A special school judged one of the best in the country may have to close due to falling pupil numbers.

Staff held a consultation meeting at Ormerod Nursery School in Waynflete Road, Headington, Oxford, yesterday to discuss its future and also the secondary school, which is based at the Marlborough School in Woodstock.

The school for children with physical disabilities currently has 10 children attending the nursery on a part-time basis and 27 pupils based at Woodstock.

In 2002 the primary school closed down due to lack of pupils. A year later Ormerod was praised by Ofsted inspectors as one of the best special schools in England.

Pupil numbers are expected to fall further, with predictions of just single figures at the secondary school within four years, because more children are being successfully educated in mainstream schools.

School governors have produced a consultation document which presents staff and parents with two options: Continue as at present, closing when pupil numbers fall below a sustain- able level Make the secondary school into a special educational needs centre as part of the Marlborough School.

Pupils of Ormerod already take a large number of their lessons with Marlborough pupils and the two schools' buildings are not distinct.

Under the plan the special needs unit, formerly Ormerod secondary school, would help pupils with communication and interaction difficulties as well as existing pupils with physical difficulties.

Nursery provision would not continue in Headington, but pupils would attend satellite nursery groups at other mainstream and special facilities near where they live.

Headteacher Clive Peters said: "In order to preserve the great provision here we have come up with a plan which we hope will be effective.

"The actual link with Marlborough will hopefully be retained. It has been an outstanding link and we are very proud of it. It is well known all over the country and indeed nationally. It is too good a provision to let just disappear and that is what would happen if we let it go down to the figures we see in the consultation document."

Prue Leeding, a speech therapist who works with nursery age children at the Omerod School in Headington, said: "It is a bit worrying because the provision is being moved somewhere else but we don't know yet when or how.

"It could be seen as positive, but we have to be careful we don't lose the service we have built up. Here we have occupational therapists, speech therapists and physiotherapists working together, planning programmes together so we can take a holistic approach, we can talk to each other.

"Working in separate groups, the challenge will be to make sure it is as good as here and that parents get the same level of support."

A copy of the consultation document and questionnaire for parents and other interested parties which must be submitted by June 16 is available from Oxfordshire County Council's website at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk A meeting of parents and staff is to be held at the Marlborough School today at 3.30pm.