CAMPAIGNERS bidding to save their middle school by having it turned into a rural college have been told their plans would cost £7million.

The figure emerged on Monday night when education officers were grilled at a special meeting held at Clare Middle School by campaigners.

The school is one of 40 middle schools earmarked for closure under Suffolk County Council's plans to impose a uniform two-tier education system across the county.

The £7m figure was last night disputed by Jim Meikle, chairman of Clare and Local Area for Rural Education (CLARE), which is fighting to have a new rural college built on the present middle school site.

He claimed the council was trying to use the children at Clare Middle School, who currently go to Samuel Ward Upper School in Haverhill or Sudbury Upper School, to bolster the exam performance of the schools in Haverhill.

“We could not get the council to commit to a figure but at this meeting we were able to pin them down on a figure. Based on a desktop exercise this is the figure they have come up with.

“At Clare we need some additional classrooms in about three years' time and there are some access issues such as needing a lift. It is not ideal but it can work. This is just smoke and mirrors to get us going back to Haverhill schools to get their results up.”

An open letter from two Haverhill headteachers - Castle Manor Business and Enterprise College's Madeleine Vigar and Samuel Ward's - has sparked outrage in Clare.

The headteachers said: “We understand the wishes of some people in Clare for a separate secondary school but we believe that this would be a divisive step which would have a detrimental effect on the young people of the area by making it more difficult to deploy resources effectively.

“There would be a considerable cost in closing Clare Middle School and procedures for opening a new secondary school are complex.”

A spokesman for the county council said: "The cost of refurbishing a school compared to completely rebuilding one differs greatly. It can range from £7m up to £25m.

“It will depend on the specifications that come out of the consultation process. Sufficient financial work has been carried out by the county council to ensure all options being consulted on are affordable. Additional financial work is ongoing.”



The options for Haverhill and surrounding areas are:

n Creating a two-tier primary and secondary school structure and encouraging the two to create formal partnerships, known as federations. The town's two secondary schools would remain as Castle Manor Business and Enterprise College and Samuel Ward Arts and Technology College.

n Two “all-through” schools for Haverhill and the surrounding area - joining Castle Manor with Burton End Primary School and Samuel Ward with Westfield Primary School.

n Creating a two-tier structure based around three secondary schools - Castle Manor, Samuel Ward and a new secondary school built on the current site of Clare Middle School.