Infants' PTA looks to hold island meeting in attempt to save school

ST SAMPSON'S Infants' PTA is hoping to organise an island meeting in January to help save the school.

It is waiting for the release of the January Billet and plans to dispute some of the Education Department's findings which recommend the school's closure and suggests that future pupils attend Vale Infants.

'We're waiting to inspect the Billet before we comment,' said its deputy chairman, Belinda Davis.

However, she said several PTA members had been questioning the arguments laid down by Education, such as its projections for a declining birth rate and consequent drop in the number of pupils. After viewing records at the Greffe, Mrs Davis said they had shown a static birth rate since 2000 rather than a decline and she said that new housing developments in the school's catchment area were likely to boost future pupil figures.

'There are an awful lot of building projects, such as those near Leale's Yard and in Church Lane, and they won't be all single-occupancy properties, there will be families moving in. We need to establish exactly what kind of housing is going to be there.'

Over the next 10 weeks Mrs Davis said the PTA was expecting to be extremely busy raising the profile of the school's plight.