Parents and pupils are celebrating after a governors made a U-turn against closing their village school.

Badwell Ash Church of England Primary School was last month earmarked for closure leaving the village’s community in disbelief.

But earlier this evening around 30 parents gathered at the school to hear the news that the school, which has 29 pupils, would remain open.

Helen Flack, of Badwell Ash Save Our School (SOS) committee, said: “We are absolutely ecstatic and over the moon about the decision.

“We showed the governors we meaned business and didn’t want the school to close under any circumstances.”

She said parents have been told the underachievement of children was one of the reasons for the school’s potential closure.

Mrs Flack, whose five-year-old daughter is a pupil at the school, added: “The governors said we have to keep working hard to keep attainment levels up and help them through a tough time.

“The school has got to find a new headteacher and another teacher.

“The school, teachers and teaching assistants are all fantastic and we hope and pray that they can stay in their positions and we can keep the school running.”

The school’s governors held a private meeting last night to discuss the school’s future before breaking the news to parents tonight.

The chair of governors, the Venerable John Cox, said: “Having received a fair number of submissions during the consultation period, these were carefully considered by the governors.

“Most of them were from parents or people living in the village and having looked at these comments and further discussed the outcomes of that and the position of the school, the governors came to the conclusion not to pursue statutory notice for closure.

“We are grateful for the amount of effort and the strong support the parents have given the school during the consultation period.

“They expressed their views to give all the support they can to see the school go forward.”