Pupils at St Pius X Catholic Primary in Withywood have pleaded with Bristol City Council to save their school from the axe – four days before its future will be decided.

On Monday, the council's ruling Labour cabinet will decide whether to follow through with a recommendation to shut St Pius along with Stockwood Green Primary, and St George Church of England Primary on Brandon Hill.

The council wants to close the schools between 2010 and 2013 in a bid to 'improve education across the city now and into the future' following a review of Bristol's 110 primary schools. But children at St Pius say they do not want to leave because the school has a safe and friendly environment with good teaching staff.

Shay Wood, 10, from Hartcliffe, said: "I don't want to leave. It's friendly and the headmaster is very sporty. The teachers are funny and I have lots of friends here."

Tianna Morgan, eight, from Hartcliffe, said: "It's very safe here and you can make friends easily. If we move it'll be harder to make friends."

Her sister Asia, 10, said: "I also have a younger sister in Year 1, and if the school closes, she and Tianna would need to go to another school. It would be hard if it closed because everyone is friends."

Louis Jenkins, nine, from Withywood, said: "It's a silly idea to close the school because it's so friendly and the teachers and head teacher are really understanding if we have problems. They help us learn a lot."

Mitchell Boyce, nine, also from Withywood, said: "I've two younger sisters and they'd have to move schools even though they really like it here."

Head teacher at St Pius, Tony Halloran said the school had improved results and had filled many of its surplus places since he arrived in 2006. He said: "Since the start of the primary review process, and all the panic, worry and stress, all the families have stayed with us and said they wanted to stay here. They like the fact we're a family school that can give children individual care and attention. The standard of education here has risen so much and the staff have been brilliant.

"I dispute the statement that we've one of the worst buildings in the city - we've just spent £135,000 on the roof, which has come from the diocese, we've had new doors put in and we also have money to resurface the playground. We hope the council's cabinet will try to be inventive by working with the diocese to look at alternatives to closing the school."

The three schools have had the axe looming over them for eight months.

On January 13, the full council voted to "actively consider alternatives" to shutting the schools – but the final say will go to the cabinet, on the recommendation of the executive member for children, Peter Hammond. A cross party working group will meet again before Monday and will look at ideas for the schools including:

St George's C of E, Brandon Hill: Investigate further the refurbishment proposals for St George's and St Michael on the Mount C of E School, including looking at increasing the size of St George's.

St Pius X Catholic Primary, Withywood: Work with the Clifton Catholic diocese on a clear plan for its south Bristol primaries that addresses surplus places.

Stockwood Green: Work with local councillors, head teachers and governors of all three schools in Stockwood to reduce surplus places by a partnership or federation.

A decision has to be made before the end of the month, when the council has to resubmit its bid for £12 million from the Government for primary school rebuilding.