Council to discuss proposed closure of a Warwickshire primary school
Next week, Warwickshire County Council will discuss plans to close Great Alne Primary School
Warwickshire County Council will next week consider plans to close Great Alne Primary School following a sharp fall in pupil numbers.
The county’s children and young people’s overview and scrutiny committee, a cross-party group of elected officials that runs the rule over the work of the authority and partner organisations, will discuss with education bosses on Tuesday (February 24) over proposals that have been met with mass objection.
The council’s report states the number of children at the 112-capacity school has plummeted to just 12 as of February 2026.
With funding allocated on a per-pupil basis, added to five-year projections suggesting numbers are unlikely to increase, it is argued that Great Alne Primary School is and will remain financially unviable.
As things stand, the county’s cabinet – the Reform UK panel of councillors in charge of major service areas – is due to take the final decision in April.
If they back the closure, it will shut down at the end of August 2026.
In 2018, Ofsted judged Great Alne Primary School to be “good”. By April 2023, the school was rated “inadequate” in all areas, with inspectors noting recent leadership changes, including the resignation of the headteacher and interim leadership arrangements.
The report said the school had experienced a prolonged period of instability in leadership, which affected pupils’ learning experiences and safeguarding culture.
In its most recent inspection in July 2025, all areas were graded as “requires improvement”, with inspectors identifying progress alongside ongoing areas for development.
Council data shows pupil numbers fell from 102 in October 2020 to 91 in 2021, 71 in October 2022 and 39 by October 2023, following the 2023 inspection.
The council states it has “invested in support to the school in terms of financial assistance, school improvement and marketing/promotional perspective, and undertaken all reasonable endeavours to support longer term viability”, albeit without further detail on what went wrong in those years between 2018 and 2023 or specifics on the work done to turn things around.
It adds: “Despite improvement in standards with the support of another local school, the school is anticipated to continue to face significant challenges in terms of sustainability, including declining pupil numbers, mixed stakeholder feedback, financial viability and sustainability concerns.”
An initial consultation attracted 194 responses, 77 per cent of which were against closing the school arguing that it is integral to the community and rural village and needed for future education sufficiency across the wider area.
Quality of performance prior to its problems, its improving standards now and the potential to utilise it as a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) hub were also raised.
Supporters of the closure noted the school’s financial liability.
The plan to close is still subject to an ongoing round of public feedback which closes on Sunday, March 8, 2026.