PUGNACIOUS Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has joined the fight to keep Barnoldswick's Rainhall Road School open.

He was due to meet education chiefs at County Hall in Preston today (Friday) in a fresh bid to secure the future of the school in the town where he lives.

The MP said: "There has been a lot of comment about the statistics used by the Local Education Authority to support its case. I believe Rainhall Road is a good school and I want it to stay. That will be my message."

The MP's argument is supported by the school's most recent Ofsted report, from February 1997, which noted a number of positive features. They included good leadership provided by the headteacher in conjunction with the governing body.

Mr Prentice visited the school in March to discuss the situation with headteacher Shirley Cormack and chairman of governors Margaret Bell.

Meanwhile, a resolution calling for plans to shut down Rainhall Road School to be ditched won unanimous cross-party backing from West Craven councillors.

As previously reported, Lancashire County Council has floated a proposal to close the town centre school. It has capacity for 140 pupils but only 65 on the school roll, and the county argues they could be absorbed into other local schools with spare places.

The proposal is currently out to public consultation and local opposition is strong. Now, as part of the consultation process, Pendle Council's West Craven committee has made its views known. Its members unanimously backed the nine-point resolution opposing the closure. The reasons for opposition are summarised as follows:

1.The county council is wrong to include the 40 spare places at Earby Springfield School in its calculations as it is outside the required two-mile radius of Rainhall Road and would not be considered practical by Barnoldswick parents.

2.The consultation document fails to adequately address the question of population growth in Barnoldswick as a result of new house building which will increase demand for school places.

3.Closing Rainhall Road School would be contrary to Government policy, which aims to protect small rural schools.

4. If there was surplus space in West Craven schools, then it should be used to provide much needed nursery places in an area where there is a great demand.

5.Closing Rainhall Road would effectively remove choice for parents about which school to send their children to. The only spare places in town would be at Gisburn Road School.

6.Closing Rainhall Road would put unacceptable pressure on other Barnoldswick primary schools, removing virtually all their spare places.

7.Parents would lose the chance to send their children to a small school - the very reason why many chose Rainhall Road.

8.With the current pattern of unfilled places in Barnoldswick, children from the same family would end up at different schools.

9.Rainhall Road School does a good job, with an excellent team providing a quality service that is highly valued by its users.

Barnoldswick councillor David Whipp commented: "It's about time that the county council put the children first and the balance sheets and pound notes second."

Earby councillor Rosemary Carroll added: "The headteacher there has turned this school round in three years, so why close an improving school? Also, if the county is saying that small schools are ineffective, will Salterforth be next?"

The public consultation on the proposed closure ends on July 31 and people are urged to make their views known. They should be sent in writing to: Mr RW Fitchie, Buildings and Development Team, Education and Cultural Services Directorate, PO Box 61, County Hall, Preston, PR1 8RJ.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.