More than 100 people turned out yesterday for a meeting in support of saving West End Primary from closure.

They highlighted the importance of the school as a community hub and its role in the history of Somerset, particularly as a place of free education for Black children during segregation.

West End is one of eight primaries facing closure as part of the Government’s education reform programme.

Under the plan, each parish will have one primary school except for Pembroke, which will have two.

Winifred Smith, a former West End Primary pupil, told a packed hall that since the school’s establishment in 1869 it had offered “a message of hope”.

She said: “We were given the opportunity to read, write, learn and, as a result, we could work, earn a living and create a better future for our families.

“This school, West End Primary, helped get us there.

“In Sandys parish, we thrived, we achieved, we succeeded, bounded and connected with our neighbours. West End Primary played a valuable role in the development of this community.

“That is why it became known as the hub, the heartbeat of Somerset."

Ms Smith said that Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, talked about making parish primary schools the hub of each community.

She added: “I’m down with that, but here in Sandys parish there can be only one hub and that’s West End Primary, and it cannot be hijacked by any other school.

“This school was founded by a selfless people facing adversity and obstacles but never gave up.

“They established a school that embraced all children.

“This moral and ethical deed is one of the pillars that endowed this school with dignity, soul, spirit, graciousness and presence, which is unmatched in this parish of Sandys.”

Ellen-Kate Horton, a West End Primary alumnus who went on to become a teacher and permanent secretary of education, asked about the criteria and scoring system for selecting which schools would be saved.

She questioned points awarded in comparisons between West End and Somerset Primary — the site of the sole Sandys primary school under the Government’s reform plans — for factors such as age, community services and greenfield space.

Janice Battersbee, a former pupil whose mother was a teacher at West End, pointed out that the school’s proximity to Sandys Secondary Middle School — which it feeds — was an advantage and added that more could be done to develop the relationship between the two.

As a neighbour of Somerset Primary, she said there were problems there with traffic congestion and parking at busy times.

Ms Battersbee said: “This is supposed to be the people’s government.

“It’s a slap in the face to ignore our legacy and our history."

Glenn Bascome told supporters that “keeping West End open is a win-win situation”.

He added: “I agree that we need to change but I do think that making Somerset Primary the parish school gives the appearance that you are once more disregarding those who have been disenfranchised and rewarding those who have been privileged over and over and over.”

Dr Bascome said that in terms of education, integration had been a “one-way street”.

He added: “There are few things that people of colour have to look up to, and to take away those which we now have, I don’t think it’s going to help the integration process.”