Governors at a Shipley first school, set to close under the education shake-up, say Bradford Council officials have given them a double kick in the teeth by proposing an "unprecedented" change.

Devastated staff at Low Ash First School, Wrose, discovered it had been put on the revised list of closures just days after receiving a glowing report from OFSTED inspectors.

The school was initially earmarked to become a primary on its existing site by undergoing a significant change of character. Now Low Ash is the only first school in the final list of proposals to have been recommended for closure and to reopen on the same site in the same premises but as a different primary school, leaving staff unsure of their futures.

Parents, teachers and governors say they are baffled by the change of heart and have organised a petition to protest at the unique treatment.

In its report, which goes before Bradford Council's education committee on Tuesday, the LEA says Low Ash and nearby Oakdale First School should both be closed and a new primary established.

The report states: "The method for achieving the establishment of the primary school has been reviewed. Low Ash and Oakdale should have equality of status in the setting up of the primary school on the Low Ash site."

But chairman of governors at Low Ash, Liz De Garis, said: "The new proposal is still, in essence, a significant change of character for the school. There is no logical reason to change the proposal. Such action is unprecedented in the approach taken across the district.

"It's a double blow. The children will still be able to come to these premises, but they'll have a new set of teachers. How can the authority backtrack at such a late stage when nothing has changed from the original proposal?

"Apart from anything else there's an enormous inequity in the consultation process. We've been given just four days to register our objections before these final proposals go up for approval."

Now parents, teachers and governors are hoping to persuade councillors to reject the recommendations before the matter goes to the Department for Education in September.

In a letter to Council leader, Councillor Ian Greenwood, the governors point out that the school has only recently been praised by OFSTED inspectors for "outstanding leadership."

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