THE closure of Startforth Morritt Primary School in 2016 has been raised in the House of Commons following the publication of a report by the Church of England on the future of rural schools.
Church estates commissioner Dame Caroline Spelman announced the publication of the “Embracing Change: Rural and Small Schools” after being asked by Teesdale MP Helen Goodman what the church was doing to support rural schools.
Mrs Goodman said: “The church obviously should be taking a long-term, if not eternal, approach on rural schools. People in Startforth were disappointed when a brief dip in performance led to the closure of that church school, so in future will the church take into account the significance of rural schools as community assets?”
Dame Caroline responded: “The Church of England has 4,700 schools, of which 53 per cent are in rural areas. That often presents challenges – for example, the difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers. In addition to that report, we have a Church of England educational leadership foundation, which is designed to encourage and retain teachers, to ensure that children in small rural schools do not suffer as a result of the shortage of teachers.”
