A PARENTS' group which is fighting a proposed merger of Ebrington Primary School and St James', in Chipping Campden, has reacted against the re-start of the pre-consultation process.

In October last year a pre-consultation organised by the board of governors was halted following a public outcry. Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown then waded in and ordered a review be carried out by former federation headmaster Dr Ian H Jones.

A spokesman on behalf of the Ebrington School parents' group, which has 65 children in its remit, said: "The Board of Governors sensibly suspended the process to close our (Ebrington) school due to a public outcry, but this week we learned that they have decided to restart it. It's now nearly four months since we first heard of the idea, but as parents we've only just been given any detailed reason why and though there are a number of reasons not one of them justifies closing a valued school and all could be easily remedied with good leadership.

"This is an outrageous position for the parents to find themselves in. The board of governors keep talking about a 'merger of sites'. It's disgraceful to refer to our school as a 'site' when this wonderful village school has been educating children for 175 years. We should be celebrating this anniversary and looking forward to the next 175 years, not fighting the closure of our school when there are thousands of new houses going up everywhere and most of the schools in the area are already full to bursting."

But chair of the governors, Chris Jones, has told parents that although, to date, they have complied with a request to suspend the pre-consultation while the review was conducted, they had decided to re-start it having addressed the main issues raised: constitutional matters, pre-consultation process and information availability.

He also reiterated that the two sites are regarded as one school, as per confirmation from Gloucestershire County Council, in that both original schools were closed and a new amalgamated school opened, operating on the two sites.

"The governing body has the key role of setting the strategic direction of the school. In our case there are a number of factors which have led us to seek the views of parents and stakeholders including: fluctuation of intake numbers at each site, demands of the new National CUrriculum, pupil progress, benchmarking and Secondary Ready initiatives, uncertainly over operational budget and the suitability and maintenance of the school buildings."

He says the plan is to consolidate St James' and Ebrington Primary School onto the Pear Tree Close site at Chipping Campden from September 2017. Building work to extend the St James' site at Chipping Campden would start later this year subject to planning permission.

Mr Clifton-Brown said he was concerned over the future of the school: “This is typical of the heavy-handed approach the governors are taking to this problem. I have had numerous letters from parents urging the school to be kept open. I hope Dr Jones, who is a highly professional and experienced individual, will be able to complete his review on an accelerated basis. I urge the governors to consult properly on this matter and to handle it sensitively, otherwise it will create a wound within the community that will take years to heal. My fear is that Ebrington will now apply to become a free school, beyond the reach of the present governors, which may not be in anybody’s interests," he said.

Parents are invited to have their say at an open meeting at Ebrington School on February 9 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. There will also be displays of information at Ebrington Village Hall and at the Old Police Station, Chipping Campden, on February 6 from 10am to 3pm.