Parents want Leicestershire school to be given a chance

Parents and governors say they want a school threatened with closure to be given one more chance to show it has made improvements.

A 12-week consultation has begun into the future of Holmfield Primary School, in Leicester Forest East, after an Ofsted report criticised "inadequate" teaching and placed the school in special measures.

Governors say Leicestershire County Council's own inspectors judged the school to be making satisfactory improvements just days before Ofsted produced its damning report.

Earlier this week, a large group of parents and children marched in protest against closure.

Helen Lawson, of Thorpe Astley, whose son goes to the 152-pupil school, said it has a lot of support.

She said: "Support is not just coming from parents but from the entire community who feel the school is at its heart.

"I've just been into the chemist and they've already filled a page of a petition."

Susan Flannigan, who has three grandchildren at the school and whose own children were pupils there, said: "We don't think it makes sense.

"It just doesn't seem fair when you see the money that's pumped into other schools.

"The children here are happy kids. There can't be that much wrong with that."

In its inspection report published a fortnight ago, Ofsted said that despite some improvements over the last year, significant groups of pupils were not making enough progress and were "attaining standards that are exceptionally low for their ages".

But Malcolm Fox, vice-chairman of the school's governing body, said governors and parents were not sticking up for the school because of "misplaced loyalty" but because they believe it is improving – and would prove that to Ofsted when inspectors returned.

He said: "Local authority inspectors came into school and told us teaching was good and improving just four working days before Ofsted inspected us.

"We fully believe that when Ofsted inspectors return in December or January they will see that teaching is improving and the county council will withdraw its consultation into closure."

Councillor Ivan Ould, county council cabinet member for education, and David Parsons, the council leader whose own ward includes Holmfield, said they would listen fully to parents' concerns.

But education officials say they must consider the school's future because Ofsted said it was "failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement."