Yorkshire Dales schools face reorganisation under new council plan

North Yorkshire Council’s executive committee is set to approve the reorganisation in Wensleydale and Swaledale next week, which will see one school closed permanently.

The changes come after several schools opted to work together to form federations due to falling rolls.

These included the BAWB Federation, made up of Bainbridge, Askrigg and West Burton schools; Reeth and Gunnerside Schools Federation and the Federation of Middleham (VA) & Spennithorne (VC) CE Primary Schools.

The schools then changed their models so that each school catered for a limited range of age groups, rather than all age groups being taught at all schools.

North Yorkshire Council, however, received legal advice that pupils must be educated at their registered school, which means models adopted by the federations were not compliant.

The federations were given several options by the council to bring them in line with the law, with the three Dales federations all choosing to change their primary schools into either infant or junior schools.

BAWB governors have decided to make Askrigg a junior school and Bainbridge an infant school, with West Burton, which had already temporarily closed, being permanently shut.

Elsewhere, Reeth and Spennithorne are set to both become infant schools, while Gunnerside and Middleham would be junior schools.

Upper Dales councillor Yvonne Peacock, whose division includes the BAWB and Reeth and Gunnerside schools, said the council had no choice but to make changes.

“The schools weren’t allowed to go on as they were and I think this is an excellent solution to make it the absolute best situation for the children.

“It’s not going to make a lot of difference to the children, and that’s the important thing, and it keeps the schools open in Swaledale and Wensleydale.”

The councillor added: “The problem, unfortunately, is West Burton. But we knew this was going to happen, and there’s nothing we could do about it.

“It is disappointing for the village of West Burton and the local community but this was the only solution.”

The council is proposing to offer discretionary home-to-school travel for children, who are already assessed as eligible for travel and on roll at schools on September 1, 2026, for the duration of their time at the affected schools.

A discretionary ‘nearest gate in the federation’ policy for home school transport to Reeth and Gunnerside schools is also proposed, on the condition that the federation continues to provide support with inter-school transport where required.

An alternative plan is proposed for Aiskew Leeming Bar and Leeming and Londonderry primary schools, which are run by the Synergy Federation.

This would involve the technical closure of Leeming and Londonderry and the expansion of Aiskew Leeming onto the former Leeming and Londonderry site.

The new school would then have a combined catchment area from both existing schools.

The reorganisation will be debated by the executive committee on Tuesday.