LEA Street First School head teacher, Jan Willetts, broke the news of the recommended closure to staff and parents on the same day as receiving a congratulatory letter from education director, Julien Kramer, for the school gaining a top award for sports teaching.

Sport England has awarded the school an Active Mark for Sports, acknowledging the quality of PE taught at the Kidderminster school.

Mrs Willetts said: "I feel that the school governors, parents and staff had fought a very well-planned and justified campaign

"We had given all the right reasons as to why we should be allowed to remain on this site. It is a very successful, high achieving school,"

She added: "My great concern is for the children because they will have to travel some considerable distance. The vast majority of our pupils walk here and they will lose the luxury of that option. A number of parents do not have a car and will face lengthy walks, which in the winter, in bad weather, with book bags, lunch boxes, pushchairs will be no fun.

"Also, it takes a long time to build up successful schools after gathering staff who have the same conviction and ethos."

She warned that regardless of how carefully the re-organisation was handled, with the best will in the world the current generation of schoolchildren would face disruption which would adversely affect their education.