Wait 14 months - I suspect there will be plenty of opportunity.

To be honest, I am really cynical about their declaration of interests.

Go to County Hall and ask to see the REGISTER of interests.

I did not say “rich and powerful politicians”, I just said “rich and powerful” to imply people who some politicians suck up to (such as for example property developers) instead of looking after the interests of the people who elected them. Councillors and MPs might be paid peanuts, but they get a few priviledges and allowances. Besides, a lots of them run other business or have jobs in positions that give them enough flexibility. Mind you, a lots of us who work full time anywhere, would also love have an extra £6000 a year. That’s peanuts if you work full time as a councillor, but for a lots of them is just extra money. Also, wouldn’t the fact that some of them might feel underpaid, made them more vulnerable to corruption? Anyway, this is not the forum to discuss about how much politicians get paid. But I think it would be interesting to find out what other business all our councillors have connections with, either as owner of the business or related/befriended to people who run business in the IOW, specially business connected to land and property development. To be honest, I am really cynical about their declaration of interests.

Rich & powerful politicians. I believe that IWC members get about £6k allowance (cabinet about £20k). Proverbs about peanuts may be more appropriate.

Duncan Mills (two layers below Steve Beynon) is the project manager, and his team will be the implementers.

Your concern of the transistion is right IMHO.

I am not taking positions yet in regards to 3 tier and 2 tier systems. I do believe that standards are more important than that. If we are to move to a 3 tier system, this has to be done very carefully and systematically and not in the way that the council is proposing. The transition needs to be done smoothly to avoid disruption on the children who are studying now. But the main point is: Is changing from 3 tier to 2 tier really the solution of the problem, when there are clear and strong signs that even the secondary schools in the IOW are improving? Should we not support these improvements and carry on with them, always moving forward, rather than demoralize teachers who have been working very hard for those improvements?

I also believe that there has been an orchestrated campaign to make our schools look much worst than they really are. This is what we have to be very careful. The way the information has been handled by those who want to close down schools, appears, in my view, to be manipulative. Very manipulative indeed! A lots of people have already reported on how the figures have been fiddled.

Also, if we are to carry on any substantial changes, it has to be pushed by real leaders who we all trust. In my opinion, we don’t have real leaders here. We only have some authoritarian idiots with hidden agendas blocking the way of real leaders. They are only there because too many people did not vote at all, not because they were really chosen by us. I suppose that by been politically alienated, in a way, we deserve what we got. But do we want these idiots to have anything to do with the future of our children? When their “big plans” were put on paper, they were really counting that most people on the IOW would not care. Well, we have shown them that we do care and we can’t let them get away any more. My concern is that most conservatives are not as well developed in their brains as people in other political parties. No offence, there are exceptions of course. The conservatives that have rebelled against the “big plans” are a good example of such exceptions. Also, I am particularly pleased and impressed by the stand that our MP took (and look this is so difficult for me to admit). That’s not about making political party propaganda, it is just about recognizing when they do their work well. But in my view, in general, conservatives, with the few exceptions we know, lack independence of mind and don’t have much analytical thinking. They get too impressed by power, pushy and authoritarian people. They are not imaginative. They have contempt for people like us. They like to hold to their views as gospels and do not have the notion that people have different views and different life styles. They are also very afraid of non-conventional ideas and they are intolerant. They do not have a concept of what democracy means. They are always looking after the interests of the already rich and powerful, because all they want is to be rich and powerful. My fear is that because of these conservative traits, we might not have enough votes for the 4th option next week. Nevertheless, whatever happens, we must not give up and we must be focused.

We all have different views about 3 or 2 tiers - but the main thing now is to keep the primary schools open. If they go ahead with their crazy plans, the secondary schools will suffer as well. The disruption to children’s education will not last only for 3 or 5 years (which is already a very long time on someone’s education and it is fatal). The disruption might last for 15 or 20 years. And there is no guarantee that the plans will work. Specially with the current County Council we have.

(This is all in my opinion of course)

“We don’t need to change our system or structure, we need to change our priorities in delivering standards of education WITHIN our schools.” What does this *mean*? It just reads as corporate noise.

To solve the problems of secondary education on the IoW we dont need to keep them at middle school longer we need to get them into secondary school earlier! Get them challenged academically, socially, aspirationally. Get them mixing with 6thform students (as mentors) and see that there is study after 16. Get them organised for study and equipped for work. Get their teachers to know them really well by Year 9 and important option choices. Get them to understand expectations in terms of expectations of behaviour at 11 when they are more likely to conform than difficult 13-14 age.

I agree - the primary school education is excellent (and the middle schools are very good). Let the village primary schools carry on this good work and extend it until the age of 11. Let the west wight get its own secondary school (WWmiddle site). Let the schools remain at the heart of our communities. And most importantly, streamline an expensive 3 tier system (3 schools = 3 headteachers to pay for, 3 buildings to maintain, 3 uniforms to buy) into two tiers!

Y Cllr Lewis Grant
Isle of Wight Youth Councillor - East Wight
‘3 Tiers, NOT Tears’ (Joint Founder and Campaign Leader)

- lewis_anthony-grant@hotmail.co.uk

I do not believe that by closing primary schools that we are going to have any improvements. If the land is sold to developers, as many believe, then we will just continue the vicious cycle: More houses being built as holiday homes, more locals being unable to afford a house and the only jobs being generated will be to maintain exploitative tourism rather than sustainable tourism. Look at Cowes for example - a town that lives for Cowes Week. The level of the event has gone down considerably in the past two years. It is enough to see the kind of rubbish that is washed on our beaches and they all come from Yatches and weekend sailing boats. Now, there are pubs in Cowes, that are trying to get licensed for a strip club during Cowes Week. I do not intend to be puritanical here, but is that the future we want for our children? To be exposed to indignities just to make a bit of extra money from vulgar new riches? Is that what we want the Isle of Wight to be?

Also, I do not believe that any money from the sale of the land will be reinvested in Education. What are the guarantees we have? None! As I said before I do not believe in anything that Beynon, Pugh and Wells say. And I am NOT putting the future of my child in the hands of those guys!

If you can’t see the correlation between standards AND a change in tiers then you deserve the parochial and stagnant system that we have here.

Of course the island shouldnt change JUST to be like the mainland. But - to keep with the runner analogy - we keep coming 3rd when we should be first, and we should look at what winning racers do to come first (training, diet, structure) and seriously consider adapting our own lifestyle to be winners. To carry on doing what we are doing because ‘at least we’re not last’ or ‘i dont like change’ is committing to failure.