School closure still looms over parents

PAUSE TO PLANS BUT FAMILIES STILL FEEL CONCERNED

- By AUSTEN SHAKESPEARE

PARENTS in Whitley Bay say they are still living in “uncertainty” despite a pause on proposals to shut down Langley First School.

Assurances are being sought that if becoming an academy does not work, the council would find other solutions for the school.

Campaigners against the closure of the school delivered a petition with more than 6,000 signatures to the local authority, calling on the council to preserve the school.

Last week, the council announced it was putting on hold plans to close and merge the school with neigh-bouring Appletree Gardens. This is to allow Langley to further explore the possibility of becoming an academy.

However, Langley parents feel the pause is not enough, and have asked for council assurances that the school will remain even if academisation does not materialise.