A campaign to save an elementary school from closing due to under-enrollment was backed by film and TV star Warwick Davis.
Great Gidding Church of England Primary School, near Sawtry in Cambridgeshire, currently has 47 pupils and that number is expected to drop to 40 by 2023-24.
Actor Davis tweeted, “This school has done great things for my son… it would be a farce to see them up close.”
The District Council has now launched a consultation on the future of the school.
Davis, who hails from nearby Peterborough, joined others campaigning for the survival of the elementary school.
He said his son attended school and urged others: “If you are inclined and believe in good education and learning environments, please sign the petition…”
The school’s catchment area covers the villages of Great Gidding, Little Gidding, Steeple Gidding, Winwick and Hamerton and according to a council report, pupil numbers have fallen from 75 in the last 10 years.
Christopher Jakins, whose daughter attends the school, said her education has already been “interrupted by the pandemic… and now she’s asking me, why is this happening?”.
“The whole community got together about this, we really bonded,” he said.
Having Warwick Davies voice the campaign is “a tremendous help,” he added.
“Yesterday I was really desperate… and then I checked my computer and all of a sudden I have 20,000 views for the retweet [by actor Davis and his wife].”
He said the activists wanted to subject the “decision makers… here to maximum public scrutiny because Ofsted said the school is good and we know the school is good”.
He added: “It’s a really special place and I don’t think people are there [council] The committee can certainly understand that – since I wasn’t there.”
The council said 35 of the school’s current 47 students were from outside their catchment area.
“Due to the continuing decline in the number of students, the future viability of the school is being considered,” it said.
“This pattern is expected to continue, with total student enrollment expected to fall below 40 in September 2023.”
This was announced by his children and youth committee in a statement [had] agreed to “launch a consultation to seek views on the possible closure of the school and the transfer of students to other appropriate local schools”.
The consultation runs until February 21.
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