St Anne's is a special school in Lewes that lives up to its name by making pupils feel they are really wanted.

All the children there have problems that need individual help by teachers trained to deal with them.

Now East Sussex County Council intends to close the school. The official reason is a drop in numbers and a reorganisation of the special school system.

It's true the council is having to look at unusual economies this year because of a poor financial settlement from the Government.

But in the long-run, closing St Anne's will cause more harm than good. The children will still need to be educated and all the council will have done is to have destroyed a school which people love.

What the parents of St Anne's need to do is to campaign like fury until April when the final decision will be made about St Anne's.

The council wants to move pupils into special-needs units in mainstream schools. This will be ideal for a small number of children.

But it will badly affect the rest who could be frightened and would probably cause problems for the mainstream schools.

At St Anne's, all pupils can work at their own pace and be encouraged to develop. This would not always be possible at a bigger school.

St Anne's has an excellent reputation and fine teachers. It is almost in the shadow of County Hall.

If councillors and officials care to look out of their window, they will see a fine school below them that does not deserve to die.