Threat to Harcourt Primary School, Cheriton

12.00.15am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 10th May 2006

The Local Education Authority is planning to put a proposal to Conservative Kent Council Council to "merge" Harcourt and Morehall Primary Schools in Folkestone onto the Morehall School site (effectively closing Harcourt).

The proposal will only go to public consultation if or when Kent County Council agree to pursue the closure. Governors at Harcourt School are committed to working with parents and any interested party to fight any closure proposal. The Governors have arranged a parents meeting on Thursday evening to update them on the situation.

Chairman of Governors at Harcourt and Lib Dem Councillor Peter Gane said:

"It is the only one-form, non-faith school in the area. It has good grounds, good buildings and numbers are increasing. The school has a new head and SATs are expected to be much better than last year.

"Parents need to be positive. The county will listen to parental power. We will fight our corner."

The report proposing merger will be presented to the School Organisation Advisory Board (SOAB) next Thursday. The board will be asked to express a view on whether to back the merger, and if so, a public consultation needs to be held. KCC will then consider the views and decide whether the consultation should go ahead or the proposal should be dropped. Any public consultation would then take place, lasting around 6 weeks.

The Cheriton Lib Dem team will support Harcourt against closure, and will keep local residents up to date with new developments as soon as more is known.

Related Link:

Kent School Organisation Advisory Board Membership & Contact Details