Cleves School has confirmed its bid for funding to expand and become a primary school.

They said it was an aspiration for several years and both Manby Lodge and Oatlands knew of the plans.

In response to the public meeting on May 17, which they said it was not officially invited to, the school said one matter had been overlooked in the speculation about their expansion plans - the threat facing it from Surrey’s school expansions.

Surrey has created primary schools at Bell Farm and Burhill in Walton and Hersham and Cleves is concerned it will have to shrink from a five form entry to four form as applications trail off due to the size of the rival schools.

A school spokesman said: “Surrey’s growth plans could potentially impact adversely on Cleves, which means that Cleves would start to shrink in size from September 2014.

“There are not enough children from Oatlands and Manby Lodge to fill five forms at Cleves. We need at least 190 applications to be full each September.

“We are sure parents of Cleves School would feel delighted and lucky to have an outstanding local school that was willing to put in the huge amount of work required to take on an infant department.

“They would also benefit from the knowledge that their children belong to a thriving community at an early age, learning how to function within the community and observing the excellent role models of the older children.

“Cleves is an excellent junior school; it will be a fantastic primary school. We would not allow it to be anything else.”