I AM a parent of a child who attends the Manor C of E Junior Controlled School in Newton-le-Willows and I am appalled at the local education authority's proposal to close the school.

The Local Education Authority issued a leaflet to all parents with four options. The first was to close the school and transfer all the children to the nearby District School; the second to close both Manor and Lyme Infants and build a new primary school; the third to build further classroom accommodation at Lyme Infants to accommodate Manor children; and the fourth to amalgamate both schools on existing sites.

None of these options are acceptable to the parents of Manor children. The parent governors of the school organised a ballot and 100 per cent of parents who voted were against the first option and were against the option to build on Lyme. And although a new primary school would be nice, the Local Education Authority has told us this is virtually a no-go as there is a decline in the live birth rate in Newton West, despite there being all the housing development they estimate that only eight children will want school places.

In fact, Manor parents added three other options to the ballot, the one which gained 100 per cent support was for the Manor School to stay as it is. No-one is disputing that the school has had its problems in the past, but in the past 18 months the governing body and the headteacher have put in measures to improve things.

For example, there had been only two teachers for the four classes, this has now increased to four teachers. There are classroom assistants to help with the special needs and there is a computer suite than many other schools would be envious of.

In November, 1998 the Ofsted report stated that 87 per cent of teaching was satisfactory or better, of which 45 per cent was good. It noted improvements throughout the school and in particular in the lower juniors.

Only those with children at the Manor know that it is not a failing school and parents should have faith in it and send their children there in September.

Lyme and Manor should be fighting together, not against each other. If Manor closes, it will not be long before Lyme follows. And who will be the losers? The children from Earlestown common.

My child loves the Manor and so do the other 86 children who attend there. Their message is clear: "Leave our school alone." We, their parents, support them in this. The consultation period is now over, but the fight to save the Manor continues.

Linda Thornhill, Market Street, Newton-le-Willows.

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