for secondary school, it was "a real shame" for other children the primary was closing.

"It's a lovely school," she said.

"For most people who live close to the school or in the village, if they have to go to another school then that's a 15-minute drive away."

North Yorkshire Council's executive member for education, Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, said it was clear that there was a lot of support for the school and that it held a special place in the community.

But speaking at the executive meeting, she said that low pupil numbers made it challenging for schools to operate within budget.

However, Ampleforth councillor Steve Mason said St Hilda’s was a unique case as it still had pupils and that its fortunes could be revived with the council’s support.

He said the school’s current pupil shortage was probably linked to Ryedale District Council having planned for too few houses to be built in the village, but it remained on the borderline for being viable in a county with one of the highest rates nationally for school closure.

The Liberal Democrat councillor added: “It’s time as a council you need to stop, let’s support some of these schools and help them rebuild.

"At the moment it just seems domino effect - school closed, school closed, school closed across North Yorkshire.”

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