Queensway Primary School Yeadon: Worried parents start fight to save 'amazing' Leeds school at risk of closure

Consultations on a proposal to close Queensway Primary School in Yeadon, which recently celebrated its 50th birthday, will begin on Monday.

Leeds City Council said there has been a significant drop in the number of children being born in Guiseley and Yeadon, leaving several local primary schools with a surplus of places.

The council will run a four-week consultation with the community before it makes a decision on the fate of Queensway.

If the proposal is approved, the school will close permanently in July 2023.

Worried parents have launched a petition to save the school.

Vicky Lancaster, who is among the parents spearheading the campaign, said the school community is “like an extended family.”

The 38-year-old has two children at Queensway, five-year-old Ava and seven-year-old Joey, and her 13-year-old son Aiden, who has autism, also went there.

Vicky told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “Queensway were the ones that helped me get Aiden diagnosed.

"The support they showed me throughout the years with Aiden was absolutely amazing.

“There’s many fantastic schools around the country, but I can’t stress enough the fantastic SENCO support we had at that school.

“I couldn’t be more thankful to the school for how they treated him and also my other two children.”

Although there are places available at other local schools, Vicky raised concerns that her children would be separated, or that she’d have to juggle a longer school run on top of the care that Aiden needs.

Parents have set up a petition and will gather outside the school on Monday afternoon, followed by another demonstration over the next couple of weeks.

In a Facebook post, Otley and Yeadon’s Liberal Democrat councillors said they were against the closure of the school and that they had been assured that no decision had yet been made.

“We’ve started the fight to save our school,” Vicky said.

“My children have been very upset. It’s a really close-knit school and the classmates are a real team.”

The council will hold two drop-in sessions in the school hall on October 5 and October 12 as part of its consultations.

A council spokesperson said: “In recent years the Guiseley and Yeadon areas have seen a significant drop in the numbers of children being born, and there are several primary schools across the area with surplus places.

"We want schools to have sustainable numbers for the future so that they can meet the needs of their learners.

“As part of a wider plan to manage places across the area, we will be asking the local community for their views on a proposal to permanently close Queensway Primary School.

“The Queensway school community has been informed about the proposal and we are encouraging them to take part in the consultation to help shape important next steps.

“We understand that parents and carers will have questions about what might happen, and we will be supporting them with information about this during the consultation.”