A small school which originally opened 150 years ago has been threatened with closure due to the small number of children enrolled at the school. St Barnabas Primary School is one of the few remaining local authority run schools after several new Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) have been built nearby.
Although the small school has the capacity for over 200 pupils there are currently around 70 in the school. The news of a potential closure left parents and pupils shocked and disappointed especially after the school had won a national Covid response award and was on track for an improved Ofsted result after the school came under new management recently.
Parents have banded together to try and save the school by setting up an online petition and campaigning for the school at the recent fireworks display at the Star and Garter pub in Montpelier. One mum of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder said that she is “incredibly anxious” about the prospect of having to send her son to a different school after he settled in so well at St Barnabas.
