Cheers of joy as school is saved (From Wirral Globe)

Cheers of joy as school is saved

9:54am Wednesday 19th April 2006 in Search By Frances Earlam

A VEIL of uncertainty has been lifted from a Birkenhead primary school following a decision that it should stay open.

St Paul's Catholic Primary School in Beechwood was one of four schools in the town earmarked for closure when the council undertook a review into ways to cut the number of surplus places.

Wirral Council closed three schools in February while the decision on the future of St Paul's was sent to an independent schools adjudicator who ruled that the school should stay open.

After a day celebrating the run-up to Easter the whole school was taken to the hall where head teacher Margaret Jackson relayed the good news - resulting in a whoop of joy.

Six-year-old Megan Nolan was eager to praise her school: "I'm so pleased the school is staying open - I love it here."

And praise for the school and its teachers was contagious as youngsters queued up to tell the Globe why they love St Paul's.

“I’m so pleased the school is staying open - I love it here.”

Megan Nolan, 6

Year six pupil, eleven-year-old James O'Brien, enthused: "I like coming to school, the teachers are great and I get to see my friends. The teachers help you with your work and don't shout at you. This is my last year so I'll be sorry to leave."

Ten-year-old Trey Charlton in year five added: "I've got lots of friends here too and I've got another year left to go. Maths is the favourite part of my day. I like maths because I'm really good at numbers. It is my favourite subject at the moment."

Another year five pupil, Shona Wilkinson, was equally enthusiastic about her favourite lesson.

The nine-year-old said: "The teachers are really kind to you at St Paul's and they teach you a lot."

Amber Kearney in year two said: "Break times are good because I get to play with my friends in the playground, but I also love literacy because I get to write sentences and read stories. Sometimes I get my work on the walls."

Another fan of the playground, year six pupil Niamh Mulligan, eleven, will also leave at the end of the summer term. She said: "I love the playground because it didn't used to be good but there's lots of painting on the ground now. We play football and races.

"I love PE too because we get to be active. My favourite teacher is Miss Pollard because she does all the good clubs football and netball.

"I'm so happy the school is staying open everyone's happy!"

The children were each given a balloon as they left school snaking out into the playground triumphantly singing St Paul's is staying open' to an audience of jubilant awaiting parents.

Leanne Herbert, whose daughter attends St Paul's, said: "I am so pleased. We didn't want the school to close it's not fair on the children."

"I'm delighted," added Elaine Harris, who has two children currently attending St Paul's. "This is fantastic news. St Paul's is perfect for us as I am able to drop them off at the breakfast club on my way to work.

"The teachers are brilliant at keeping us informed of the children's progress and we can go straight to them if we have any problems."

Head teacher Margaret Jackson was delighted with the adjudicator's decision.

She said: "The parents have been great. They have been strong throughout the long process over the last 12 months. At the beginning of the review we had 106 children and we still have 106 children."