KEEPING Lypiatt School open until the end of term will give children the stability needed to learn, say staff, after crucial funding was secured by the Ministry of Defence.

The school in Corsham provides education for children of military families that have been exposed to deaths or breakdown and has experienced fluctuating pupil numbers for several years.

At its lowest there were just three pupils and currently 12 children go to the primary school.

Plans to close the school in March 2019 were announced earlier in the year, after Wiltshire Council said it could no longer afford to keep running it with increasing deficits.

If left open it was predicted that by 2022 the school will have a £500,000 deficit.

However, council officers have now secured additional funding of £38,000 from the Ministry of Defence Educational Support Fund that will ensure teachers can continue to support children until the end of the academic year next July.

The school will then close permanently.

Praising the news and speaking during a Wiltshire Council cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, headteacher Carolyn Atkins said: “I am grateful to the Ministry of Defence.

"Keeping the school open will really benefit the children.”

Cabinet member for children services Laura Mayes said: “Thank you to the head and community team for Lypiatt, they do a superb job.

"Often these children have complex needs and the work which they've done with the children and the transformation on their lives is fantastic.”

Corsham councillor Ruth Hopkinson said: “It is a fantastic institution and it is a shame it has to close but I have to congratulate the decision to keep it open until the end of the school year.

"That is vital for these children, rather than causing disruption half way through the school year.

"I would like to thank staff for all they have done for these children.”

Wiltshire Council leader, Jane Scott, said: “It is a lovely school but the reality is we are not going to have the number of military families coming back from abroad in the future. It is absolutely the right thing to leave the school open until the end of the school year.” The school is based within the Services Cotswold Centre in Corsham and currently has a Good rating from Ofsted.