Leeds mum tells of fears for kids if Queensway Primary School closes

Beth Ford’s two youngest children go to Queensway Primary School in Yeadon, which Leeds City Council is considering closing because of a shortage of pupil numbers in the area.

Parents, governors and staff connected with school are all fighting against the plans, claiming that pupils’ lives and education will be severely disrupted as a result.

Around 40 children have already been pulled out of the school in the last two months because of the uncertainty, a local community committee meeting was told on Monday.

The school was rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in June 2022, but parents and governors have praised the way Queensway looks after special needs pupils.

Ms Ford, who is also a governor at Queensway, has a daughter in Year 3 at the school and a son in Year 5.

Her daughter is autistic, while her son is awaiting a possible diagnosis for the same condition.

In an emotional address to councillors from Leeds’ outer north-west ring, Ms Ford said: “I will be one of the parents looking at home education, even though I don’t want to home educate.

“None of the other schools in the area can meet my children’s needs. I have gone to them.

“I’m not just someone who looks to go to Queensway because it’s my local school. I’ve no option but to go to Queensway.”

Fighting back tears, Ms Ford described the last two months as a “horrible process”.

She added: “I want to know what’s going to be learnt from this, because from day one this has been horrific.

“Can you imagine how much this is hurting parents?

“My grandma was a Labour councillor many years ago and she spoke a number of times at Labour conferences.

“I’m at a point now where I’ve turned my back completely on politics. I won’t vote now because I’ve no trust in politics in whatsoever.”

Queensway’s chair of governors, Peter Marsh, accused the council of “incompetence” in how the affair had been handled, claiming the school had had no “forewarning” of the local authority’s plans.

He suggested that parents had been supportive of the school in the wake of June’s critical Ofsted inspection, because they’d believed it had improved significantly under the current leadership from a year before.

He told councillors: “Many of the parents who’ve pulled their children out of Queensway have made it clear they’ve no axe to grind with the school.

“Many have said if the consultation is stopped they’ll bring them back. In reality we don’t think that’s going to happen, because once you’ve had one change and then another change, it’s not good for the pupils’ education. So we think they’re lost for good.”

Speaking about the council’s handling of the process, Mr Marsh added: “The whole administration of this and the way it’s been dealt with is incompetent in my opinion.

“I’ve been a headteacher and I’d never run a school like this.”

Councillors on the community committee, which covers Otley, Yeadon, Guiseley, Rawdon, Horsforth, Adel and Wharfedale, later passed a motion calling for the consultation on the closure to be withdrawn, until the issues raised by governors have been answered.

They also called on the council’s executive member for education, Councillor Jonathan Pryor, to apologise for the disruption caused by the process.

In response, a spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “Due to a significant and continued fall in the number of children being born in Guiseley and Yeadon, primary schools in this area are now facing continued lower demand for places.

“In order for the schools to remain financially stable and continue to meet the learning needs of their children, there needs to be a reduction in the number of available places.

“We have explored alternative options to reduce the number of school places in the area, but unfortunately the only way we can manage numbers is to consider the closure of a maintained school.

“Over the last few years, there has been a decline in families in the area preferencing Queensway Primary School, and there are currently a high number of surplus places at the school.”

The council said that feedback received during the consultation had been “highly valuable” and said if the school does close it will “work closely” with leaders and other schools in the area to “ensure continued support for local families”.

A further debate on Queensway’s future will take place at a full council meeting on Wednesday afternoon, with Otley and Yeadon councillor Ryk Downes (Liberal Democrat) presenting a motion calling for the school to be saved.