PLANS have been unveiled which could see the catchment area for Neroche Primary School extended into Ilminster in the near future to protect families who traditionally enrol there.

The Broadway school has begun a consultation period in conjunction with Somerset County Council to widen the reach into the west side of Ilminster.

It is hoped that the move would safeguard the places of families from the town who have traditionally attended the primary as well as offering a potential ease on the stretched Ilminster schools.

Since receiving an Outstanding rating from Ofsted in March 2013, the school has become the educational facility of choice from many families coming from as far away as Taunton and South Petherton.

The school roll has increased significantly to 172 pupils and the governing body has taken the decision to try to secure places for Ilminster families who might otherwise miss out. Head teacher Connel Boyle explained the rationale behind the decision, which could eventually lead to the introduction of a new classroom.

He said: “We are concerned that the families of children in Ilminster, who for the past 40 years have exercised their choice to attend our school, may have future difficulty in obtaining a place at Neroche if our popularity of the past three years continues to rise at current rates.

“Our aim is to essentially protect the rights of parents for the west of Ilminster who will gain confidence that they are applying to our school from within our defined catchment area.

“This is about maintaining the unofficial status quo, because since the school was built in 1973, a significant proportion of our pupils have always come from Ilminster. It has historically fluctuated between 20% and 40% and we currently have over 40 children from the town on the roll.

“Many parents, especially those with older siblings in the school will benefit most should our catchment be extended. This is our main target group that has informed our decision to commission this consultation.”

With the adjusted catchment, there would be no changes to current transport arrangements, and no transport or contribution to transport costs will be made by the county council, as is the case now.

Children living in Ilminster would continue to be out of catchment for Holyrood Academy.

Mr Boyle added: “Our pupils are performing above average in the statutory testing at both Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, which has led to children coming from all over.

“What we don’t want to do is go above our 30-pupil maximum in the classrooms because we don’t want to lose our village school feel.

“We have started thinking about introducing a seventh class but we want to go down all the right channels first.”

The move could affect parents and carers applying for places at Neroche for September 2016 onwards.

The consultation ends on February 11 and responses can be e-mailed to cboyle@educ.somerset.gov.uk or posted to Mr C Boyle, Neroche Primary School, Broadway, Ilminster, TA29 9RG.