A DECISION to publish closure notices for Skipton Ings Community Primary and Nursery School has today been made by North Yorkshire County Council.

The final decision will be taken on December 5 to close the Broughton Road school -which has now just one pupil - on December 31.

If closure goes ahead, other schools will expand their catchment area to cover the area currently served by Skipton Ings.

The county council is currently in discussion with the Regional School Commissioner about the likely opening of an academy on the site at some point in the future.

It says this would mean that the Ings site would continue to provide primary school places for children in Skipton.

Cllr Patrick Mulligan, North Yorkshire’s executive member for schools, said the council put the wellbeing of pupils and the provision of high quality teaching and learning at the heart of its decision making.

"Due to a number of factors Skipton Ings governors came to the decision that the school was not sustainable. Nevertheless we want to assure the community that we are making every effort to maintain educational provision on the Ings site," he said.

“Our overriding ambition is that all children should have access to the best possible provision in teaching and learning and attend good schools or better.”

The school, which has capacity for 84 children, only had 42 on its roll and five children in the nursery when governors approached the county council to consult on closure in June. Numbers were forecast to reduce significantly further so that the school was forecasting cumulative year-end deficits of £117,000 in 2018/19, and £249,000 in 2019/20.

There is currently only one child attending the school as most families have now opted for alternative provision in the area - including to Gargrave, Cracoe and Rylstone, and Embsay, as well as to Skipton schools.

In July 2013, Ings was judged inadequate by Ofsted, despite significant investment and the efforts of a very experienced team of governors and staff that were deployed to the school, and when inspected again in 2014 and 2016 was judged as requires improvement.

A number of teaching staff have left the school and the school is currently heavily reliant on supply staff.