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A ROMSEY headteacher has slammed Hampshire's education bosses decision to pull the plug on major funding for his school's outdoor swimming pool.

Cupernham Junior School has been told it will have to fund any major work on its pool itself.

This has angered headteacher, Kelvin Geary, and parents who says learning to swim is vital for pupils, particularly as there are so many rivers around the town.

Last Friday, the school staged a fun run to raise funds for any major pool repairs in the future.

Some parents held up "Save our Pool" placards during the event, which raised around £4,000.

Hampshire's education chiefs are putting in place a new funding strategy for school pools. This will concentrate any major cash investments on 14 strategically placed pools in a bid to allow all Key Stage Two primary schoolchildren access to swimming lessons.

And the county council has pointed out that two-thirds of its primary schools already use community pools, rather than those on school premises.

Each of the 41 schools left out of the capital strategy budget programme - it includes Cupernham Junior, Bartley Junior, in the New Forest and Test Valley (secondary) at Stockbridge - were given the option of taking an annual pool maintainance payment of £3,368, or close their outdoor pools down.

Now any major repairs, such as replacing boilers, plant equipment, putting in new pool liners, fencing and paving will have to come out of the schools' own budgets.

The county says many school pools were built in the early 1970s with funding from parent teacher associations and it's estimated that it would cost the authority about £27m to modernise them.

But Mr Geary is not convinced the new policy will benefit children and Cupernham parents have expressed their anger. Some feel it could lead to the closure of their well-used pool.

Mr Geary said: "Now we are going to have to fund any projects and health and safety improvements ourselves. This will be quite a task and a lot of schools will have to close their pools. Parents at the school support me and want to keep this facility open.

"Our pool is used from May to October. We are keeping it for as long as we can."

He added: "I believe the county council's decision goes against the Fit for Life message and the 2012 Olympics programme.

"Swimming is recognised as being a beneficial to health. The county is sending out the wrong message here. There was very little consultation about the plans. Now our swimming facility is under threat."

Test Valley School's headteacher, Wendy Morrish, said her school's heated outdoor pool was at least 30 years old and it was a big asset, especially as it was deep enough for diving.

"We won't be getting capital funding from the county council and there is potential for problems in the future. The pool is a very useful and attractive feature of the school. In an ideal world, we would not want to lose it," said Miss Morrish.

Hampshire's cabinet spokesman for children's services, David Kirk, who took the controversial decision to streamline pool funding, said: "Hampshire County Council is committed to ensuring all Key Stage Two pupils have access to high-quality, modern swimming facilities and to ensuring that school facilities represent best value for taxpayers' money."

8:19am Friday 16th May 2008

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