Local campaigners have prevented the closure of a remote Yorkshire school.
Parents and villagers were concerned that the closure of Kettlewell Primary School would deter families from moving into the area and leave existing pupils facing a 17-mile journey to a new school, the Guardian reports.
The school is rated as outstanding by Ofsted, but has seen average student numbers fall to less than 30 in recent years.
School governor Richard Humpridge told the newspaper: "Small schools perform better. It's all part of the small-is-beautiful ethos – an intimate teaching environment, the big kids looking after the small ones, and the close bonds with the local community."
Author and former Yorkshire dales schools inspector Gervase Phinn said rural schools are a "precious thing".
"They don't just provide an education. Often they are the central heartbeat of the village. We have to do everything possible to ensure they continue," he told the publication.
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