A 160-YEAR-OLD primary school faces closure because it cannot find a headteacher, the county council claimed last night.

Since it opened its doors in 1850, Culham Parochial School has offered a Church Of England education for children from Culham and Sutton Courtenay.

But at a meeting on Tuesday, parents were devastated to learn the small school, which has dwindled from 44 pupils last September, to just 32, could be closed by next July unless a permanent headteacher is found. Sharon Sparkes moved from Headington to Drayton so her son Freddie, eight, and daughter Isabella, six, could go to the school.

She said parents were preparing to fight ‘tooth and nail’ to save the school.

If a permanent headteacher cannot be found, the decision to close the school could be taken as early as next summer. It has been without one for three years.

Spokesman Louise Mendonca, said: “Closure is the last resort. If an alternative way forward is found in the form of a suitable permanent head or partner for federation, it would be very much welcomed.”

Earlier this year parents of St Nicolas Primary School, Abingdon, voted against becoming a federation partner with Culham. The move would have meant the two schools shared a head.

An informal consultation will now run until Friday, January 21 during which time the public can make their views known.

Ms Mendonca said an initial decision will be taken by the county council’s Cabinet in February 2011 to publish a statutory notice to close the school, with the final decision taken in May 2011.

To have your say go to oxfordshire.gov.uk/consultation