FAMILIES, students and local residents have attended a meeting on the proposed closure of Sixth Form provision at a Lichfield School.
The session was hosted at St Chad’s Church by Labour MP Dave Robertson after Nether Stowe School applied to the Department for Education for permission to shut its post-16 offering.
The school has already halted admission for new Year 12 students this year, but no final decision on the long-term future of the Sixth Form has yet been made.
The meeting heard parents raise concerns over the consultation process and fears that any closure would increase travel costs for those students forced to go further afield to continue their education.
Mr Robertson told the meeting he would take forward issues to the Department for Education and advocate for the facility to remain open.
He said:
“No decision has yet been made. We must ensure that the voices of parents and students are heard – and that the future of young people in Lichfield is not compromised.”
Bosses at the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership have previously said the Sixth Form at the school had suffered from “unsustainably low” student numbers over a period of time.
In a letter to parents in April, trust CEO Richard Gill and headteacher Kirsty Jones said:
“Ultimately the board concluded that to ensure the long-term success and stability of the school, the difficult decision to close the sixth form should proceed.
“The current size of the sixth form means that we are unable to provide students with the broad, enriching post-16 education they deserve.
“We want every student to have access to the best possible opportunities, and that is not something we can sustainably offer with such low numbers.”
