WE strongly urge the Clifton Diocese to listen very carefully to concerns about the splitting of Holy Cross Primary School over two sites.

There is, of course, no evidence whatever that the diocese has anything other than the best interests of the school at heart.

However, precisely the same can be said of the head teacher, staff, governors, senior managers and parents.

As the latter group consists of people intimately involved with the day-to-day running of the school, their views on its administration should surely carry more weight.

Splitting the school during the transition period from one site to another clearly makes sense to the diocese, but its public statements about the matter offer no clue as to its line of reasoning.

Opponents of splitting, in contrast, offer some highly pertinent arguments in favour of their cause.

Chief among those arguments is the fact that many staff and some pupils would find themselves shuttling frequently from one site to another.

The likely effects on school spirit, staff morale and general efficiency scarcely bear thinking about.

If the diocese has some credible, readily-explained counter-arguments, we suggest it makes them widely known as soon as possible.

Failing to do so would, we fear, have a highly negative effect on the relationship between the diocese and the people it is supposed to serve.

It would be a dreadful shame if something worth celebrating – the building of a new school building – were tarnished by ill-feeling and misunderstanding.