By BEN TURNER Education Reporter

PARENTS are hoping to enlist former Spice Girl Mel C in the battle to save her old high school from the axe.
Fairfield High in Widnes faces closure as part of Halton council's £100m plans to transform its schools under the government's Building Schools For The Future scheme.
Dwindling pupil numbers are among the factors for the axe with its roll dropping from 1,150 to 700 since 1999.
But today parents revealed they have contacted Sporty Spice, aka Melanie Chisholm, in a bid to high­light their campaign to save the academically-sound school, whose five A* to C GCSE pass rate rocketed from 36 to 46% this year.
The singer, who has rejoined her

Parents hope star can help stop axe

former bandmates for a Spice Girls reunion and world tour, attended the school from 1986 to 1990 and per­formed there during her solo days.
Campaigners hope securing such high profile support will add weight to the fight against plans to "feder­ate" the school on the site of Wade Deacon High and close Fairfield within five years.
Lynne Parsons, whose son Liam, 13, attends Fairfield,, said: "Its smal­ler class sizes mean it's able to focus on personal development.
"We've got in touch with her man­agement and we're hopeful Mel will want to save it. The school, with its emphasis on performing arts and getting the best out of every child,

has helped make who she is."
Barbara Charone,
PR  representative  for I
Mel, confirmed she had
contacted   the   singer's
management about the
parents' campaign.                                  
Head teacher Jeff
Hughes also believes the
school closure would be a" mistake".                              
He said: "While acknow-  \ ledging pupil numbers have   -fallen, the birth rates have grown over the last five years and continue to grow.
"BSF is supposed to be about the long-term and the danger is doing something now they re­gret down the line."
The council says consultation is ongoing and its executive board will decide in November.