WELL this could put the cat among the civic pigeons, couldn't it? Bournemouth council is proposing to close Townsend Primary School primarily, they say, because it provides an inadequate education for its 96 pupils.

But, just when you think they are ready to put up the "Last one out turn out the lights" sign, the latest Ofsted report is set to come out. And it looks like it could say Townsend's providing an improving standard of education. Kapow!

So what now? Bournemouth Council's absurdly named Investing in People Overview Panel is due to discuss the school's future tomorrow and make a recommendation for the decision-making Cabinet that sits on April 2.

But that is before the Ofsted report will be published. Which would be ridiculous.

The history lesson is that the school was identified as failing by inspectors in 2005. That's going to look out of date if the latest Ofsted's an improving one.

The geography lesson is that the school only serves a small section of the population. Is that good or bad?.

The maths lesson is that it costs £4,217 to educate a pupil at Townsend Primary for a year compared with £2,884 in other Bournemouth schools. Is that the telling point?

Not according to the council's executive director for children and family services who affirmed, at a public meeting, that the main reason for closure was not about saving money but "quality of education and life chances".

I don't know if Townsend should close or not but it would be a bad lesson for young people if the council bulldozed through a decision before Ofsted releases its report.

We shall all be watching to see if the council can behave itself.

And we won't want to hear excuses.