Gloucestershire County Council have insisted there will be enough places at nearby schools for pupils of Severn View Primary Academy if it closes.

The school’s sponsor, Academies Enterprise Trust (AET), announced it will recommend to the Department of Education that the school be closed at the end of this academic year.

The final decision will fall to Secretary of State Gavin Williamson in the summer.

Chris Spencer, executive director of children’s services at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “The decision on whether to close the school will be made by the Secretary of State. If the school does close, our priority will be to support families to find a new school place.

"We want to reassure parents that there are currently enough places at other primary schools in the local area to accommodate the pupils at Severn View. Our In-Year Admissions Team would be happy to speak with parents if they would like any further information on this.”

AET’s recommendation comes after they found that Severn View, which became an academy in their trust in 2012, was only 14 per cent full with 30 pupils attending.

An academy is a state-funded school that is more independent of local authority control, meaning the school has more control over their curriculum, finances and term lengths.

“This has been an extremely difficult decision and not one we have taken lightly,” said a spokesperson for AET.

“We recognise that this news will be unsettling for families and for staff and will take some time to absorb.”

The AET spokesperson added: “We will be working closely with Gloucestershire County Council to make the process as smooth as possible and to help every parent find a new school place for their child.”

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