THE Queen and the Prime Minister have been asked to help safeguard the future of a York secondary school.

In a bid to end the uncertainty surrounding York’s smallest secondary school, Burnholme Community College, one determined 15-year-old pupil has taken matters in to his own hands.

Year 10 Burnholme student Lee Wright has sent letters off to both Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

Like many pupils his age, Lee, of Hazel Garth, Burnholme, is under the stress of studying for his GCSEs, but he says continuing speculation about the school’s future is only adding to pupils’ anxieties.

In his letter Lee called Burnholme his “second home” and said that closing the school “would be the biggest mistake anyone can make”.

Back in January, The Press reported City of York Council’s executive member for children’s services, Coun Carol Runciman, said falling pupil numbers at schools such as Burnholme, which has 374 students on its roll, meant some tough decisions might have to be taken.

She emphasised no decisions would be made behind closed doors and proper consultation would be carried out.

Heworth ward councillor and Burnholme governor, Christina Funnell, applauded Lee’s letter and said she hoped it would generate the positive publicity the school deserves.

Coun Funnell said in May the school secured its best-ever Ofsted inspection result – being ranked as good overall – and its best-ever GCSE results in 2008.

She said: “Burnholme is a small school and suffers from falling rolls, but the uncertainty feels like a death by a thousand cuts through negative publicity, which really doesn’t help parents who are trying to choose a school to send their pupils to.”

A spokeswoman for City of York Council said: “Burnholme Community College is currently York’s smallest secondary school and serves a catchment area in the east of the city.

“It has a capacity of 600 and currently has 374 students on role. Schools receive their core funding based on the numbers of children in the school and, as a result, falling roles seriously affect the ability of a school to maintain a full and rich curriculum.”

Peter Dwyer, the council’s director of learning culture and children’s services, said: “We are working closely and positively with Burnholme Community College and local schools to consider the pattern and impact of parental choice within this local community.

“Once those initial discussions, have been completed we will be able to bring forward any proposals for widespread public consultation.

“We do warmly congratulate the school on the recent inspection result which is a great credit to the leadership team, governors and students themselves.

“I would reiterate that at all times the council will be seeking to ensure that young people in this area can access the highest quality of educational provision.”