Opposition to plans to close Brancaster Primary School

Parents have been told Brancaster Primary School could merge with nearby Docking Primary from January 1.

The Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust (DNEAT), which runs both schools, said it was making the change because of falling pupil numbers.

Brancaster Primary School (Image: Ian Burt) The school, which can accommodate 63 pupils, currently has 24 but numbers are expected to fall to 17 by next September.

More than 700 have signed an online petition against the closure, while banners have gone up in the village.

Brancaster Parish Council said it has "grave concerns" about the move, which is being carried out with "unseemly haste".

Villagers are angered at plans to close Brancaster Primary School (Image: Chris Bishop) In a letter to DNEAT it said there had been "considerable distress" in the village.

"A school is more than just a place for education, it represents a focus for the community, and one which gives our young people a sense of that wider community which is important for its long-term survival," it added.

"The coastal parishes of north Norfolk are trying to encourage young people and families to stay in the area, and this is another blow to those efforts."

The trust which runs Brancaster Primary School says it will soon have too few pupils to be viable (Image: Chris Bishop) While more than half of properties in Brancaster and Brancaster Staithe are second homes or holiday lets, work is also under way on a development of 12 new rented homes on the site of a row of former council houses destroyed by fire in the 2023 heatwave. 

Tom De Winton, chair of Brancaster Parish Council, said: "Any decision should include the prospect of children coming from the homes.

"It would be silly to close the school if there are enough children in the village to support it."

Tom de Winton, chair of Brancaster Parish Council (Image: Chris Bishop)

Norfolk County Council has also opposing the change. Its school organisation manager Anna Palmer said: "Brancaster is an integral part of the educational infrastructure in this rural coastal area, where there is no local capacity to accommodate pupils if it were to close.

"Forecasts show a continued need for school places in the area."

North West Norfolk MP James Wild has also urged DNEAT to rethink its plans.

If the trust decides to press on with the closure, it must submit a business plan to the Department for Education, which will make the final decision.