THE NORTHEN ECHO Nov 9. 2012 | Comments (2)
A FIGHT has begun to save a city secondary school from closure, with parents and ex-pupils staging an angry protest at the gates.Around 20 people gathered outside Durham Gilesgate Sports College, in Gilesgate, Durham, this lunchtime (November 9) with placards saying: ‘Save Our School’.Earlier this week, Durham County Council announced a six-week consultation on ending 11 to 16 education at Gilesgate, which has just 233 pupils of secondary age and faces budget cuts.But parents and ex-pupils say it is a good school with a friendly, family atmosphere and they want it to remain open.Julie McNamara, who attended the school herself and whose 12-year-old daughter Sophie currently studies there, said: “This is the school I chose for Sophie. The staff are brilliant. It’s a family school.“I don’t see how they can close the school when they’re saying they can keep it open for 16 to 19.”The school’s sixth form, on a separate site off Freeman’s Place, is unaffected by the...