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KCC TO TEST SELSTED SCHOOL'S HISTORY OF SURVIVAL

Dear Ed,

Selsted Primary School was built in 1871 by the churches of the Parishes of Denton, Wootton and Swingfield, but is Kent County Council (KCC) Education Department now about to close the school?

In the past the school has been strongly supported by parents because it has offered an `alternative` primary school education for their offspring, but it too has recently fallen victim to the county dilemma of a falling roll.

This has undoubtedly been compounded in the case of Selsted with the arrival of a new school in Hawkinge (Churchill Primary School). Both the Churchill and the older Hawkinge Primary School are apparently not running to maximum capacity, so the question is being asked by KCC, ` do we need three schools so close to each other`.

A clue to KCC`s current thinking could be ascertained by the fact that the current head teacher retires at the end of this term and his vacant post has yet to be advertised.

After a long history of survival which includes a Zeppelin raid in World War 1, and a lightning strike which killed one pupil, is KCC now about to sign the school's death certificate.

Colin Tearle
Chairman of Swingfield Parish Council