LETTER: “I URGE THIS PROCESS TO BE HALTED BEFORE REAL DAMAGE IS DONE”

Island Echo always welcomes letters to the editor, which may of course not reflect the views of the publication and its staff.

Letter to the editor – 21st January 2025

“Like many others I was appalled by the sudden decision to include Wroxall Primary in the school Closure programme and consequently filled in the consultation paper on my objections to the Council. This apparently counts for nothing as it seems very possible that the process was inundated and there may not have been enough staff in that department to go through all of them.

“I am concerned that certain factors were not considered, such as the actual numbers involved, we know the birth rate on the Island has declined and that there appears that with this it will be hard to keep numbers up in all the schools. But do we know how many parents choose to home school their children because of lack of choices?  Do we know how much this costs per child to home school and wouldn’t it be better to get them into main stream schooling with better choices?  Do we know how many extra families move to the Island per year with their children adding to the figures, were these taken into account?

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“I have made it a bit of a mission to find out more by contacting families that will be affected by this very flawed process. Despite Wroxall being the butt of many a poor joke about it’s character and residents, it is in fact a very close and thriving community with the School as it’s main focus. It is the hub of the village providing many functions, from early learning nursery, community projects and providing most of all a place where local children can learn in a rural surrounding. This will all be lost!

“Many families have moved to Wroxall with their young families because of it’s very distinct location and would continue to move into the village adding their skills to the community.  It is not surprising that this whole experience have bought them closer together, you only have to look at their social groups to find this out.  With more house’s likely to be built in and around Wroxall you would want to attract young people and families to live in them, without a main school it is more likely these houses will be inhabited by retired people who eventually will need to be looked after with care services.  Do we really want this?

“The effects don’t just stop there though, if this closure went ahead the effects on nearby schools such as St Francis would be felt by increased traffic at opening and closing times, already challenging in Upper Ventnor this will only get much more worse effecting residents. Wroxall by it’s very location has a much better drop and pick up point away from the main road.

“With the potential exodus of young families in Wroxall this can only affect property prices going forward, it is far better to have a vibrant community with a rural school as it’s heart, a place where people will want to move too, surely this must be worth saving.

“Another strong argument for keeping the school is the £2.5M spent on it to make it into what it is today, as a taxpayer I would not like this money to have been wasted rather I would like to see it’s investment as a future for Wroxall and it’s residents.

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“Finally this school could be utilised even further, the Island desperately needs more special education needs (SEN) and where better than Wroxall in it’s unique rural setting to set up separate SEN provision within the school.

“I will be fielding a question at the EGM on the 29th January, I urge this process to be halted now before real damage is done not only to the school but to the community of Wroxall”.

David Groocock
Ventnor