HEADTEACHER Mike Loveridge has pledged to fight hard and strong to keep his beloved school, which looks after children with special needs, safe from closure.

A petition to save Rowdeford, near Devizes has already received huge support and he is urging everyone who cares about the school to write to their MPs, Wiltshire councillors and people of influence.

He said this week: "If a decision is made to close the school and I have not done everything I possibly can to save it I will feel I have let people down."

He had known since September that Wiltshire Council was reviewing special school provision but he was still shocked and devastated when a meeting last week announced that Rowdeford along with St Nicholas in Chippenham and Larkrise in Trowbridge could all be closed and replaced with one large school.

He said: "We believe that the Rowdeford School site is an exceptional resource that must remain part of Wiltshire Special School provision in the future.

"Rowdeford School’s unique strength is its outdoor provision and how it is used to develop community links. Outdoor Learning is so important to Rowdeford School because it opens doors to rewarding and sustainable futures in the community and workplaces for young people with special needs.

"We have the support of a charity trust that has raised approximately £1.5m in the last 10 years with a determination to further the development of Learning outside the Classroom. This would be lost with the closure of the school."

Wiltshire Council is now consulting before a proposal is brought before cabinet at the start of the autumn term.

Mr Loveridge believes whichever option is chosen at that stage will be the final choice of the council and a further round of statutory consultation will just be a box ticking exercise.

He said: "This is the reason it is so important we act quickly now in these weeks before the school breaks up for the summer. Staff and parents have been shocked and there have been many offers of support."

He does not think the large super school proposed by Wiltshire Council will work. He said: "It is an ill thought out idea that does not put the needs of children and young people first.

"Students with special educational needs will not flourish in big schools; this will only replicate the problems that they would experience in mainstream schools."

Wiltshire council cabinet member Laura Mayes promised this week that no decision had been made and all options would be considered. She said: "I can honestly say that at this stage I do not know what is the best option." Other options being considered include keeping all three schools open or having two schools.