PARENTS have reacted with joy after Shelley College’s expansion plan was scrapped.
Ten-year-old Bella Williams, a pupil at Scissett Middle School, had even written to The Queen to ask her to intervene in the controversy after fearing her school would close.
Click below to see pictures from the protest march.
And she had told her Majesty: “I love my school and I am learning lots. Middle school is really brilliant.’’
She lives with mum Shelley, dad Graham and younger brother Oliver in Clayton West.
Shelley said: “We are just so relieved. This has caused so much anxiety.’’
Jessica Dawson, who has children at Shepley First School, said she had cried tears of joy when the news had filtered through.
She said: “I’ve shed tears today, I’ve leapt up and down.
“I’m absolutely thrilled, after all the hours and hours of work we put into this campaign it’s amazing.
“Mr McNally wasn’t concerned about the little people and the first schools that he was putting in jeopardy.”
Denby Dale parent Katie Naden said: “Parent power has prevailed.
“It’s absolutely fantastic news.
“It means so much to everybody that has fought this.
“We’re rural communities with small schools so it’s incredible news – Christmas has come early!”
Stuart Dawson from Shepley said he had been concerned about the prospect of having to send his daughter to such a big school at a young age.
He said: “It’s fantastic news because I’m happy with the system we have, in fact I felt the proposal would have had a detrimental effect.”
Emma Robinson, of Shepley, has three children in the Shepley pyramid system.
She said: “We are absolutely elated and it’s a big step in the right direction.
“It has caused a lot of anxiety and it’s been a very emotional ride so far.
“The lack of communication has been a huge bone of contention and caused a great deal of upset.”
Leanne Thackra, 33, of Overton, has sons Jordon, 12, and Harley, nine, in the Shelley Pyramid and she said the family was “ecstatic”.
She added: “It’s great that Mr McNally has understood how passionate we all are about the Shelley Pyramid.
“It’s such good news. This was all about making our children’s future safe. I always considered myself so lucky that we had got our sons into these schools.”
But one parent refused to relax. John Caven, a father of three from Birdsedge, said: “We cannot get complacent. We need to keep the pressure on. The fat lady hasn’t even drawn breath yet.”
