HEAD TEACHERS of five Southampton schools have come out in opposition against a possible major shake-up that could threaten their futures.

They say it is not fair that Townhill Junior, Glenfield Infant, Beechwood Junior, Harefield Infant and Harefield Junior should suffer as education bosses try to counter Southampton's falling pupil numbers.

Among the ideas to tackle dwindling pupil numbers are amalgamating schools and reducing admission numbers.

Until yesterday, only head teachers, their deputies and chairmen of governors had been told about the possible plans for the Bitterne and Townhill Park area.

They were advised by Southampton Local Education Authority not to inform pupils' parents until yesterday's meeting of the council's lifelong learning, training and scrutiny panel because a final recommendation for consultation has not yet been made.

But Shirley Lewis, head teacher of the 142-pupil Harefield Infant School, told panel members she felt parents had been "kept in the dark".

"We were told to treat this sensitively. Hopefully now parents will be able to be fully informed of what is going on," she said.

The review into school places comes after the City Council's executive member for education, Councillor Calvin Horner, decided not to close Moorlands Infant School, Bitterne, which currently has 97 pupils aged four to seven.

Mrs Lewis, head teacher for the last 14 years, said it would not be practical to merge Harefield Infant and Junior schools.

"I know that Moorlands is a very good school. They are my colleagues and I have every sympathy with them.

"It's not just the financial cost. It is going to cause a lot of upheaval. Staff will be unsure of their jobs and morale will be affected.

"It's sad that all the other schools are now affected."

She added: "We need to look at the financial implications that would be involved in setting up three new primary schools."

Kathyrn Gott, head teacher of the 158-pupil Glenfield Infant School, asked education bosses how schools could plan ahead during such an uncertain period.

Kevin Batchelor, of Townhill Junior School, which has 397 pupils, predicted that reducing the admission number at his school would lead to some redundancies.

"We would not be able to give the same pupil-teacher ratio," he added.

Beverly Levett, head teacher at 309-pupil Beechwood Junior School, said her school had already been proactive in using surplus space to generate income by allowing Quest, council-run IT training for schools, to use the premises.

A formal recommendation will be made at a Cabinet meeting on November 1, which will be put out to full public consultation.

Southampton City Council's head of resources, policy and planning, Andrew Hind, said: "The sooner there is some certainty the easier it will be for schools. We would certainly not want to see the quality of education suffer during a long period of uncertainty."

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