Consultation launched on plans to close £15m school

Hull Council’s cabinet agreed yesterday to consult on plans to close Endeavour High by August 31, 2015.

The move follows a failure to find a strong academy sponsor to take over the struggling secondary school, which was placed in “special measures” for the third time in its short history last year, and is also beset by other problems including falling pupil numbers.

About 500 pupils are currently enrolled at the 1,200-capacity school, and this figure is expected to drop further.

A report to cabinet warns the school may soon become unsustainable, both educationally in the curriculum it can offer, and financially, with projected annual losses of £1m by 2016.

The school also has many pupils whose first language is not English, and has the highest proportion of groups other than “white British” in the city - a figure that was 39.3 per cent in 2011, and 45.5 per cent last year.

Coun Rosie Nicola, portfolio holder for learning, skills and equality at the Labour-led authority, said: “I am very sad that we are having to consult over the future of Endeavour School.

“However, it’s important to be realistic, and we must take all necessary steps to provide the best education we can for the children who attend the school, as well as other children in the city.

“We will listen carefully to the feedback from the consultation, and then put together a rational plan for the future of the School and for the children who currently attend.”

The council had previously consulted on plans to close Endeavour when the authority was run by the Liberal Democrats in 2011.

Then, four opposition Labour councillors - Daren Hale, Colin Inglis, Martin Mancey and Rilba Jones - decided to “call in” the closure decision, referring it to a key council committee.

As well as citing the need to “take full account of human rights”, the councillors said the decision could constitute institutional racism, as defined by Sir William Macpherson in his inquiry into the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993.

The six-week consultation on the latest closure plans begins on November 4.