SHEFFIELD'S smallest secondary school is facing possible closure.
A debate begins today on the future of Abbeydale Grange School at Millhouses with options including closure, joining forces with another school, changing the way it is led, or becoming a trust or city academy.
Abbeydale had only 526 pupils at the beginning of the autumn term, with more than 200 places unfilled.
Ministers holding the purse-strings of the national Building Schools for the Future programme have told the city council to look at the secondary's long-term future - with concerns also being raised about poor exam results.
What do you think is the best way forward for Abbeydale Grange? Add your comment below.Abbeydale is unpopular with the community it is meant to serve - only one in seven families in the school's catchment area listed it as their first choice during last year's application process.
But it has a strong reputation for providing quality education for its multi-cultural students, taking in newcomers to the city from around the world. Half its pupils speak English as a second language.
A further problem is the instability of the pupil population - during a typical year there can be 140 students coming in and out of the school.
Consultation groups will be set up by the council to examine three specific issues, beginning in January and reporting in March.
Governors, parents and council officers will look at educational standards, with fewer than 30 per cent of students achieving five A-C grades at GCSE including English and maths.
Feeder school parents, community groups and governors from neighbouring schools will look at the issue of low parental preference rate and low pupil numbers.
A third group of Abbeydale parents, ethnic community organisations and council officers will look at the school's provision for migrant pupils. Closing the school is one way forward but councillors say other options include a partnership with another school or schools, changing its leadership and governors, or Abbeydale becoming a Trust or City Academy.
Numbers don't add up at smallest schoolThe city's Lib Dem council hope the consultation approach will avoid the acrimony which dominated the proposals to merge Myers Grove and Wisewood schools for more than 18 months.
Coun Andrew Sangar, cabinet member for children's services, said: "This is a radical approach, and one which we think is a first, certainly for the city if not nationally.
"Decisions about local schools need to be influenced by local people, and there's no way we're going out to the community with a done deal on this."
Last year Abbeydale Grange became a Foundation school, taking over greater control of its grounds and buildings in a move which governors believed would give the secondary more autonomy from the city council and help guarantee its future.
But education chiefs say they still have ultimate control if a school's standards and results fail to come up to acceptable standards.
For Abbeydale to have a secure future, the consultations will have to build up a solid case for its defence backed up by evidence that ministers will be persuaded to accept.
Executive director of children's services Sonia Sharp said it was likely a report on the school's future would go to the council's cabinet in May.
She added: "We need to draw a line under the instability that has surrounded this school – it is really important that a clear decision is made."
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FeaturesSouth Yorkshire's green newsMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport.The full article contains 617 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
