PARENTS of schoolchildren and the wider Upper Wharfedale community attended a series of meetings looking at securing the future of the area's primary schools.

Organised by the Upper Wharfedale Federation of Schools, with support from the Yorkshire Dales National Park, meetings were held in Burnsall, Cracoe, Grassington and Kettlewell.

People were shown the vital role the schools have in the communities, which also stretched to Littondale, and what steps the national park was taking to help secure their future.

The roadshow also revealed some of the significant benefits of the Upper Wharfedale Primary Federation - made up of Burnsall, Grassington, Cracoe and Kettlewell - since being set up in February 2017, including the positive impact on school budgets, consistently high quality education across all four schools and a diverse calendar of extra-curricular activities.

The federation is part of the Upper Wharfedale Cluster of schools, which also includes Boyle and Petyt and Threshfield, which continue to work closely with the federated schools, but are looking at other ways to secure their futures.

The other key purpose of the roadshows was to highlight the very serious challenges facing all small schools across the country and to be transparent about the issues of declining pupil numbers and financial pressures.

The governors of the Federation presented a variety of models that could improve the long term sustainability of the schools and included ways in which the communities might play a part, as well as welcoming all feedback and suggestions that can also be explored.

Anne Vetch, chairman of the federation, said: “It was really encouraging, and important, that so many people attended these roadshows, not only as parents of pupils at our schools but also from the wider communities and many other local schools facing similar challenges. Far from hiding our heads in the sand, it’s vital that we are proactive about tackling the issues head on and engaging with the communities to find the best, sustainable solutions”.

County councillor Patrick Mulligan, North Yorkshire’s executive member for schools added: “This is the first time that four primary schools have come together under the leadership of one headteacher in the authority and the federation is successfully delivering improvements to teaching and learning across the four schools. Federated village schools can be more sustainable in terms of attracting high calibre staff, financial security and in creating high quality education through greater social and curriculum opportunities for children.The exhibitions presented by the federation governing body were exemplary in showing how rural schools and communities can respond positively to the challenges they face around sustainability.”