Parents say they are “devastated” and their children “destroyed” over the decision to close a Leicestershire school.
Diseworth Church of England Primary School, in Grimes Gate, Diseworth, is set to close from the end of this academic year following issues around pupil numbers and staff leaving for other roles.
The decision, made by the school’s governors, follows the loss of its remaining staff, who have decided to move to new jobs, according to Leicestershire County Council – a move that left the school without any teachers or support staff for the start of the next school year.
Parents say they are “heartbroken” by the decision, with many calling for answers over the closure.
Naomi O’Toole said that three of her children attend the primary school and said she was “fuming” at the decision. She said she had known since 2025 that the school could close after hearing that staff were leaving.
She said that her six-year-old son with special needs, CJ, who attends the school, had been “struggling with a lot of the change”.
The mum of four, who currently lives in Ashby, added: “Staff have fought and fought to keep this school open for the children because it’s like a little family; the staff are like family to the children.
“They’ve actually been in tears. It’s literally destroyed them.”
The Ashby mum is planning to move her children to St Hardulph’s C of E Primary School in Breedon after the school’s closure.
However, she has also claimed that governors and the headteacher “didn’t listen” to parents’ concerns.
She added: “If we had known three or four months earlier, we would have all chipped in to try and keep the school open by supporting them, but the governors have kept quiet.”
Mum of three Charley Pryde, 34, also has a young son, Oscar, four, who attends the school’s nursery and had hoped to attend the school.
Calling the decision “disgusting”, she said staff had previously helped her daughter Frankie, 11, attend another nearby special needs school.
The Castle Donington mum added: “The staff absolutely helped my children get into a SEND school about a year ago.
“They’ve brought my little boy on so much. He’s talking, and they are helping him with simple things like potty training. He’s been creative. I moved him from another nursery just to go to that one.
“It’s just like one big family.”
The mum of three also said Oscar was planning to attend St Hardulph’s Primary School and said her son was “a bit sad” over the news. She claimed that staff departures left her son with “no support”.
She added: “He didn’t want to go into school for a couple of weeks, and there was no support.
“It was literally, ‘She [staff member] is leaving in a week’, and then she was gone. It affected him, and he didn’t want to go to school.”
Leicester mum Bev Whitaker, 60, who is a kinship carer, said that her nephew was now left without a school despite having complex special needs and being on an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan).
She also called for more transparency over how the school has ended up in this position.
She said: “He’s going to lose everything. Everything that he’s used to. It’s awful.
“They don’t know how to process these things, and it’s really going to affect the children, not just him.
“I’m really sad about it and the whole situation. I don’t know where he’s going to go. I moved him to that school because it was small, and he needed a small space.”
Councillors have responded to the school’s closure, saying that “serious questions” need to be asked.
Conservative Cllr Craig Smith said: “Like many people, I was saddened to hear of the proposed closure of Diseworth Primary School.
“However, having read comments from current and former staff, it is clear that there are serious questions which need answering. The statement issued by the Reform administration suggests the school closed because all the staff had left.
“Yet staff themselves are publicly stating that the uncertainty created by restructuring proposals led to those departures.
“Parents and staff deserve complete transparency. Village schools are at the heart of their communities, and when one is lost, residents deserve a full explanation as to how we reached this point.
“I hope the Reform administration will provide that explanation in the weeks ahead.”
A spokesperson on behalf of the school’s governors said: “All of us as governors were devastated to have had to make this difficult decision.
“The school has faced financial challenges since 2020 due to falling pupil numbers. There was no sign of these challenges changing for the better, leading all teaching staff to choose to find jobs elsewhere. This left us no option but to close the school from the next academic year.
“We would like to thank all parents for their support and reiterate that each and every parent will be supported in finding their child an alternative school place.”
By Chris Harper, Local Democracy Reporter