Plan to split Wylye Valley and Codford Schools' age groups shelved

12:00pm Friday 12th March 2010

By James Williams

Children attending school in a village near Warminster will not face a five-mile trek to lessons after governors decided to scrap plans for a separate infants and junior school.

Governors at Wylye Valley School, which has 87 pupils at one site in Codford and 25 at another in Steeple Langford, met on March 4 to decide if all Key Stage 1 children should be educated at Steeple Langford, or to close the site.

Six years ago the two schools merged to save Steeple Langford, but in September the school received a poor Ofsted report and was placed in special measures.

Chairman of governors Sue Jiggins said: “We’re moving the children to Codford by September 2010, but at present the Steeple Langford site won’t close. We are in discussion with the (Salisbury) diocese about the site.

“We discussed the situation at length and had a vote and that’s what we decided.

“There’s relief around the Codford community and the Steeple Langford community are obviously disappointed.

She said: “It was a common sense decision. It means parents know that when their children start school, they will be there for their time in the infants and then into juniors.

“It’s a shame about Steeple Langford, but if something is not sustainable then reality needs to set in.

“When the merger happened there was the expectation that children from Steeple Langford and the surrounding area would go to Wylye Valley School, but I think they’ve headed towards Salisbury.

“It’s a great relief that the parents’ thoughts were taken on board by the governors.”

Letters were sent to parents on Monday with a question and answer sheet attached.

The school will reduce the number of classes from six to four in September and buses that are currently used to transport youngsters between the sites will be used to take Steeple Langford children to the Codford site daily.

Headteacher Debi Downing added: “This tough decision had to be made to ensure the education of the children in Wylye Valley School, both presently on roll and those in the future, is enhanced by the best application of the resources available to the school.”

Codford parent Chris Brayne had set up a petition to keep Key Stage 1 pupils in the village, while parents of children at the Steeple Langford site also started a petition to keep the village school site open.