Diocese of Wagga Wagga bishop Mark Edwards said there were less than ten students at the school, with no new enrolments for next year.

"Nobody is happy about this, it's very sad," he said.

"Even though it's a very very sad thing to do, we think it's really in the students' best interests not to be at a tiny, tiny school so that they can actually have socialisation."

Bishop Edwards said the school's education was great, but it was tough on the kids during playtime.

"You've just got nobody to play with," he said.

"You might be the only grade 1 child and maybe there's no [kindergarten] and no grade 2 children, so you have to play with the grade 5 kids.

"It just doesn't work, it's closer to homeschooling than going to a school, really."

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The bishop said the Catholic Education Office had subsidised the cost of the school to attract new students, but it was no use when the population of the area had decreased so much.

"There's just not a lot of children in the area and the number is predicted to get smaller next year and the year after," he said.

"A man and his tractor does what maybe ten families used to do in the past and the families are smaller.

"Its a good little school, there's great teachers, they're getting good results, but over the years it's gone from about 18 or 19 students in 2010 and it's just down to eight now and six next year and it's a big cost to the diocese.

"The cost of staffing the school is much higher than the income that we get from fees and from the government per capita subsidy for students, even for a remote school."

Bishop Edwards said it was a shame to close the school, but they were working with the families to make the transition as smooth as possible.

"When you're in small country town every time something closes it's always a terrible sadness," he said.

"It's a wonderful school, it's a little hub of belonging.

"When the school has a swimming carnival, not only the students who go to the school go, but students who used to go to the school come, the families in the district come along and the connection that happens through the friendship and the education there are really strong."

Director of Education for the Diocese of Wagga Wagga Elizabeth O'Carrigan said the school had always been well supported by the community.

"The community will miss that and we understand that but it's unfortunate that when you close a school it means a loss for the entire community," she said.

She said the students could go to the nearest Catholic primary school in Lockhart, which is 30 minutes away, but it would be up to the families.

The public school in Urana also has low numbers.

Mrs O'Carrigan said the school is planning a celebration and commemoration to mark its closure at the end of the year.

"The community itself will decide what they wish to do in a way of celebration," she said.

"Our role will be to support the community with whatever it is they feel is appropriate.

"Usually in the case of catholic school closure you invite previous people who've staffed the school, you invite the local parish community and others, you'd invite representatives of the presentation sisters.

"We'd usually celebrate it with a mass and perhaps some kind of tour of the school, but we'd want the community itself to decide that."

It has not yet been decided whether the the St Francis Xavier school site will be sold or used for another purpose.

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