SOS - Save Our Schools!

The Isle of Wight Council is organising a series of meetings from Monday 28 April as part of the latest phase of its education reforms.

Eight meetings will be held across the Island where representatives from individual schools, pre-schools and governing bodies will be invited.

It was on 19 March this year that councillors voted to take forward an option that will see a new two-tier educational structure on the Isle of Wight phased in from September 2010. The meetings are an opportunity to look at several possible implications of the decision for the local area in the light of representations provided by schools and the public.

Suggestions and comments made during the individual meetings are a key part in forming the final report, which may mean potential options for individual areas could change by the time the report is presented to Cabinet. Those attending will also be given the chance to give representations to the council. Union representatives will be invited as observers.

A report on the next phase of the council’s reorganisation plans will be presented to the Cabinet on 3 June with formal public consultation beginning soon after.

The report itself will be published on the council’s website, www.iwight.com, on 23 May. This report will reveal the latest modelling, including a revised list of school locations.

Isle of Wight Council Director of Children’s Services Steve Beynon said:

“As part of our commitment to keep those working in schools and pre-schools informed of the latest regarding the proposals, we are organising these private meetings before the publication of the final report. Members of the public will get another chance to have their say over the summer when formal consultation begins. Details of this will be revealed over the coming weeks.

The modelling of the structure councillors chose to take forward is continuing as I speak and we will consider all comments and views that come out of the meetings. We have already revised some of our proposals following representations made by both schools and the public during the informal consultation.“

A vote of no confidence in the IW Council’s director of children’s services Steve Beynon has been passed by the local executive of teaching union NASUWT — and it has been overwhelmingly backed by members .

The executive unanimously agreed on the vote, with members backing the result at a ratio of 15 to 1.

David Porter, of the NASUWT, said the reason behind the vote was Mr Beynon’s relationship with the Island Teaching Council and because members believed he had undermined Island teachers, headteachers and schools in a report in the March 13 edition of the Independent newspaper, in which he was reported as saying some heads, particularly at middle and high schools, who were just not strong enough.

“Mr Beynon has lost the faith and confidence of the Island’s teachers,” said Mr Porter.

Cllr Alan Wells, Cabinet member for children and young people, said Mr Beynon retained the confidence of the authority’s leadership. In the many recent meetings with headteachers and other professionals there had been no suggestion whatsoever of the teaching profession on the Island having no confidence in Mr Beynon.

Chief executive Joe Duckworth said Mr Beynon had the complete confidence of his fellow directors and he was extremely disappointed at such a personal attack on an officer by a union representative.

Courtesy of the Isle of Wight County Press

We have just been sent in the following statement courtesy of Standards-Not-Tiers.

Councillor Alan Wells, Isle of Wight Council cabinet member for children and young people has reportedly said:

“The details regarding the location of secondary schools form part of an area by area discussion which the council will be holding with head teachers and chairs of governors later this month.

The motion agreed at Full Council on March 19 said that secondary schools would be established with lower (11-14) and upper (14-19) sections. These schools would be established on the same site wherever possible and would provide a focused learning environment for pupils.

The intention is not to divide the secondary schools but to break them down into manageable sections on the chosen sites and is not a junior high (Middle School) model.

Instead, under our proposed set up, there would be single management, leadership and governance of the secondary schools across the upper and lower sections – a situation which is not uncommon on the mainland.”

We understand that throughout April and May there will be a series of area by area meetings held for Headteachers, representatives of governing bodies, pre-school leaders, and union representatives.

These meetings will consider the original proposals under option 3 for school organisation in the area, as published in the consultation document, any alternatives as a result of submissions made by governors of schools in that area or further work by officers in the light of the consultation responses.

Following up from our previous article on Independent - Letters: We Need Small Schools in our Towns and Cities, Wendy has sent in a letter and had it published on their website and in the Education & Careers section of today’s The Independent (3rd April).

Threat Remains

Mervyn Benford (Letters, EDUCATION & CAREERS, 27 March) highlights the countrywide crisis facing small schools. To update the Isle of Wight story, the council voted on 19 March to close its 16 middle schools, reorganise to a two-tier system, and to close “fewer” primary schools than originally threatened.

But as at least 25 of the island’s 46 primaries were on the initial hit list, “fewer” could still mean a large number. We won’t know the final tally until the summer.

The Isle of Wight council is driving through this reorganisation with no evidence that it will improve standards; and many successful schools remain threatened. National government has given councils the power to make local decisions about school organisation, and argues that councils are democratically accountable for those decisions when they come up for election. The next local elections on the Isle of Wight are in 2009, but by then our Tory council (which won by a landslide last time on a promise of retaining the three-tier system and protecting rural schools) will have begun a very expensive series of changes.

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VentnorBlog ran a very funny April Fools story a few days ago. It could be suggested that it shares a few similarities with the events that have been happening on the Island regarding it’s schools.

Click here to read the story. Make sure you read the comment from “Chris” below the story afterwards!