PARENTS and families who care deeply about the future of Larkrise, and other special schools across the county, have been urged by Wiltshire Council to submit ideas to help them solve the problem of how to provide the best possible education for special needs pupils.

Children’s services cabinet member Cllr Laura Mayes met people in Trowbridge on Tuesday to discuss their concerns about Wiltshire’s special school provision review, which could see Larkrise, St Nicholas in Chippenham and Rowdeford schools all close.

The authority, which may merge all three schools, develop two or leave things be if funding is found, has said it needs to create up to 70 extra places by 2026 in the north of Wiltshire to meet the increased demand.

“It is easy to say Save our School but we need to find a way of raising the funds to accommodate more children with complex needs,” said Cllr Mayes.

“I do understand people’s concerns about this uncertainty, that is why we want to get on with finding a solution as soon as possible.

“People from all of these schools have come to me saying ‘our school cannot close’, but it still does not answer the question of how we can expand the numbers.”

A petition to save Larkrise has attracted around 6,000 signatures, in person and online.

The Wiltshire Times asked Cllr Mayes if a certain amount of signatures needed to be achieved to save the school, or if Wiltshire Council has any idea of a solution to the crisis.

“We are damned if we do and we are damned if we don’t,” said Cllr Mayes.

“If we say we have made up our mind, people will say that they won’t be listened to and if we say we are asking for solutions, we will be accused of not knowing what we are doing. Wiltshire Council is taking this incredibly seriously. “

Larkrise governors have pleaded with Wiltshire Council to make use of the nearby Ashton Street Centre, which they say could be perfect for extra special school places. The authority got £100,000 from the government in February to bulldoze the centre.

“This is another consideration we are looking at,” said Cllr Mayes. “There could be other sites in Trowbridge that are well suited. This is all part of the process where if people submit ideas and solutions, we can make progress. Signatures are one thing but ideas are what we need.”

The consultation is at http://wiltshire.objective.co.uk/portal/education/special_school_provision_in_wiltshire

The Larkrise petition at www.change.org/p/help-larkrise-special-needs-school-trowbridge