PENSAX CE Primary, the school without any pupils, is to officially close following a contentious recommendation from Worcestershire County Council's director of education, Julien Kramer.

Numbers have been falling at the Teme Valley school and governors were forced to ask council officials to look at closing the school because there were not enough pupils to support the curriculum. In recent years there have been fewer pupils from the catchments area and at the start of last years autumn term only four children turned up.

approved

At the recent meeting of the cabinet, members agreed that no objections to withdrawing financial support had been received and approved closure of the school from Friday, April 11.

Cllr June Longmuir, cabinet member for education, said: "It's sad to see a school lost, but it was a decision made by parents because of the restricted curriculum due to small numbers.

However the silver lining is that all the youngsters have gone into other local schools, which has increased their viability in terms of staff and pupil numbers.

More good news comes with the fact that parents have been able to become part of the Chantry High School catchment area but pupils could also go to Tenbury High School if they so chose."

ongoing discussion

Active considerations regarding the future employment of staff at Pensax is subject to ongoing discussion although a number of cases have already been resolved.

Julien Kramer said: "The proposed closure of a school can often be contentious, but in this case, the governing body and the wider community believe that this is the correct course of action."