An outstanding primary school with the smallest number of pupils in Herefordshire is hoping to be saved from closure by Flexi Schooling – working alongside home-schooled children.

St Weonards Primary School, which has just been rated Outstanding by Ofsted, has just 20 pupils on its roll and is threatened with closure.

On November 28th the school called a meeting with parents to inform them that they could not meet the Local Authority demand to set a three-year budget so therefore would have to shut by 2019.

But the school now hopes to be saved by Flexi Schooling – an arrangement where parents who home school can work in partnership with St Weonards. If St Weonards can move forward with Flexi Schooling, alongside offering full time places, they can then produce a three-year budget plan and keep the school open.

Flexi Schooling means that children are registered at the school in the usual way but attend school only part time. The rest of the time the child is home educated. The numbers of children educated under Flexi Schooling arrangements are growing and there are now several schools around the UK which could be said to be specialising as Flexi Schooling schools.

St Weonards will now become an academy, coming under Herefordshire Marches Federation of Academies (HMFA) which already has three outstanding schools.

The school’s recent outstanding rating from its Ofsted inspection noted that ‘the school’s leaders, with strong support from the federation, have worked tirelessly, purposefully and successfully to promote excellence in teaching, learning and outcomes for pupils.’

The Joint Chief Executive of HMFA, Peter Box, hopes the school will stay open, saying: “We believe that by offering flexible schooling at St Weonards, we can serve the wider community and ensure the future viability of this excellent school.”

Parents who are interested in finding out more about flexible schooling at the academy should contact [email protected].