'They were not ready for school merger resistance'
Stacey MartinBeing organised and teamwork were key to stopping plans to merge two schools, a parent has said.
In October the Cheviot Learning Trust said it was considering merging Mickley and Broomley first schools and Prudhoe Castle and Ovingham CE first schools, in Northumberland, in September 2026 due to financial reasons.
But a month later the trust scrapped the plans before a consultation into the scheme had concluded. Prudhoe Castle parent Stacey Martin said she believed the organisation had been "unprepared for so much resistance".
The trust's head Alice Witherow said parent feedback had been an "important factor" in the merger plans being dropped.
Ms Martin said that after learning about the proposal, parents at the schools worked as a team to put pressure on the trust.
"We had people looking at financials, we had people looking at Department for Education documents and we had a group of parents that organised protests," she said.
"We wanted to basically say - we're not giving in."
'Asking right questions'
Ms Martin said the trust had blamed falling birthing rates for the proposed merger and pointed to rising deficits.
But she said the parents were not given much data about how this had been calculated and she used the Freedom of Information Act to request information - which she has yet to receive in full.
Many parents also attended consultation events.
"We just threw all these questions at them and they didn't seem to have any answers," she said.
"I think that they were unprepared for so much resistance and for so much pressure for information because we were challenging everything they were saying."
She said other parents facing unwanted school mergers could get similarly organised.
"I think it's about asking the right questions, finding the right information and it's a lot of working together," she said.
'Wider problem to address'
Ms Witherow said the trust had always placed a "strong emphasis" on listening to the community.
"This guided how we shared and discussed the proposals to merge schools," she said.
She said she was thankful for parents, staff and community members who "passionately advocated" for their schools.
"We listened carefully to the views and the feelings expressed. That feedback was an important factor in our decision to close the consultation and not take the proposals forward," she said.
"Balancing pupil numbers with a falling birth rate remains part of a wider problem facing all schools and this needs to be addressed at a national as well as a local level."
Ms Martin said parents wanted to work with the trust going forward.
"At the end of the day if this deficit is there and it's at such a level that they're saying - that's an issue that's not going to go away," she said.
