A REVIEW of county primary and secondary school provision will begin in February as education chiefs battle empty desks caused by falling rolls.

Area reviews will take place in Stroud, Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury between February, 2005, and December, 2006.

Panels including county councillors, headteachers and school governors will examine school populations in and the impact of spare places caused by a declining birth rate on the opportunities offered especially in more isolated or less popular schools.

Jo Davidson, executive director of education, said: "There will be 9,000 spare place in our primary schools by 2011 unless we take action now."

She said school closures would be "the last resort" as more efficient use of school facilities is sought but she ruled out cutting class sizes.

"We would love to use this as a chance to create smaller class sizes but unfortunately it is not that simple.

"With smaller numbers of pupils comes reduced government funding and the possibility of more mixed age classes, which has its own implications."

The views of the public will be sought during the reviews with any decisions taking effect from September 2007 at the earliest.

Cllr Charmian Sheppard, portfolio holder for education, said: "We see the reviews as an opportunity to get schools in the right place with the right facilities to meet current needs.

"We want to work with local communities to use spare school capacity creatively and encourage much closer working so that skills and resources can be shared."

Horsley School headteacher Martin Fry said heads were united behind the need for action.

He said: "The view is that something needs to be done. There's falling roles and we need to review where schools are at."

He acknowledged that closures were "a concern" especially for smaller or more isolated schools with fewer children and therefore less funding.

Primary rolls 2003 to 2008

September

2003 44,800

2004 44,200

2005 43,400

2008 42,800

Source: Gloucestershire County Council. It says a similar pattern of decline will hit secondary schools from around 2006 as primary school children move up.