FOR Beaurish Tigere, assembly on the last day of summer term will be an emotional experience. There will be friends to say goodbye to and tears will certain. But come September, she and her friends will be back in class after a long and hopefully hot summer break.

It wasn’t like that last year when nothing at Burnholme Community College could be taken for granted. The threat of closure had been hanging for months and the announcement – one way or another – had gone to the wire.

It was lunchtime on a rainy, drizzly day as staff and pupils gathered nervously for their end of term, and possibly last ever, assembly; tension filled the room as head teacher Simon Gumn rose to his feet and began to speak.

“We sat there not knowing for sure if the school was going to stay open,” says Beaurish, 14. “Then Mr Gumn told us that Burnholme was staying open and everyone would be all right after all. I was really glad, really happy because it had all been so confusing; people at the time were jumping to wrong conclusions and I didn’t want to start moving schools.”

The place erupted in cheering and hugging. Then, pupils and teachers formed a human chain around their school; it was a symbol that it would not be taken away from them.

“If the school was going to close down it would have meant a whole jumble of new things because you would have to find a new school and that would have been really hard for a lot of people,” says Beaurish.

“I think it’s really good that Burnholme stayed open and since then it’s got even better as a school. The teachers and students are all really welcoming and everyone makes you feel really comfortable and happy to be here.”

The news may have been a blessed relief, but it was certainly not assured. Earlier in the year, City of York council’s head of children’s services, Coun Carol Runciman indicated that falling pupil numbers meant tough decisions might have to be taken. Burnholme was one of those on the potential hit list.

“It was disappointing,” says Mr Gumn.

“But it also gave the school a determination to succeed, from students and staff to parents. People asked whether we were closing and I said no we’re not, but they’re talking about it.

“The school has a rightful place within the community and is well thought of, so we just carried on doing our day job of making sure our young people get the best results and are happy. It was business as usual all the way through.”

Maybe it was, but the pupils and teachers were not prepared to give in without a fight. They waged a six-month campaign to persuade councillors to save their school. Year 10 student Lee Wright even wrote to the Queen and Prime Minister appealing for help. In his letters, Lee called Burnholme his second home and said that closing the school would be the biggest mistake anyone can make.

“It was one of those unexpected things,” says Mr Gumn.

“Lee came to see me one afternoon and said ‘I hope you don’t mind but I’ve just been talking to The Press and I’ve written a letter to the Queen saying please keep us open’. So I said absolutely not because it exemplifies what Burnholme students do. I was humbled I think, that was a very emotional moment for the school.”

It also seemed to have an effect on the authorities, conveying the message that it was not only the head teacher and his staff who were concerned about Burnholme’s potential closure – the students were also firmly opposed to the idea.

For staff and students at Burnholme, those six months in 2009 felt like an eternity. Thankfully, it is all in the past now as newly appointed head boy Ryan Stead, 15, says.

“It was a great day but a lot has gone on since and it’s a year ago, so I’ve put all that behind me to look to what’s happening next. It’s all done and dusted. The important thing is that I enjoy coming to school, so do all my mates because everyone is friendly and all the teachers know us by our first names; we can trust them and they are like our friends really. Obviously, I look up to them as seniors but we can have a laugh with them.”

Closure then on the only unfortunate chapter in the story of Burnholme School. Well there was another one; the day it was bombed even before being built. But the Luftwaffe failed to close it that day and with the latest onslaught thwarted, Mr Gumn says the spectre haunting the school during the first half of 2009 is as firmly consigned to the history books as the Second World War air raid.

With 340 students and 32 teachers, Burnholme is York’s smallest secondary school. Now that its future is secure, Mr Gumn says the priority is to be at the forefront of changes in education. One example is to accommodate students from other parts of the city who come in to study business diplomas; it’s an example of a community-focused school.

“We have a stable student body, good numbers coming in and good results. The challenge could be to deliver a good spread of curriculum but we put on the options of a big school while remaining a small school and remove the barriers to learning. It’s the way I do it – and it works.”

• Burnholme Community College Summer Fair will be held tomorrow where among other attractions there will be a raffle, cake stall crafts and cards and welly wanging. Entrance costs 50p and includes free entry to the grand raffle draw.