Publication Consultation Stage 2 - Proposal to close Dean Hole Church of England Primary School

Overview

Introduction

Nottinghamshire County Council has a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient primary and secondary school places across the county and is committed to working in close partnership with schools, academy trusts, the dioceses and key partners to ensure that the education offered to all children is of good quality.

The Governing Body of Dean Hole C of E Primary School made it clear that as a result of the current challenges faced by the school there was 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]. 

Stage one consultation

In accordance with the DfE’s guidance and their presumption against closing rural schools, Nottinghamshire County Council held a stage one consultation. The consultation aimed to gather the views of interested parties on the future of Dean Hole C of E Primary School to help Nottinghamshire County Council to develop a proposal.

The consultation period opened on 10 November and closed on 7 December 2025.

Nottinghamshire County Council have considered other options which could result in Dean Hole C of E Primary School continuing to operate (see stage one consultation). These options included:

• Continue with no change
• Academisation
• Amalgamation
• Other options

After consideration, however, none of these options were deemed viable by Nottinghamshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s committee.

On 6 January 2026 Nottinghamshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s Committee gave approval for a consultation to take place on a proposal to close Dean Hole Church of England Primary School, Manor Road, Caunton, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG23 6AD.

The consultation and decision making process

The representation period in which Nottinghamshire County Council will accept responses to the consultation will open on 14 January 2026 until 11 February 2026.

Following the consultation, Nottinghamshire County Council will consider responses before deciding whether to close Dean Hole C of E Primary School. The decision will be made in March 2026 and a statutory notice will be published on Nottinghamshire County Council’s website within one week.

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.