THE fight to save Hothfield school from closure has suffered a major blow with a quarter of pupils leaving this term.

Pupil numbers dropped dramatically after 11 children were withdrawn by parents convinced the school was closing.

Head teacher John Ford now has only 29 children in the school – a number many teachers are used to in just one class.

He is desperate to get across the message that closure is no more than a possibility and that the school is going from strength to strength.

He said: "We have to get across to people that this is an outstanding school. I thought it would drop but it was a little worse than I expected."

* See the Kentish Express for the full story.

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