PARENTS of pupils at a Wirral special needs school earmarked for closure are continuing their fight to save what they deem a second home for their children.

Wirral Council is looking to close the Lyndale School in Eastham in January 2016.

The school has touched the hearts of Globe readers – who raised more than £80,000 for the school’s sensory garden – and we hope to show just how vital Lyndale is to all it cares for.

Each week, Emma Rigby speaks to a different Lyndale parent and finds out what the school’s closure would mean for them.

SEEING the school bus arrive each morning is just one of the things that makes nine-year-old Emma Smith the happy, friendly and lovable child she is.

But that happiness could soon be taken away from Emma if Wirral Council goes ahead with its plans to close the Lyndale School.

Emma has Down’s Syndrome and while she may be more able-bodied than a lot of the Eastham-based school’s pupils, Emma requires extra care and attention than most children.

“Lyndale has made such a massive difference for us,” said mum Shirley.

“When she first came here she was only two and a half but as soon as we came to look around we felt at home straight away.”

The 49-year-old, who is also mum to seven-year-old Chloe added: “When Emma first started at Lyndale she couldn’t walk, talk or hardly feed herself.

“She was still in nappies and due to her muscles being so weak, she couldn’t manage solid food easily.

“But the staff at Lyndale have brought Emma on so much, they have done such a lot for her – they are wonderful.

“We are so lucky that Emma is getting so much help at Lyndale. If she went to a school with a lot more children with special needs we don’t think she would have done as well.”

Wirral Globe:
Nine-year-old Emma - pictured with mum Shirley Smith - is always smiling when the bus arrives to take her to Lyndale.

Living in Bromborough, getting to Lyndale is more convenient for the Smith family than it would be if Emma attended Elleray Park or Stanley School – the facilities Wirral Council wants Lyndale children to transfer to if the school does close.

“It has such a warm, friendly feeling – we felt welcome there from the very first day,” explained Shirley.

“We count ourselves lucky compared with a lot of the other parents as at least Emma is more mobile and more able to fend for herself.

“It’s the other parents we feel concerned for because Lyndale has all you could ever wish for for the children with extra complex disabilities.”

But it is also a superb school for the likes of Emma with Down’s Syndrome and as far as Shirley is concerned, it is thanks to Lyndale staff that Emma is doing so well.

She said: “Emma is a very loving, caring child who seems to have a special gift to be extra loving and caring with the other children when they are ill or distressed.

“She loves going to school and is always so happy to see the bus arrive in the mornings – she can’t wait to get on and greet the other children,

“Each night she goes around each child saying goodnight to them before she gets off the bus.”

When Emma isn’t at school, she loves nothing more than listening to music, dancing, playing on her iPad and playing with her younger sister.

“She can be very stubborn at times but generally she has a very kind, thoughtful and loving way about her,” said Shirley.

“She loves cats and dogs and whenever we’re out and she sees one she pulls at my arm – she’d keep them all if she could.”

A closure date has been set for January 2016 but the fight to save the school is ongoing.

Shirley said: “The staff put in 110% and if Lyndale does close it would be the worst thing possible.

“The other schools, as far as I know, are a lot bigger – Lyndale may only be a small school but it has got everything that you could wish for to care for every child.

“No doubt Emma would settle down fairly easily in another school, but what about the children who are wheelchair bound?

“When you have a child and find out they have special needs, it is a shock to start with. No matter how minor or major their special needs are, it adds stress on to life in general.

“The last thing we need is to have to add more stress into our lives with the closure of such a special school. “

Shirley added: “Does the council even try to understand what this closure would mean to us?

“If they had a child at Lyndale I doubt very much that we would be in this terrible situation.”