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SCHOOL WITH 19 PUPILS
Independent, The (London), Jul 14, 1998 by TONY COLLINS Education Correspondent
A BIRMINGHAM school for visually impaired children is on course to become the smallest in the city - with more teachers than pupils!
George Auden School in Bell Hill, Northfield, is facing closure because of the crisis over falling pupil numbers.
The 45-place primary special school currently has only 19 pupils - down from 43 just five years ago.
Consultation will now be carried out on the future of the school with a report due to go before Birmingham's education committee in October.
Chief education officer Professor Tim Brighouse said that a study of pre-school children suggested that only five or six would need visually impaired school places in the next three years.
That compares with a head teacher, six teachers and five teaching assistants.
Prof Brighouse said that George Auden could either close and its pupils transfer to other schools, or it could continue with fewer and fewer children.
He said: "It would be the smallest school in the city and would be disproportionately expensive to run."
The cost per pupil at George Auden was pounds 11,496 in 1997-98 compared with pounds 6,977 for primary age pupils at Priestley Smith, the city's other school for the visually impaired.
Prof Brighouse said that more pupils with special educational needs were now being taught in mainstream schools.
Copyright 1998 Newspaper Publishing PLC
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