A PRIMARY school in North Yorkshire is one step closer to closing its doors.

As The Press reported in May, the governors of Woodfield School in Harrogate asked North Yorkshire County Council to undertake a consultation on a proposal that the school should close, following careful consideration of the school’s position.

The council say the feedback from that consultation has been reviewed after all other options to secure the future of the site were exhausted.

Views on a proposal to close the school on December 31, this year were sought from a wide range of individuals and organisations, including parents and school staff.

The proposal involves extending the catchment area of an existing school, or schools, to include the area currently served by Woodfield Community Primary School.

North Yorkshire County Council collated feedback during the consultation period on these options and any alternatives to them.

As part of the formal process, the council’s executive received the feedback at its meeting on on Tuesday (July 19) and agreed to go ahead with the next stage in the process to close the school.

This will involve publishing a statutory proposal for closure, which will go back to the executive in autumn for a final decision.

A bid to find a suitable solution to keep the school open has been ongoing for more than two years.

The school received an inadequate Ofsted judgement following an inspection in January 2020.

Under national policy, schools with an inadequate Ofsted outcome are required to become a sponsored academy, but the Regional Schools Commissioner was unable to secure a multi-academy trust to sponsor the school due to viability concerns.

As a result, the school’s governing body then looked at working with Grove Road Community Primary in Harrogate, to explore combining the two schools and sharing both sites, but this also proved unsuccessful.

North Yorkshire County Council’s director of children and young people’s services, Stuart Carton, said: “Working with closely the governors, we have explored every possible avenue in an attempt to try and secure a future for Woodfield Primary School.

“We understand the sadness families must be feeling that events have led us to the situation where we are consulting for closure and it is not a situation we wanted to be in. We will continue to work with parents and carers over the coming months.”

The governing body of Woodfield School stated: “This has been a very difficult time for the school, parents, pupils, staff and governors and we were all hopeful a solution had finally been found with the proposed amalgamation with Grove Road School. Unfortunately, that could not proceed.

“This has left Woodfield in a very vulnerable position and we have had to look again at what options are available for the school.

“The governors have worked incredibly hard to find a positive solution, exploring every available avenue. Unfortunately, it is our conclusion that we have exhausted all options that are available.’’