Thousands sign petition against schools merger

MORE than £7,000 has been raised to fund a possible legal challenge over council proposals to close and merge a Whitley Bay primary school.

- By AUSTEN SHAKESPEARE

And more than 4,000 people have signed a petition calling for Langley First School school to remain open amid new proposals.

Vera author Ann Cleeves, who lives in Whitley Bay, has also thrown her weight behind the campaign.

At the time of publication, £7,458 has been donated via a GoFundMe to mount a potential legal challenge over the plans.

A consultation was launched last week over the future of seven schools across North Tyneside.

North Tyneside Council proposes to shut Monkseaton Middle School, where pupil numbers have fallen from 333 in 2016/17 to just 205 in 2025/26.

There are also plans to merge six primary schools into three due to significant vacancies in classrooms. This would see the integration of Langley First School and Appletree Gardens First School, Forest Hall Primary School and Ivy Road Primary, and Greenfields Community Primary School and Hazlewood Primary School.

It is proposed that the Langley site be closed and the pupils moved to the Appletree campus, with the left over school buildings and land adopted by Woodlawn special school.