PARENTS will now be given the chance to have their say on proposals to scrap middle schools in Pershore.

Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet has given the green the light to launch a public consultation on proposals to change age ranges at a number of schools in Pershore with a view to moving from a three-tier to two-tier system.

The council said it was asked by schools to review the “fragmented and confusing” system in Pershore which has led to the current proposals.

Pershore’s students have tended to follow a three-tier school route, where pupils attend first schools from age four to nine, transfer to middle schools at age nine to 12 and then transfer to high school at age 12 to finish their schooling.

Cllr Marcus Hart, the county council’s cabinet member for education, said the proposals were not about “wholesale change” for the whole county – nor was it saying that two-tier or three-tier systems were bad – but some schools were “struggling to survive” in Pershore due to falling numbers.

The drop in admissions can be seen at Abbey Park Middle School, which had space for 84 pupils at the start of the school year but just 36 children started, only 27 of the 51 spaces at St Barnabas Middle School were taken up this year and 72 of the 112 spaces at St Nicholas Middle School in Pinvin were filled.

“What we have in Pershore is a mixed picture, because we have a mixed pyramid, and we have a difference in potential destinations that pupils can take,” Cllr Hart said.

“What it is leading to is a fragmented and confusing picture for pupils, parents and schools.”

Over the last several years, agreements have been made by a variety of decision-making authorities for some schools in this area to convert to primary and secondary schools.

The Orchard, Inkberrow, and Norton-Juxta-Kempsey CE converted to primary schools in September 2019 and Pershore High School converted to a secondary school from the start of this month.

Flyford Flavell First School converted to a primary school last September and Himbleton CE First School became a primary school from the start of this term. Crowle CE First School has submitted an application to the regional school commissioner to convert to a primary school from September 2022.