School threatened with closure

Likewise, theres a comp near us which closed a couple of years ago. It was well under capacity for years due to dire results and a very bad reputation. The nearest couple of schools also had spare capacity so the pupils had a choice of those to change to. (Although some further away schools also had spare capacity so a few went further afield). Not all areas are suffering from excess demand. Low numbers and poor ofsted could well mean closure.

(I would also say that the closed school had amazing progress results, though from an extraordinarily low base. The teachers there worked extraordinarily hard but e.g. it had no specialist maths teachers and only 1 English teacher over the final 4 years it was open - it genuinely couldn't attract anyone to apply)

Some key questions:

• How many children are at the school relative to its published capacity?
• How full are other secondary schools in the area?
• What have results - Ofsted and GCSE been like over the last 5-10 years?

I do know of a school closed over the last few years in circumstances similar to those you describe, but it was also way below its potential capacity and, unusually, other schools in the immediate local area could accommodate the extra students without the need for expansion involving building work. It had also had very poor results and Ofsteds over a long period of time, picking up briefly under particular heads being parachuted in but not maintaining those gains.

In that case, it wasn't the low results or poor Ofsted - though those had caused massive changes and upheaval over the preceding 5-190 years - but the emptiness and the ability to accommodate the pupils elsewhere.

Most other schools in the circumstances you describe have become members of academy chains - sometimes more than 1 in succession if results have not improved.

Have you received a letter saying the school is to close or is it rumour? How long ago was the Ofsted Report published and have parents been informed regarding how the school intends to improve or change? What is the source of the closure decision/rumour?

It would be unusual to be shutting a secondary school, many are doing the opposite and trying to expand because of the number of pupils that need places with the authorities knowing that more places still be needed over the next 5 or so years.
As Bojorojo says it is much more likely that the school will be taken over and become part of a MAT (multi academy trust). Accept that you think the school is good but it is normally the parents that are the last to know when a school has gone down the plughole. There will be changes if it has failed in every area and those will probably include the head teacher

How do you know he is doing well if the school has failed on the progress of the children? He could be doing better with settled high quality teaching. However, there isn't anything you can do about closure. It will happen if that is the decision. Parents often have no idea how bad a school is because they don't see the data or make any comparisons with other children in other schools. Most parents assume that because their child is happy they are ok.

Schools are all having problems recruiting staff and this can make a huge difference to the progress and outcomes for the children. This will be seen as a failure of SLT and governance.

I assume the LA/school cannot just relocate all the children to different schools (are they all half empty?) so it will become a school within a multi academy trust. You can support your child by being positive because there is no reason why there will be great changes at the coalface. Regarding SLT there could be changes. The big problem is if more teachers leave. As he is coming up to exams I hope he won't see any changes over the next term.