Parents and staff at a Southport school faced with closure have vowed to fight on after being given more time to fight their case.
St Teresa’s Catholic Infant and Nursery School on Everton Road in Birkdale, which is currently rated Good by Ofsted, faced councillors at a Sefton Council Cabinet meeting over its future.
The council is exploring whether to close the school and expand Our Lady Of Lourdes in Hillside.
Governors at St Teresa’s are fighting proposals to close their school, believing it should remain open.
Parents of Pupils at St Teresa’s also told the council they love the school and do not want it to close.
“They spoke very highly of the support that they and their children had received, according to a Sefton report into St Teresa’s.
“Parents said that their children have grown in confidence since attending there. The school invests highly in their pupils’ mental health.
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“Children feel valued and cared for and have benefitted from the family atmosphere, smaller class sizes and the bond they have with their teachers. They felt that losing this provision in Birkdale would be a huge mistake for the welfare and education of young people in the area.
“Many members of the community and parents of pupils currently attending St Teresa’s were educated there and highly valued the education they received.”
Parents valued the small size of the school and chose to send their children there for that reason as they believe that not all children do well in larger schools.
The voluntary-aided school – which is looked after by Sefton Council – has a current debt of £50,000 and said due to a reduction in pupil numbers forecasted the debt to rise to £200,000 by the end of 2021/22.
Sefton says that St Teresa’s has suffered from falling pupil numbers while births in Southport have been declining since 2009/10 which has affected the nursery/infant population in the area. They added that that school finances are highly dependent on pupil numbers so as these decline, income diminishes.
Governing bodies have a duty to set a balanced budget each year and although the Governing Body has worked hard to reduce costs, this has proved challenging.
However, governors are keen to work with Sefton to try and find a way forward for keeping their school open.
The issue is due to come back before Sefton Council’s Cabinet meeting on May 28.
