Help save Saltfleetby Primary

The proposal to close the school is still going through the stages of consultation and the next stage, due in February will be to potentially issue the statutory notice of closure – with the final decision set to be made by the executive councillor in April.

The reason behind the proposal for closure is simply due to the fact of falling pupil numbers – the news of the plans came to light in October 2015.

But the Saltfleetby Parents Action Group are putting their best foot forward to do all that they can to save the school before it’s too late.

The group want everyone to know that the school is still open and are passionately trying to find alternative/viable opportunities to prevent the process continuing to keep this small rural school in the heart of the community alive.

The primary school’s academic achievements were shown as ‘Good’ in their most recent Ofsted report,

The school has a long history in the village having been part of the local area for over 165 years and has had a number of peaks and troughs of the amount of pupils on the schools roll. At the moment, the primary school is in a trough period and time is needed to be able to get it back to a peak.

Clare Owen from the Saltfleetby Parents Action Group commented: “The potential economic effect this could have on the village of Saltfleetby could be devastating for its sustainable future. We already have houses for sale which have been on the market for some time. The closure of the local primary school may have an adverse effect on house prices and could lead to a lack of any new builds. Local businesses could also suffer as no new families would be attracted to the village with a lack of facilities.”

Clare added: “The local community are concerned that ultimately the village could no longer exist in the future.

“But one positive thing to come out of everything is that the school and community are going through, is the survival of the Saltfleetby Cygnets pre-school, who have been successful in registering with Ofsted. They are now planning to re-open on February 1 at the Marshlands Village Hall in Main Road, remaining in the small, rural village of Saltfleetby.”

Amber Latif, executive head of the Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Federation, said: “All viable options to keep the school open will be explored.”