Democracy in Education
Welcome to Standards-Not-Tiers
Supporting Independent County Council Candidates
"education isn't about tiers, it's about standards"
SNT is committed to promoting the virtues of small schools and human scale education in all schools, both primary and secondary - and yes that includes middle schools!
SNT seeks an end to autocratic decision making in schools and local authorities.
SNT believes in "community based learning" and in "keeping education local for as long as possible"
Wholesale educational reorganisation is a sign of massive and unjustifiable failure by local government in the management of schools. It should not even be a last resort in educational policy.
Reorganisation punishes children for the inability of political leaders to address educational requirements by progressive and gradual means.
SNT was established in January 2005 to fight proposals made by the then LibDem/Island First controlled Isle of Wight Council to abolish the
Thank you to everyone who supported us over the last 5 years.
We have all worked very hard but sadly the fight is over. Individual councillors will now need to support their communities in achieving the best possible outcome as the schools reorganisation goes ahead.
Sadly our best effort was not good enough.
Earlier posts:
IWC Cabinet Proposals
Links to the Cabinet Paper and Appendices are below. Click here for the latest SNT Press Release
A science teacher and Deputy Head of an
Absolutely brilliant news from the Science learning centres web-site (see red text and link below if you wish to confirm)
And Island Middle Schools achieve these outstanding - Truly World Class - standards a year early!
GCSE results have also improved for the pupils who have gone through the condensed Key Stage 3
Why is it that this truly amazing fact is not celebrated publicly?
Is it because to celebrate such success would be an embarrassment to the Conservative controlled council who are planning to close all
Why is there not an uproar against this potentially damaging proposal - which will break up the teaching tems which have delivered such quality?
I am a senior teacher in a middle school, who has been actively informing councillors of this kind of information - I have been instructed not to use my automated signature in communication with council in case the councillors think that I am claiming that my views are representative of the governors - All head teachers have in a letter, been prohibited from expressing negative views about the "restructuring", and I have at no point EVER received any evidence that contradicts any argument I have made to support the retention of middle schools. Yet the council are STILL hell-bent on a path to their destruction.
I understand that teachers are fearful of causing a fuss, as they will all too soon (if the plans go ahead) be applying for jobs, and don't want to be labelled as "trouble-makers" - however, if democracy is to operate effectively, the voice of those who have been silenced by the powerful should still be listened to, and the media has a role in speaking up for them.
When there is such a paucity of good news around, why is it that this news seems to be brushed under the carpet and relegated to the editors shredder?
date posted: 09 December 2008
Published today the annual Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 (TIMSS) shows that English 10 and 14 year olds are the highest-achieving overall in Maths and Science in
It also shows that English pupils are now among the top five in the world for science at age 14 and performance in maths at age 14 has significantly improved since 2003, having risen 11 places to 7th place globally.
Other key findings included:
in both subjects and at both grades, between a half and two thirds of pupils have a high level of enjoyment and confidence in their learning
in
at age 14 above average numbers of pupils in
There is a more ‘hands-on’ approach to science in
URGENT ACTION REQUIRED:
Click Here to Support a Community School for Ventnor
The Cabinet Paper is full of untruths and misleading information and in our view does not correctly represent events to date or reflect the procedure undertaken by the Council to arrive at this point. EVERYONE should read the appendices and check that their response is represented. If it is not, or you see something that is not correct then you need to complain.
Click here for some responses that we have received to the failures of these documents.
An important aspect that has so far not merited any serious examination is the RISK that this project will not result in the promised improvements to standards. SNT has consistently argued that wholesale reorganisation involves unacceptable levels of risk that could blight the education of a generation of school children. Appendices I does nothing to allay our fears. Click here for our analysis of these risks.
Paper B - The bit the Cabinet will read - In particular check out point 15 - is that really what they said at the consultation meeting you attended? Let us know what you heard and if it is what they say happened. We think they are busy covering their tracks - and with good reason, as their lawyers will probably have advised them at considerable expense to all of us. The Exemplar PowerPoint of the consultation meeting presentations in appendix D is further evidence that the March Decision was not open for discussion. Previous committee reports to Cabinet (8 April, 3 June) have also reinforced that decision, saying "Cabinet decided on 19 March 2008 that the future school organisation on the Island should be a primary/secondary model"
ALSO: Paper B says: "None of the current high schools either collectively or individually have consistently achieved national standards at GCSE."
In the previous Committee Report to Cabinet of 3 June the same rationale was given but without the word "consistently". So, between then and now the goalposts have been moved. Why? Presumably because Carisbrooke High's GCSE 08 results are above the national average.
What is consistent is this Council's refusal to accept that Standards on the Isle of Wight already are rising at a rate that is amongst the fastest in the Country. GCSE results at Medina and Carisbrooke are examples of amazing improvement. Improvement does not happen overnight and it is a testament to the hard work and high standards of the whole system from primary to middle to high schools. This FACT does not rest comfortably with their plans for reorganisation. We believe that the events of the last 12 months have been extremely damaging for standards.
Appendix A – ‘which way forward for
Appendix B – Previous processes of consultation from 2005 to June 2008. Is this how you remember it? It would appear that nothing happened between 2005 and 2007
Appendix C – Analysis of the formal consultation – 23 June 2008 to 10 October 2008. Check this carefully - did so many schools really not make any response whatsoever? Is your response reflected here and is it reflected in the proposals?
Appendix D – Exemplar PowerPoint of the consultation meeting presentations. Re-live the nightmare - rated X
Appendix E – Primary Capital Programme outline submission. Is £7m dependent on reducing surplus places to less than 10%? David Pugh told everyone that it was. But Peter Connell the manager of the PCP at the DCSF said it was not. Guess who we believed?
Appendix F – Draft Building Schools for the Future (BSF) submission. Is this dependent on reorganisation?
Appendix G – Formula capital programme projection 2010. Is there more money per child? See the SNT view of this.
Appendix H – Home to school transport. No need to worry, they have it sorted - but check out the risk register below and The Cost of Reorganisation £2.4m - Analysis
Appendix I – School organisation risk register. Are these risks justified? Perhaps more importantly, are they reflected in the information being given to the Cabinet for their decision on the 24th November? Click here for our analysis.
Appendix J – Standards rationale for the move from primary, middle and high to a primary and secondary system of school organisation. What happened to the words three tier and two tier? Why use 5 words when 13 will do?
Appendix K – The rationale for the establishment of a minimum of one form entry primary schools. NASS tell us that if this criterion were applied nationally 50% of the
Appendix L – The rationale for competition/waivers, where applicable, the specification outline and the specialisms and lead diplomas for the new secondary schools. This still leaves us with some of the biggest GCSE year group in the
Appendix M – Learning Difficulty and Disability specialist unit provision. Small schools provide good SEN provision for less money and by inclusive means.
Appendix N – Pre-school, Extended school and Community provision. The last minute item - nearly forgot that one until we reminded you!
Appendix O – Outline processes for pupil and staff transition - Oh? Well now they really are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Have you been to a middle school recently and spoken to a Key Stage 2 teacher? And until last week Key Stage Three teachers were at threat too! Middle schools are now dying on their feet just as we predicted.
Appendix P – Next stages timeline. Time to stop this madness - ELECTIONS IN JUNE with 6 months for a new Council to withdraw closure notices and implement new policy based on small community based schools...
Appendix Q – School by school recommendations.
Appendix R – Independent Panel remit. Who will select them - the Council? Demand the NASS and HSE as part of the panel
Appendix S – Funding outline.
Use the task bar on the left to find specific information on the campaign
Scroll Down For SNT's Policy and History
Policy
One Size Fits All Education Has No Future On The Isle of Wight
“One Island” - “
We need to be far more imaginative than any council has been so far. In five years time it is more than likely that the current key stages will no longer be a major structural factor in the education of our children. "Stage not age" is already Government policy and this will lead to the abolition of Key Stage testing.
Those that ask it, and those that answer it with a simple pro-two or pro-three tier solution are not getting to the heart of the matter and they will not provide us with solutions that will stand the test of time.
Any new system needs to grow out of the existing system. That will ensure that our children who are now in schools and the schools themselves are not damaged in the process. This is crucial to their educational chances.
The current school population cannot be sacrificed for the good of those to follow.
Anyone embarking on wholesale reorganisation has by definition no regard for the wellbeing of those whose education will be disrupted in the short term.
They use glib phrases like "for the greater good" and "in the long term" and "the bigger picture".
Wholesale change should not even be a last resort.
If a system is managed properly wholesale change would never be needed - change would be organic, natural and simply part of the everyday work of running an education system to keep pace with sensible modern thinking and government policy.
Reorganisation is a symptom of massive failure and inevitably involves a big body count - and we are talking about children here. So we need to make this "organic growth" the basis for our alternative education policy and say no to wholesale structure change.
But that does not mean leaving three-tiers in place or converting to two-tiers.
Each community, and please note that communities are not the areas as defined by the IWC's area education plan, but the natural communities that are clearly identifiable by those of us who actually live in them, will have their own review of needs, driven by the informed views of those communities, expressed through the parish and town councils, who themselves will be directed on how best to obtain the views of the local community. In many communities the town or parish council will already have action groups and community projects that can be used to supply information and gather feedback on what the community want for their town or village.
Each community will have different requirements.
In some places 4-19 through-school provision will be appropriate together with early-years provision. In other communities, small early years and primary school units would be created. These would be 0-7 or 0-11 and then transferring to the nearest through-school at the end of key stage one or two. In other areas with proven ability to manage a split key stage, the middle school concept could be retained as part of the overall through-school ethos.
In time, as stage not age transfer becomes possible, the movement of young people to the next unit will not be en masse but according to attainment of the stage.
Communities of schools will be created.
This will be accompanied by a reduction in the size of the existing high or secondary schools bringing them down to more manageable levels and creating new through-schools in the communities. These would be the current middle schools or replacements and they would not be large schools.
They might not be single site either. The combination of early years, first schools, primary schools, middle, high or secondary school will depend on local needs and requirements not a centralised dictate from either central government or the local authority.
Remember too, the creation of through-schools would not be immediate.
The process needs to be gradual and considered and must not involve disruption to the main task of delivering good quality education.
Staff in the existing schools should be involved in the design of the new schools - not just the fabric but the design of the management structures that will enable the through-school to function correctly. This will be a process driven by local community need.
Local consultation must be informed by good quality information so that everyone is able to make informed, intelligent and considered responses to the proposals.
A System Shaped By Parents in Partnership with Teachers and the Community
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Brian Mosdell RIP
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8th July 2008
Following feedback from supporters and information received today from sources close to the Council, Standards-Not-Tiers has decided to review its decision not to seek to overturn the Isle of Wight Council's plans for wholesale reorganisation and the establishment of a two-tier system on the Island.
We had felt that everyone had suffered enough and we might only compound the misery caused by David Pugh and Alan Well's decision to renege on their election manifesto promises. We now understand that there may be serious doubts being expressed by some officers as to the viability of the new plans and we also understand that funding remains an issue.
Given these factors and the announcement by the Conservatives that they intend to make the educational reforms the key issue at the 2009 election we are now looking again at the possible options available to any new administration elected in 2009.
An extraordinary meeting of the SNT Executive has therefore been called to decide on an alternative policy that can be put to the electorate in 2009.
Full details of the new SNT policy will be available in due course. In the meantime we can say that Standards-Not-Tiers will seek the introduction of more community based small schools at all levels and are in the process of deciding on a viable means by which this can be delivered. Whatever we decide will be shaped by the needs of the various communities on the
Small school are proven to work and their use can provide answers to many of the problems that are faced by society today.
Issues such as environment, energy use and transport, health and discipline, crime and disorder, social inclusion and most crucially from an educational standards perspective, parental inclusion are all clearly addressed through the use of small schools. Our research has shown that GCSE results are on average much better in secondary schools with smaller year groups and Key Stage test result are better in smaller primary schools too.
To help inform our thinking we have joined HSE - Human Scale Education and the National Association of Small Schools
During the formal consultation and in the aftermath of school closure notices being served, NASS are offering assistance to any schools facing closure on the Isle of Wight. You can contact Mervyn Benford of the NASS by email Click HERE or c/o everychildmatter@btconnect.com
The NASS have vast experience of defending small schools - we need to make use of their generous offer to help.
Don't Delay!
Join us and help promote democracy in education
AND
without this campaign the outcome of the current reorganisation would have been far worse
It's all about standards - not tiers!
How we got to where we are - the recent history
Standards-Not-Tiers was formed following a 4S consultation meeting at
It quickly grew and the membership is now island-wide.
Following a short but very intense campaign in 2005, the
On the 6th of May 2005 an announcement was made by Andy Sutton, Leader of the newly elected Council that the 3-Tier Middle School system would be retained. Wholesale reorganisation would not be carried out.
There followed a tense period of 4 weeks prior to a vote of the newly elected Cabinet.
On the 6th June 2005 they voted unanimously to overturn the decision of the previous Liberal Democratic and Independent Council to accept the recommendations of the Four S Report and instead keep the 3-Tier system.
Standards-Not Tiers resolved to remain a potential critic of the Education System, where in our opinion it fails to deliver satisfactory results or fails to take the views of parents into account.
Our independence from the Education System gives us a unique opportunity to apply pressure that cannot be applied from within. This is an important element of a free and democratic system and will demonstrate to ordinary parents that the Educational Establishment is willing to listen to their view point and where this does not happen the group will be able to act accordingly.
On the 17th July 2006 representatives of Standards-Not-Tiers met with Ian Sandbrook, the then temporary Director of Children's Services and Patrick Joyce, the Cabinet Member for Children's Services to discuss the way forward. At that meeting we were informed of the LSC's proposals to create a limited place sixth form college to compliment the existing high school provision. We were assured that this would not compromise the existing provision and that the high school sixth forms were safe.
The Learning & Skills Council force change
In August 2006 the LSC (Learning & Skills Council) made a new proposal to the Isle of Wight Council. This offered a massive rebuilding programme for the Isle of Wight College to enable it to host a single site sixth form college to replace all high school sixth forms. A consultation process was then begun and all stakeholders were invited to put forward their views. Presentations by stakeholders to the Committee took place during November.
Standards-Not-Tiers in common with most participants in the consultation were opposed to the proposal. Please click here for our submission to the consultative committee in respect of the LSC's first proposal for a limited place 6th Form Facility at the IW College. Please click here for the transcript of our presentation to the Policy Committee on the 10th November 2006, rejecting the LSC's new proposal to close all High School 6th Forms and replace them with a single facility at the IW College.
The proposal was then rejected by the Isle of Wight Council.
The consequences of a Learning & Skills Council victory
If these proposals had gone ahead the Isle of Wight would have been forced to close its high school sixth forms and then with only a three year intake the high schools would have been unviable. The decision would then have been to either close some high schools to increase numbers in the remaining schools or to close all 17 middle schools and some small primary schools and re-organise the education system to two tiers. Wholesale re-organisation would have meant a long period of readjustment.
Click here to see what happened in Northampton - Reorganised in February 2002 and still struggling to cope with rebuilding and temporary class rooms more than 5 years on. We understand that 196 support staff, 78 teachers and 8 headteachers lost their jobs with just over 800 staff having to be redeployed. 17 schools closed and they have used PFI (private finance initiative) money to build new schools rather than the Pathfinder project money being used for Cowes High.
In January 2007, Director of Childrens Services, Steve Beynon, made a new proposal designed to adapt our three tier system to address its main shortcomings and put the Isle of Wight at the forefront of national education policy with the introduction of the new 14 - 19 agenda.
We believe that the consequence of not adopting a meaningful strategy that is able to demonstrate to the LSC and the DfES that we are addressing the problems identified, will lead to the LSC bringing their proposals back to the table and this time they will use their statutory powers to force change and that this will almost certainly lead to wholesale re-organisation.
Why Moving Year 9 Could Make Things Worse
The following table shows the 2006 Key Stage 3 and GCSE results for 4 local Authorities listed according to their Key Stage 3 results - best ones first. As you can see Leicestershire has the best KS3 but the second from worst GCSE results. No prizes for who is last. But just look at Northumberland! Three Tiers and the best GCSE results! We have to be careful, moving year 9 could be a disaster. Changing tiers a folly.
Donations
Please make out your cheque to "Standards Not Tiers" and send it to:
Standards-Not-Tiers
33 Dudley Road
Ventnor
Isle of Wight
PO38 1EH
For over the counter or direct payments: HSBC Bank, Ventnor Branch, Sort Code: 40:45:09 Account Number: 61400487
Thank you!
Councillors Who Intend to Vote for School Closures
| Ward: Wootton | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr George Brown | ||||||
| Ward: Cowes Medina | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Ivan Bulwer | ||||||
| Ward: Binstead | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr William Robert Burt | ||||||
| Ward: Shalfleet and Yarmouth | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr George W. Cameron | ||||||
| Ward: Totland | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mrs Dawn Cousins | ||||||
| Ward: Fairlee | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Michael John Cunningham | ||||||
| Ward: Newport South | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr John Effemey | ||||||
| Ward: Cowes Castle West | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Jonathan Seaver Fitzgerald-Bond | ||||||
| Ward: Ventnor East | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Charles Hancock | ||||||
| Ward: Osborne | Political Group: Independent | ||||||
| Mr John Vere Hobart | ||||||
| Ward: Gurnard | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Peter Andrew Humber | ||||||
| Ward: Newport North | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Tim Hunter-Henderson | ||||||
| Ward: Lake South | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Gill Kennett | ||||||
| Ward: Freshwater Afton | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Roger Mazillius | ||||||
| Ward: Northwood | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mrs Erica Oulton | ||||||
| Ward: Central Rural | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Lady Pigot | ||||||
| Ward: Bembridge North | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr David Pugh | ||||||
| Ward: Shanklin Central | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Susan Jane Scoccia | ||||||
| Ward: Ventnor West | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Andy Sutton | ||||||
| Ward: Freshwater Norton | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Albert Taylor | ||||||
| Ward: Ryde North West | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mrs Diana Tuson - JP (Justice of the Peace) | ||||||
| Ward: Seaview & Nettlestone | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Margaret Webster | ||||||
| Ward: East Cowes North | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Alan Wells | ||||||
| Ward: Cowes Castle East | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr Colin West | ||||||
| Ward: Brighstone and Calbourne | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Mr David Whittaker | ||||||
| Ward: Carisbrooke East | Political Group: None | ||||||
| Mr David G. Williams | ||||||
| Ward: Shanklin North | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
| Jilly Wood | ||||||
| Ward: Wroxall and Godshill | Political Group: Conservative | ||||||
What YOU Can Do
What can you do?
We urge anyone who is against the plans to close between 27 and 41 schools on the Isle of Wight to write to their local county councillor and tell them that you will not vote for them at the next election.
If you voted for them last time, make it clear that you did so because they said they would keep the existing system and not close schools. Remember too that LibDem plans in 2005 would have resulted in 27 - 32 school closures, so they are no better! That is why we are fielding candidates to fill the gap.
Don't swallow their lies! Vote them out. And Please please please - dont be selfish about this - just because your town or village is safe does not mean you should go along with the plans. Island life will change for ever if they get away with this.
Although the election is still 18 months away, school closures will be happening at that time and any Tory councillor, or other councillors that are likely to vote in favour should be worried for their seats!
Our Response to the 2008 Proposals
Following the release of the formal consultation documents by the Isle of Wight Council on the 15th January 2008 Standards-Not-Tiers made this response:
The Isle of Wight Council’s consultation proposals for the reorganisation of schools on the Island is driven principally by financial and religious considerations and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for those living in rural areas that are set to lose their local schools. Advocates of both three or two tier systems will find these proposals difficult to swallow.
Destruction of Rural Communities. The extraordinarily high level of school closures will, no matter what option is foisted upon us, will lead to the destruction of many, mostly south and west Wight communities. This is exactly the plan we predicted that the Liberal Democrat led reforms of 2005 would have led to and it is completely unacceptable.
Undemocratic. Councillor’s Wells and Pugh are guilty of a betrayal of thousands of parents and grand-parents who helped to bring about a Tory landslide in the 2005 elections – largely on the basis that these voters did not agree with the Lib-Dem decision to re-organise our system and abolish middle schools and many small primary schools
Bad for Poor Families. Under these plans the current link between many village pre-schools and their primary school will be lost. Walking your child to school will no longer be possible as many more children will have to be bussed to their primary school from age 4. For many parents on low incomes or state benefits, this will make it very difficult if their child is ill whilst at school as they will be reliant on public transport to bring their child home. And this is the same Council that has indicated an unwillingness to continue the current financial support for public transport.
Fewer Local Schools Will Lead to Less Parental Engagement. By removing children at an even younger age from their local communities parents will be less likely to become involved with school activities, PTA's, Governorship and attending parents evenings or simply meeting the teacher each day in the classroom or playground at dropping off and picking up times. This will most heavily impact on those children whose parents rely on public transport, the poorest in our communities. These are often the very people we need to engage most in becoming more involved with their children's education. It is a fact that a major influence on a child's success at school is a result of parental involvement and engagement in that childs education.
Environmentally Corrupt. So much for an “Eco-Island”. There will be a massive increase in the use of cars for the school run contrary to the objectives the School Travel Plan which is to reduce car use. This means that any measures introduced by the STP will be negated by the impact of school closures. So much for the STP’s stated aim of offering “real benefits to the school, the pupils, parents and the wider community”.
Religiously Discriminatory. Perhaps most worrying, is that under option 1, for the South and West Wight, there will be no standard high school provision whatsoever. Carisbrooke will become a so called “faith school” leaving South or West Wight parents who do not want their child to attend this school no option but to apply for out of area places at Cowes, Ryde or Sandown high schools.
Whilst option one is the least worst option in terms of impact, we continue to oppose all options because they:
- Force a religious high school on the parents of the South and West Wight.
- Discriminate against the rural communities that give the
- Force many more children to have to travel from age 4.
- Make life impossible for poor families who rely on public transport.
- Do little to improve standards – we advocate soft change that addresses the problems not massive reorganisation that creates more problems.
For more information contact Chris Welsford, Chairman, Standards-Not-Tiers, 07854744062
Year 9
Year 9 Moves
We urge the Council to look more closely at the proposal it has made to move year 9 into middle schools. We have serious concerns that, although there is strong statistical evidence showing that Key Stage 3 results could be drastically improved by this change, the effect could prove to be extremely detrimental to GCSE results. More information is required on how the new single trust and governance arrangements will counter the experience of Leicestershire County Council in operating a year 9 in middle schools system.
Although there are examples in Leicestershire of excellent GCSE results Leicestershire has decided that the effect in the majority of cases on their GCSE results is not satisfactory. It is possible that our alternative strategy, proposed in option 1 might be able to overcome these problems but we need information and evidence before we can wholeheartedly accept this recommendation.
We also believe that there are significant issues that need to be addressed in relation to the 14-19 Agenda, upon which all of the current thinking is based.
We draw the attention of the Council to the following evidence:
MOVING YEAR 9 - WHY IT WON'T IMPROVE GCSE'S
Campaign for Proper Consultation
Campaign for Proper Consultation
We are calling on the Isle of Wight Council to ensure that their forthcoming consultation is fully informative, giving all respondents an opportunity to provide their informed views of the options that are being offered. We want our county to follow the example of Leicestershire in providing a good consultation process.
We need a dedicated Consultation Website and a process that allows all viewpoints to be expressed and feedback accounted for.
Click here to sign the Petition for a Proper Consultation - the one thing that has managed to unite all the parents protest groups!
Our Alternative Proposals
Our Alternative Proposal
Ideally we want to see option 1, without the change to year 9 put forward as an alternative to the current options. This should include the ideas that we have formulated for Key Stage Team working as included in the Which Way Forward for Island Education document published by the Council in March.
We urge the Council to reconsider and add at least the option for the existing system to remain structurally the same but to implement the "soft-re-organisation" that we have always called for.
Please investigate these pages thoroughly. Please be as informed as possible before you accept or reject the Council's proposals.
The Cost of Reorganisation
Research released by SNT this week shows that the council tax payer may need to find £2.4m each year as a result of plans to close schools on the
SNT are challenging Alan Wells’ statement in last week’s County Press and say closing small schools will do almost nothing to improve spend per head figures. The research shows that overall, only £34 will be released for each child, amounting to just £612,448 saved each year. Extraordinarily that is less than 10p per child per day. The loss of small schools grant and £3m additional transport costs for 648 eleven to thirteen year olds will produce an overall net loss. This doesn't include the additional transport requirements for those children of closing and amalgamating Primary schools, many of whom currently walk!
SNT said that despite requests for this information at consultation meetings, officers have so far failed to quantify the costs of reorganisation. SNT used data from the Scottish Schools Network, supplied by the National Association for Small Schools. This data is already two years old and therefore fuel price increases mean that the costs could easily be much higher.
Chairman of SNT Chris Welsford said: “They have not done the basic maths. It is easy to say you will save money if you don’t have to prove it. Alan Wells’ says small schools get more than their fair share of the budget but that is meaningless rhetoric. Funding is needs based. Would he argue that we close St Marys hospital and transport patients to the mainland because funding care on the