A nationally acclaimed school fighting closure has put forward its own radical plans for the future.

Governors of Clayton Middle School have told Bradford Council they want the school to become a junior, taking seven to 11-year-olds..

They say the arrangement would ideally suit Clayton and would mean no extra building costs for the authority.

The plan is the major plank of the school's fight to keep the school operating.

A 1,100-name petition has also been sent to the Council supporting the change and objecting to the plan to axe the school.

The submission proposes an admission of 120 for the school with a capacity of 480.

The Education Authority wants to close the school and use part of the building to accommodate Larchmont school.

But the governors have pointed out that Clayton has received excellent OFSTED reports and national praise.

In 1994 education inspectors named the 461 pupil school as one of three in the country which set an example of raising standards.

And its 1996 OFSTED report said the school was a thriving and happy place where pupils of all years across the whole range of ability enjoyed a consistently high quality of education.

Today chairman of the governors Elaine Byrom said: "The support for the school to be retained is self-evident. The reports which the school has received in the past are brilliant. We feel the authority should take notice."

The Education Authority is wading through thousands of objections to its controversial plans which will hit huge numbers of schools.

The Telegraph & Argus revealed last week that the Council was considering backtracking on school closures at the expense of others which had believed they were safe.

But Clayton Middle is not at this stage understood to be one of those affected.

Education Committee Chairman Councillor Jim Flood has given an assurance that full consideration will be given to all representations.

The final recommendations will be released on Tuesday before going to the Education Committee on June 23 and the Council on July 14.

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