Author: Sal
Cabinet Meeting: Live Coverage On Schools Decision
Saturday, 22nd November, 2008 at 2:20 pm, Isle of Wight
Education, Live coverage, Media, Newport
At the Cabinet Meeting on Monday evening, Keith Woods (Directorate for Children and Young People) will present his report on the proposed schools reorganisation for consideration by Cabinet members.
It is thought that a decision will be made during that meeting on the various options which are laid out in the report published last week.
Given the importance of this decision, VentnorBlog will be reporting live from the council chambers for those unable to attend.
Readers can view the school by school recommendations via the Council Website.
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Have a guess which proposed secondary school is the only one down to have Maths and Computing as its specialism post-reorganisation and to be the lead provider of diplomas in Science and Humanities? Answer: Christ the King. So basically, if your child is academically-minded you will have to be religious (or pretend to be) to access the specialist school. Where is the “parent choice” in that?
It’s in Appendix L of the cabinet paper. Check it out.
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[Voice of God] LET THE HEATHENS BE IGNORANT! COMPUTERS TO THE CHOSEN ONNNES… [/Voice of God].
*Rapt applause from Isle of Wight Council*
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I get the feeling that we weren’t supposed (or expected) to read them, Wendy!
I penned the following to the CP earlier in the week, but they didn’t print it. Perhaps it was too disrespectful, but I’m afraid the council will still have to answer the central point about misleading everyone, as I’ve posed it as a formal question for the meeting.
>I have been reading the recently published council papers, ahead of next Monday’s cabinet meeting to decide on school closures and reforms. These documents are so breathtakingly inaccurate that it is hard to focus on any particular point, but I will try. Suffice to say that the invasion of the Bay of Pigs was better planned.
Much is made of the support for the proposed change to a 2-tier system, as decided by the Council in March, and which has been consistently presented since as a fait accompli. Indeed, Steve Beynon himself made it clear that the consultation period was NOT about structural preferences, as the Council had already made that decision. However, the report from Keith Woods (Mr Beynon’s successor), to be presented on Monday, states that:
“all [consultation] meetings reminded respondents that they could still make representation in respect of the policy move from a primary, middle
and high system to that of a primary and econdary system”. Had this been the case, then the responses, especially from the middle schools and their governors, would have been wholly different!
This disagreement with the facts could, of course, be easily resolved if another statement that: “appropriate recordings and/or notes were taken of the process and audience comments” were not also hopelessly wide of the mark. A few hasty transcriptions have been made, the St.Helens meeting having been summarised in all of 23 words (!) which will give you some idea of the importance that this Council attaches to consultation and to its statutory obligations.
Other objections are dismissed with the glib phrase “No significant representation received against”. These are weasel words – I objected
strongly, both in writing and by email, but this was not significant, apparently. My son thinks it is – he loves his school (Nodehill) and cannot understand why the Council wants to close it and why he hasn’t been consulted. Nor can I, especially as the Education Act 2002 includes a duty to consult pupils on any proposed changes that may affect them.
The Council’s grasp of legal principles seems to be on a par with its grammar, reporting that: “Young people were also concerned that some teachers might loose their jobs”. I wish David Pugh would loose his.
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Fab post Wendy v, well done. It has become apparent for some time that the College Of Christ King (Acronym removed – Ed) will be used as the flag ship IOW school. Look on its web site at their SEN budget (special educational needs) it is among the lowest per pupil ratio on the IOW. Presumably the Lord in his omnipotent wisdom only blights the uninitiated with dyslexia, autism etc. James p also a good posting. I’m afraid Nodehill will close, everyone there thinks so. I expect David Pugh has already chosen his office, it would make a lovely new home for the council wouldn’t it.
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Well, I never thought I’d be spending my Sat night diving into Appendix L of all this guff – but I just have and am outraged by what I see there. But, like those of James P, my written objections to such an outcome were clearly deemed insignificant. It is shameful, unethical, divisive and contrary to the education principles of central government to park so-called ‘academic’ specialities exclusively within the closed ranks of a church school. If I really wanted to set about wrecking the Island’s education system, I don’t think I could come up with a better plan than that now placed before us. How on earth can this be halted?
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Ditto all of the above. I am disgusted at how the council has conducted itself over this matter.
Are they really so stuck up their own backsides that they can’t see how outraged the public are?
Do they really take us for morons?
The elections are too far away – this council needs to understand NOW how they have let down the electorate and the future of the Island. Our children.
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You hit the nail on the head, Rupert: “It is shameful, unethical, divisive and contrary to the education principles of central government to park so-called ‘academic’ specialities exclusively within the closed ranks of a church school.”
Exactly. And thanks for the other feedback so far about specialisms. Of course, Christ the King isn’t a secondary school yet. As “Guard the back door” pointed out on the next schools topic down the Blog (about the prospect of Ventnor not having any primary school in the town, if that one escaped your attention), the notice to change the age range and enlarge CtK is on p62 of this week’s County Press. Four weeks to respond.
My impression is that an awful lot of people are snoozing while the plans to reshape our schools go on apace. Yesterday I was at a birthday party with my young son, and another mum mentioned how pleased she was with Nodehill, where her older son goes. I said it was one of many schools in the formal consultation to have the comment “insignificant representation received” against its name (see James P’s post in this thread). She was aghast. How could that be? Had she written in herself, I asked. Not since the spring, she said. She didn’t even know the formal consultation had been and gone. Why? Because she thought the whole process was on hold until after next year’s local elections.
This is typical of conversations I’ve had with parents in the past few weeks. They are oblivious to the fact that the cabinet meets tomorrow to take the reorganisation to the next stage.
Of course, Ventnor Blog does an admirable job of keeping us informed. And there’s coverage towards the back of this week’s County Press. But I am convinced that for most people the formal consultation has gone right over their heads. Time to wake up, everyone!
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“she thought the whole process was on hold”
As did most people. The council protest that it made the necessary announcements, of course, but if you’re not looking for them…
It reminds me, inevitably, of the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, where the bureaucratic Vogons come to destroy the Earth to make way for a by-pass, and excuse themselves by saying that the plans have been on display in the local office on Alpha Centauri for ages, and it’s too late to lodge any complaint! One feels that Douglas Adams must have been here.
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So this’ll be the work of Steve Vogon, will it?
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