School will close within three years

A Black Country secondary school will definitely close within three years, council chiefs have confirmed after a final consultation.

The axe will fall on Sneyd Community School in Bloxwich, after months of uncertainty over its future.

Parents, pupils and teachers had campaigned to try and save the school after it emerged council chiefs wanted to shut it amid falling pupil numbers and standards.

But in a statement issued to the Express & Star today, Walsall Council confirmed its decision-making cabinet will proceed with the closure when it meets later this month.

This will see the Vernon Way school close on August 31, 2012, although no pupils will be admitted to Year 7 or the sixth form from next September. Pupils will transfer on a year on year basis to places at other schools in the borough. An obligatory consultation period on the council proposal was carried out last month.

The authority said more than 7,000 copies of the consultation document, which contained a response form, only 30 were returned and one email received.

Councillor Rachel Walker, cabinet member for children's services, said: "The future of Sneyd has been the subject of many lengthy debates and discussions and has been looked at by scrutiny as we have all worked to secure a solution which is in the best interests of its pupils.

"We owe it to the children of Sneyd to make sure they're given support and opportunities to reach their potential and to be equipped with the skills they need to succeed in the future.

She added: "We have explained that the Office for the Schools Commission has made it clear that an 11-19 Academy was not a viable proposition for Sneyd and an Academy proposal would not receive Government approval.

"The important thing now is to support the pupils, parents and staff who will be affected by the closure of Sneyd if Cabinet approves the next step.

"We appreciate that there are concerns over transport and uniform issues as well as the search for appropriate alternative school places if Sneyd closes and we are committed to supporting all those involved in the transition period." Cabinet members will meet on October 21 and will also be asked to explore providing support during the transition period over admissions, transport and uniforms.

Officers will also continue to work on the development of an expression of interest for a University Technical College at the site.

Headteacher Dr Sean Sweeney said today: "We have accepted the school is going to close but don't know all the detail.

"We are doing as much as we can still for the kids at the school. We have had some fantastic exam results and will keep ploughing on. We gave it our best shot to save the school last year and came up with some ideas and they were not acceptable."