EASTER was wreck­ed for a threatened school’s pupils, parents and staff when a government minister told them he intended to close it.

Schools Minister Lord Agnew said proposals to improve education standards at St Anthony’s Primary in Cinderford were insufficient and he aimed to stop funding it.

The initial letter of possible closure arrived at the start of February just days after the school completed a £750,000 extension to bring it up to modern day safety standards.

St Anthony’s, which has nearly 100 primary and nursery pupils, has been hit by a series of critical Ofsted reports and is in special measures.

But under a new headteacher and board of trustees, the school said it was turning things round and needed time.

Pupils, staff and supporters launched a campaign to keep the former Catholic school open, and marched to Cinderford town centre to post letters to the Department for Education urging the minister to keep it open.

But despite head teacher Lorna Middleton saying they had “begun a journey of rapid improvement” under a new partnership agreement with Dene Magna School, the minister issued a termination warning notice last week, saying he does not believe it

can improve quickly enough.

The head, who was appointed last September, said they will “keep their game face on” and the trustees will respond to the minister by the April 30 deadline.

“I had hoped that our Easter hols might not be spoiled by yet another deadline but, as published on our website, the latest letter to us from the DfE has arrived,” she added.

“In a nutshell, it says they don’t like my plan, they don’t like the governors, and they don’t like the partnership working demonstrated in the plan.”

She said: “I am confident in my belief that my plan and the new governors and our embryonic partnerships are the best chance we’ve got.

“Our data in English, phonics and maths (which has been externally quality assured) show that children are making progress.

“For example, last year our Phonics Check score was 25 per cent. This year, following the introduction of Read, Write, Inc in January 2018, the children are on track to pass at a rate between 66 per cent to 84 per cent.

“We have begun the journey of rapid improvement; now we simply need the time and support from the DfE to complete it."

Lord Agnew said that after reviewing the school’s proposals with the Education and Skills Funding Agency, he was “not satisfied that the trust has a sufficient plan to bring about the rapid and sustainable improvements required to secure a good education for its pupils.”

“The action plan received from the Trust does not adequately demonstrate that the Trust has recognised the key failings identified by Ofsted and put specific actions in place rapidly to address those,” he added.

“Overall the plan does not link activity with impact sufficiently, lacks specificity about who will be carrying out which actions and gives insufficient indication about how impact will be monitored.

“Whilst there are references in the improvement plan to external support and capacity, particularly from the Dene Magna Teaching School Alliance, I am concerned that this overstates what support is available at zero cost through the Teaching School and that a specific support plan has not been formally agreed.”

He also said that while there had been an effort to strengthen the board of Trustees, there was “no evidence of Trust­ees having the necessary skills to hold the executive to account for school improvement,” which was “a serious omission.”