Pre publication Consultation Stage 1 - Dean Hole Church of England Primary School

Overview

Introduction

The Governing Body of Dean Hole Church of England Primary School have requested that Nottinghamshire County Council seek the views of interested parties regarding the future of Dean Hole Church of England Primary School.

Background

Dean Hole Church of England Primary School is a small school with a published admission number of eight serving the village of Caunton in the Caunton-Norwell primary planning area in the district of Newark. The school is maintained by Nottinghamshire County Council. The last Ofsted inspection of the school (June 2025) rated the school as ‘good’.

A previous consultation was held in 2023 after the Governing Body of Dean Hole Church of England Primary School requested that Nottinghamshire County Council seek the views of interested parties regarding the future of Dean Hole Church of England Primary School. At that time the majority of the respondents were in favour of keeping the school open and during the pre-publication consultation period a proposal was received from Team Education Trust with an invitation for Dean Hole Church of England School to join their trust. With Diocesan and DFE approval a date was set for the academisation on 1 September 2025.

In August 2025 Nottinghamshire County Council was informed by the DFE that the academisation of Caunton Dean Hole Primary was to be paused and staff were informed of the delay. In October 2025, the Local Authority received confirmation from the DFE that as a result of factors not related to Caunton Dean Hole Church of England Primary School, the academisation could not proceed.

The Governing Body of Dean Hole Primary have made it clear that as a result of the current challenges faced by the school there is a need for a new formal consultation process to be followed.

In this regard Nottinghamshire County Council is consequently now following the prescribed process described in ‘Opening and closing maintained schools: Statutory guidance for proposers and decision-makers’ published by the Department for Education, October 2024 [PDF]. 

According to the above, Stage One of the process makes it a statutory requirement to consult with any parties the Local Authority (LA) thinks appropriate before publishing proposals that may lead to the closure of a school: Proposing to close (discontinue) a maintained school (Page 22).

Dean Hole Church of England Primary School is designated as a rural school and Nottinghamshire County Council will therefore also follow the guidelines regarding the presumption against the closure of rural schools.

On Monday 3 November 2025, Nottinghamshire County Council commenced this statutory consultation to explore options for Dean Hole C of E Primary School, including possible closure, at the request of the Governing Body by meeting directly with those staff, parents and carers directly involved with the school, with the Governors, the representatives of the Diocese and relevant Union representatives.

The Governing Body and the Local Authority will use this consultation to consider a range of options for the future of a school (e.g. amalgamation, academisation, federation or closure). The information gathered from stakeholders will be used to inform the publication of specific proposals according to Stage Two of the statutory process outlined at Appendix 1.

Before you begin the consultation

Please read this document [Word] to find out more about the reasons for this consultation and the available options you will be asked about on the next page.