An educational trust which runs a south Norfolk primary school is making redundancies and merging year groups to save costs.
Earsham Primary School, in the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust (DNEAT), will merge its Reception with Year One and Year Two pupils.
The decision, which will come into force in September, has been criticised by parents and teachers alike who do not see how the change will benefit the pupils.
Year One and Year Two pupils are already merged.
One member of staff said the change is "negative" for the pupils and only helps DNEAT to save money.
"There is outrage among staff who are all petrified that there will not be a job there for them come the start of term in September," an unnamed source said.
"Some colleagues have even said that they are not sure they even want to be part of the trust due to some of the policy changes.
"We fear that merging pupils in Reception who are aged four with Year Two pupils who could be aged seven is not fair on either pupils."
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An insider told this newspaper that there will be a meeting next week where staff will be told if their job is safe or not.
Oliver Burwood, chief executive of DNEAT said: "Earsham Primary benefits hugely from being in a federation with two other DNEAT schools, meaning that they can reduce costs by sharing a headteacher and other staff.
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"However, like many schools nationally and in Norfolk there is a squeeze on school budgets, with staffing costs rising faster than funding.
"This means that they, along with others, are having to make very tough decisions around classes and staffing.
"Earsham is part of a Trust with an excellent track record of mixed-aged classes, where 92pc of schools are graded good or better by Ofsted, above the national average.''
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