THE COUNTRY’S first Fresh Start school is to close this summer, a year earlier than planned, after parents voted for their children to be moved. Firfield school in Newcastle was created in 1998 from the former Blakelaw comprehensive. But it has made little progress and is to be closed - along with West Denton high school - and replaced by a new church school, All Saints College. Only 4 per cent of Firfield pupils achieved five or more A* to C grades at GCSE in 2000.
