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North Yorkshire village primary school to close despite petition

A village school in North Yorkshire will close at the end of the summer term despite objections from the local community after a final decision by the education Academies Trust said the outcome was based on falling pupil numbers and concerns about Kirkby Fleetham Church of England Primary School's financial viability.A petition against the plans, signed by more than 650 people, claimed the closure would be "drastic" and "life-altering" for Department for Education has been contacted for comment. Tim Barker, whose five-year-old daughter attends the school, near Northallerton, said though the confirmation of the closure was expected, he felt an "extreme amount of disappointment" and "a little bit of anger"."My daughter's grandfather, who's still alive at 82, remembers walking to school, gathering up other children along the way, walking across farmers' fields," he said. Mr Barker chose the school for his daughter because of family connections after her mother died two years ago."My choices since losing my wife have been 100% about my daughter's future."One of those was about creating deeper roots within our local community, which starts at the earliest point - going to school," he said."These are the friendships which last the test of time." Damian Chubb, chief executive of the Dales Academies Trust, said he was "acutely aware that this decision will be met with considerable sadness" by parents, pupils and trust "shares deeply in this sentiment", he added."No trust wishes to close a school, and the decision has not been taken lightly by any means," he trust said the school would continue to provide education to pupils up until the last day of term and would support parents to find an alternative school, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Parents had written to the education secretary, asking her to she backed the closure in February, with North Yorkshire Council saying it had "no alternative" but to agree to the move as the authority has no control over the decision of an academy school's roll has fallen to 18 pupils. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.