HEADTEACHERS and governors of seven West Somerset schools have condemned plans they fear could spell the end of the district's three-tier system of education.

The Exmoor Coast Federation has dubbed proposals by the West Somerset Community College to lower its admission age from 13 to 11 years as an "aggressive and unwarranted initiative".

And the federation's executive headteacher James Geen warned this week that if the move goes ahead it could threaten the future of West Somerset's three middle schools and even lead to the closure of some small first schools.

As reported in last week's Free Press, the college has launched a consultation with parents and the local community over a proposal to take pupils from aged 11.

The college insists the move is specifically designed to address the impact of Government funding cuts affecting year seven and eight children at Dulverton Middle School, who under the proposals could transfer to the college from September 2015.

But the Exmoor Coast Federation - Minehead Middle and Dunster, Minehead, Cutcombe, Timberscombe, St Dubricius and St Michael's first schools - said it would undoubtedly lead to the college competing with the middle schools for lower age pupils.

"This would have massive ramifications and is not in the best interests of our children," said Mr Geen.

"Not only would the future of the middle schools be under threat but a number of small first schools would also be at risk because you would be changing to a two-tier primary and secondary system."

Mr Geen said he did not believe that changes to the system for the Exmoor Federation of Schools - Dulverton Middle, All Saints First and Exford First - could be confined to that area.

"They would be bound to have an effect on the rest of the district eventually."

Mr Geen said in a recent meeting with the college it had been suggested that provision could be made for 100 11 to 13-year-olds.

"There are not 100 pupils of that age in Dulverton alone, so where will the rest come from?'

Parents in the Exmoor Coast Federation schools will receive a hard-hitting letter when pupils return to school next week outlining the concerns about the college's proposals.

The federation says it is fundamentally against the change because it is ill-conceived and could lower standards in the short-term, with no evidence that standards would rise in the longer term.

It also insists that schooling provision in such a rural area as West Somerset needs to be balanced and that although there are far fewer local schools than a generation ago, the three-tier system supports local first schools in smaller towns and villages.

And it is concerned that the genuine risk of first and middle schools closing could make it difficult to recruit high quality staff in the future.

"The education in this area from ages three to 13 has never been better," said Mr Geen.

"However, the middle school system - which is the most popular in the world and most successful in other parts of Somerset - is endangered by this aggressive and unwarranted initiative.

"We acknowledge that the college is working hard to improve their academic outcomes but we fail to see how damaging provision in first and middle schools can possibly support this strategy.

"We believe that educating our children in middle schools allows them to develop through their adolescent years without being encouraged to grow up too quickly under the influence of much older students."

Mr Geen said the federation believed the college was trying to shape the future of education in West Somerset without any discussion with its partner schools.

"They simply have not thought through the consequences of their ill-judged actions and we are urging parents to vote no to this damaging and poorly-planned extension to the college's age range in the interests of all our children."

Mr Geen said his federation was determined to "fight this" and felt saddened and angered that the college had launched the consultation, sending a letter to its parents without telling its partner schools it was doing so.

"This is a major shake-up, the impact of which will be felt for years and will have a hugely de-stabilising effect."

But Martin McNeill, chairman of governors at the college, said he was disappointed with the response from the Exmoor Coast Federation.

He said the consultation on the age range was a "specific initiative" for the Dulverton area and this had been made very clear in talks with the federation.

He said the college would have liked to delay sending the letter to parents but was constrained by the timescale of the proposal.

It has put a deadline of July 23 for responses, after which it will decided whether to seek Secretary of State approval for the change.

But Mr McNeill said a separate consultation on admission arrangements - how many places would be made available and how they would be allocated - had to be completed by the end of March next year.

"We have not even thought about the details of the admission policy as yet," he said.

"The figure of 100 pupils would simply allow for flexibility but our modelling shows that there would be no need to achieve any great economies of scale and it would be completely viable to have 50 pupils aged 11 to 13.

"Our entire focus in this has been to ensure a consistency of education if Dulverton Middle is unable to continue to provide places in the future.

"I think it is perfectly possible to have both two and three-tier systems operating in West Somerset.

"We do not have any ambitions for expansion and I am disappointed that the Exmoor Coast Federation schools do not seem to have accepted the reassurances we have given in our meetings with them.

"I thought we had made our intentions very clear."

Mr McNeill said the college had been working with all its partner schools for more than a decade and its overriding aim was to provide the best education for all children.

"This is a proper consultation with the community and we want to hear from as many people as possible, not just parents.

"Our job is to serve our children but our overall mission is to serve the community."

The college plans to have public meetings in Dulverton, Williton and Minehead within the next month to explain its proposals.

The Exmoor Federation, in conjunction with Somerset County Council, will begin a separate consultation in October on the possible future structure of education for its three schools.