Dhoon School faces closure unless education chiefs review its catchment area.

That was the warning from Garff MHK Daphne Caine in Tynwald this week.

Last year, it was decided to ’federate’ Laxey and Dhoon primary schools, under one head teacher, amid falling rolls.

But, despite that, and a pledge by education chiefs to review all school catchment areas on an annual basis, Mrs Caine believes Dhoon School should be given priority.

She said: ’Given that the Dhoon School has seen the roll drop from 112 children to 76 in four years - and at the current rate it is likely to fall below 50 in the next few years, with apparently only a handful of children on the roll to start in September - would the minister feel that this is more of an urgent matter, that perhaps it could have more of an open catchment?’

Education, Sport and Culture Minister Graham Cregeen said the annual review covered all schools, including Dhoon.

The last all-island revision of catchment areas came into effect in September, the start of the current school year.

Last year, with the review of catchment areas looming and amid concerns over declining birth rates, Mr Cregeen pledged that there were no plans to close any schools.

That followed a Tynwald question from Mrs Caine, who had called for an open catchment for Onchan School and Ashley Hill School.

Mr Cregeen warned that might cause a bigger problem because ’we could end up with a lot more parents wanting their children to go to another school’.