MINISTERS have approved the closure of Parkfield School.

Reach South Academy Trust confirmed that the school in Christchurch would be partially closing its doors in August, before a full closure in August 2025.

A statement from the trust said: “We have now formally received ministerial agreement for Parkfield School to close. This means that Parkfield will close partially at the end of August 2024 and close fully to the remaining year 11 students at the end of August 2025.

“All children bar year 11 have now been allocated a place in a local school from September.

“For the year 11s staying with us next year, we have a full team in place to support their studies and everyone is fully committed to making this a positive experience for all students, setting them up for future success as they take their next steps.”

The trust acknowledged that the period since it had announced its plans to close in June had been a ‘challenging time for everyone’.

It said: “Whilst none of us would have wanted this outcome, given there were no other options to keep the school open every decision taken has been with the best interests of the children in mind.

“We fully understand though the upset and worry this has caused our school community and want to thank our staff and our families for their understanding through this really challenging time.”

As reported, the plans to close were subject to a listening period, with the final decision to be made by the Department for Education.

Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope said he had been told last week that the closure will be going ahead by minister for state at the DfE, Catherine McKinnell.

He said: “She said that she was going to give the green light for closing the school and that she was following the advice of her officials and that she'd been assured this, that and the other.

“I said, well, a lot of that is a load of baloney, but there didn’t seem to be any shaking from where she was.

“I said that she needed to be very wary of some of the advice that was coming out because it seemed clear that ministers, including her predecessor, hadn't been given all the full facts.”

He said he had been told by a number of parents that they were dissatisfied with places that they had been offered by the council.

“I’ve heard that they're going to go for homeschooling and all the rest of it,” Sir Christopher said.

“I said that this was all contrary to the commitments that had been made and people have now had no choice because it's all been left so late.

“They were being told by the local authority that they can, they had to accept the place to be offered and they might be able to do an in-year transfer, which is obviously most unsatisfactory.

“I had a long conversation with her [Ms McKinnell], but there was no budging her from the view that the school had to close.”

Sir Christopher added that the closure was ‘very sad’ and that people have been ‘badly let down’.

He said: “It's the way in which the parents and the pupils have been used as pawns in all this, is, I think, appalling.”