FEARS have been expressed that a village school near Wellington will lose one of its three classrooms when it is redeveloped.

Stawley Primary School is one of the best-performing in Somerset and has planning permission for a phased scheme to demolish a number of existing buildings which were past their lifespan and rebuild around a central hall which was less than 10 years old.

But, Wellington Area Rural Federation of Schools chairman Lieut Col Ruthven Burdon-Cooper said the new school would only have two classrooms rather than three.

School governors believed it could mean job losses and impact the well-being of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Lieut Col Burdon-Cooper said: “We have successfully operated in budget a three-class structure for the last decade.

“Despite having a high percentage of attending children registered with SEND, 28.3 per cent, the school has consistently delivered results that place it in the top tier of primary schools in Somerset and within the top two per cent nationally.

“Despite this success, Somerset Council has in its re-build plans for the school decided to only fund two classrooms, despite provisional planning being granted for three.”

He said the council’s education team claimed there was ‘no strategic need’ for a third classroom, because Department for Education guidelines allowed up to 30 pupils per class and the school had only 54 on roll.

Lieut Col Burdon-Cooper said: “The council determined 39 per cent of pupils, including those registered with SEND, were not eligible to be counted when calculating the capital funding for the rebuild.

“The council’s reports made no mention that the proposal was to reduce the number of classrooms, or that it would potentially impact on the employment of staff.

“It failed to mention the impact on protected groups present within the school, and claimed to have been completed in consultation with the headteacher, when no such consultation had taken place.”

Lieut Col Burdon-Cooper called on the council to review the decision to provide only two classrooms so the school could continue to ‘maintain and build on the success the council has often applauded’.

Ofsted education inspectors in their most recent report last December praised the ‘exemplary’ behaviour of pupils who had ‘a strong sense of belonging’ and felt ‘safe and happy’ in the school.

However, Somerset executive Cllr Heather Shearer said pupil numbers were predicted to fall to 48 by 2029 so a third classroom was not deemed necessary.

Cllr Shearer said: “There is a therapy or withdrawal room shown on the plans submitted and included in our scheme.

“The school can choose to designate this space as a SEND resource if so required.

“This is in addition to the group or ‘break-out’ space in the central area of the new school extension, which is over and above what was required for the school population.

“Ultimately, the school can designate the use of this space to suit the requirements it has now, while also providing flexibility with any changes which may occur in the future.”