PARENTS of children at the Cathedral School have formed their own working group in response to the cathedral's master plan project to ensure the school's interests are "properly represented".

The future of the school is closely tied to the cathedral's new plans with options involving it moving out of its current home in the Bishop's Palace into a new build nearby.

The cathedral is in the middle of its own consultation holding open days and gathering feedback from a number of parties.

Now parents, concerned the school's interests may not be fully represented due to its structure, have have been working together to conduct their own surveys on the cathedral's master plan.

They say the surveys will be separately aimed at the parents, the staff and the pupils and will be confidential so that no individual can be identified from the responses.

Jacqueline Monro-Higgs, a member of the parents working group and whose two daughters attend the school, said: "The majority of parents at the school support the cathedral's general plan to look at the Cathedral Close, to find genuine improvements and to improve the facilities at the school.

"Our concern is that due to the way the school is set up there are a significant number of school governors who have direct or indirect links to the cathedral and chapter and that as a result it's possible the school's interests are not being and have not been properly represented.

"Our aim is to ensure that the improvements proposed which affect the school are all in the best long term interests of the school."

At the end of June, the cathedral unveiled a master plan which involves opening up some of the grounds used by the Cathedral School to the public to restore a Constable view of the building that has been inaccessible to the public for several generations and creating a new home for the Magna Carta in the Bishop’s Palace.

On July 1, the Dean of Salisbury Cathedral stepped down from her role as chairman of the Cathedral School governors due to a conflict of interests.

The Very Reverend June Osborne who is leading the cathedral's master plan project, said it was "important the school maintains a clear autonomy in its own decision-making".

The cathedral's next open day on its master plan, entitled Beyond the Major Repair Programme, is on August 12 at the cathedral chapter office, with its consultation ending in September.

Mrs Monro-Higgs said: "For many of us, it's unlikely that our children will be affected by the proposed changes and so this really is about the long term future of a school which has been in existence since 1091.

"It's an absolutely amazing school - we love its ethos, its fantastic community spirit and it's holistic approach to education. It is a very happy school. "We really want to work with the cathedral on this and welcome its plan to make improvements for the future."

The group aims to present its results to the cathedral, parents and staff in September.

Cathedral executive director and chapter clerk Katie Sporle said: "It's really nice the parents are leading the way and showing that this is something that everybody should be involved with.

"That's exactly what we wanted - we want to have full engagement with all the possibilities and opportunities for the future for the whole of the Close."