UNCERTAINTY about the future of education in Poole combined with falling rolls in Ferndown could have serious implications for East Dorset schools, it has been revealed.

And federations of schools, such as the Dunbury School in North Dorset - where one school is spread over two, three or four bases with one head and one governing body - may be a way out of the problem.

Following the Great Debate - precipitated by the enormous rows generated by re-organisations in Shaftesbury and Blandford - the local education authority made it clear that there was no agenda to impose any particular form of education Dorset-wide.

But now Poole is consulting on whether to lose its middle schools and go two-tier and, if it does, there could be a knock-on effect.

Also there are 20 per cent surplus places in the Ferndown pyramid due to falling birth-rates and the fact that children cross the county border for schooling.

Dorset County Council education chief Phil Farmer said East Dorset was a priority area where the problem of surplus places needed to be tackled.

"The situation is complicated by what is happening with the Poole borough review," he said. "Depending on the outcome of that, that could have significant implications for surrounding schools and that could easily domino into East Dorset."

In the Ferndown area there was a surplus of 20 per cent in first schools and a similar number in some middle schools, he said.

Bournemouth's grammar school system and nearby large secondary schools in Hampshire attracted parents out of the Ferndown pyramid, he said.

There were a number of options to deal with the problem - federation, changing catchment areas and admission numbers and taking temporary classrooms out of use, he added.

Mr Farmer dismissed the idea of the closure of schools. He also said there were no plans to reorganise into a two-tier system in East Dorset.

First published: December 19