ANGRY parents have vowed to fight the closure of a Portishead school.

ANGRY parents have vowed to fight the closure of a Portishead school.

It has been announced that St Barnabas School at West Hill will close at the end of the school year because of a falling roll, despite the continuing growth in the town's population.

The 12 staff members are also likely to be out of work, as they are employed by the school, rather than the education authority, North Somerset Council.

Letters have gone out to parents about the future of the school. North Somerset Council will begin consultations on November 5 with the intention to officially close St Barnabas on August 31, 2009. Parents are outraged and blame the constant threat of closure for the drop in pupils.

Mum-of-three Denise Mace, who has two children at the school, said: "I, like many other parents of pupils at St Barnabas School, am upset and angry at this news and I will fight the decision all the way.

"My husband and I purposely chose St Barnabas because of the family feel the school has. The fact that it is small is what appealed to us and our two children who attend the school have thrived on that.

"There has been a great deal of uncertainty about the schools future for several years now and that is why pupil numbers have dropped. If that uncertainty was taken away, many of the parents who removed their children to attend the new Trinity School this year would not have done so, and likewise all the new pupils who have viewed the school and have been impressed by it would have been more likely to enrol.

"This is going to be another part of Portishead's heritage whipped away from us. St Barnabas is the only small school in Portishead, all the other schools have more than 350 pupils.

"Parents will no longer have the choice of sending their children to a small, community school."

The school, which opened in 1871, can accommodate more than 100 students but today has only 40 pupils registered.

A staff member, who did not wish to be named said: "I want to reassure people that the staff are committed to the pupils at the school and at this point in time have no intention of seeking alternative employment while the school remains open."

A North Somerset Council spokesman said: "The financial pressures the school is under means that it can no longer maintain standards of education without additional financial and officer support.

North Somerset Council's executive member for children and young people, Cllr Jeremy Blatchford, said: "The decision to close a school is only taken in extreme circumstances and when all efforts to keep the school open for children and their families have failed.

"I want to ensure we achieve best value for money and pumping additional funding isn't the answer at this time. It is a shame that this position has been reached but we will wait for the results of the consultation before we make our final decision.