A VILLAGE primary school in Hertfordshire is set to close at the end of next year due to falling pupil numbers reports the Local Democracy Reporter.

Albury Church of England Primary School, near Little Hadham, offers 12 places per year group with a total capacity of 84 pupils, but now has just 22 pupils in attendance.

Its fate was discussed at a meeting of Hertfordshire County Council’s Education, SEND & Inclusion Cabinet Panel on Thursday, November 6.

Councillors opted to press ahead with consultations to permanently close Albury Church of England Primary School, as well as St Nicholas Primary School in Elstree, at the end of August 2026. A third school, Sandon JMI School, was granted a 12-month deferral to focus on its improvement plan.

Unlike St Nicholas and Sandon, which both had groups of interested parties in attendance, no one from Albury’s community came to the panel meeting to vouch for the school.

Cllr Mark Pope (Conservative; Bishop’s Stortford Rural) was a lone voice in advocating for Albury’s primary school to be saved.

He said: “Albury is a spread-out rural village comprising six hamlets in East Hertfordshire. It has a population of 598 people according to the 2021 census and lies about five miles west of Bishop’s Stortford, which is the largest town in the East Hertfordshire district.

“It was with much sadness that I learned of this council’s plan to close Albury CoE Primary School, particularly as this represents another potential closure of a faith school.

“While I’d like to give you a grand and perhaps poetic description of the school as the beating heart of the village, alas, I cannot. What I can do is tell you how important it is to the local community as a place of learning and employment and also as a meeting place for local families.

“I believe that small schools like Albury offer something special, a sense of belonging, a place where every child is known by name, where the staff are committed, where the parents are partners, and where the school gates open not just to pupils but the whole community.

“I also believe that once a school closes, the heart of the village begins to falter. Families move away, new families don’t move in, the local economy suffers, the church loses its young voices, the village hall grows quieter, and what was once a thriving intergenerational community becomes a place of empty houses and lost potential.

“Education is not ‘one size fits all’. I believe that rural schools deserve investment, not abandonment.”

He said the school had an improvement plan and asked for time to allow staff and governors to put it into action.

Cllr Chris Lloyd pointed to the apparent lack of local support and said: “Unlike the other two schools, I personally haven’t received any communication from this school.”

The chairman, Cllr Mark Watkin, concurred, saying: “You’re quite right, the scale of contact has been completely different from what I’ve been receiving for the other two schools.”

Cllr Pope’s “impassioned plea” to save Albury CoE Primary School was praised by Cllr Ralph Muncer (Conservative, Knebworth & Codicote), who called it an “excellent speech”.

Elsewhere, Cllr Jan Maddern (Independent, Hemel Hempstead Southeast) addressed Cllr Pope and said: “Mark, I absolutely applaud what you’re trying to do, what you’ve said there, but at the end of the day, without any kind of budget, proposal or plan, where is your support today?

“It’s a wish list, and I’m really sorry I don’t see how this one can possibly work.”

Councillors voted to go ahead with the consultation to close the school at the end of August 2026.