Teaching unions have now issued public comment on the news that the Isle of Wight Council intends to close 4 local primary schools.
As first reported by Island Echo last week, the local authority is making plans to shut down 4 Island schools in a bid to cut the number of empty spaces. This includes St Mary’s, Cowes, Wroxall and Gatcombe & Chillerton primary schools.
If the Council’s cabinet agree to move forward with the plans following a meeting on 8th June, a 6-week public consultation will be launched. The schools won’t close until September 2024 at the earliest, save for Chillerton & Rookley which would happen in January.
Earlier this week Island Echo reported on a petition that has been launched to save St Mary’s in Ryde.
Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“Sustained austerity and the impact of falling roles has meant, this announcement of possible school closures is not unexpected. However, this recent announcement has come as a shock to staff, pupils and families. As 1 would expect, staff have been quick to raise concerns with their union representatives.”
“At this stage, we can only await further details within the formal statutory consultation process. Any school closure is disheartening, even more so when 2 of the 4 are designated rural schools. We are pleased to note that in the case of 3 of the schools, no closure would occur before September 2024. We must ensure that pupils and staff receive full support during this challenging time.”
Mark Chiverton, Branch Secretary of the UNISON Isle of Wight Local Government Branch, HAS said:
“It’s absolutely essential that there should be the fullest possible consultation with families, staff and local communities in the period ahead. This must include the complete involvement of trade unions representing all categories of staff at every stage.”
“The threat of school closures is inevitably already causing acute worry amongst the school communities potentially affected. It’s clearly vital that the views of teachers and support staff are heard loud and clear throughout the consultation process. UNISON will be seeking to work alongside all trade unions with members in schools to ensure effective and meaningful dialogue with Councillors and senior management.”
“It’s also important that the trade unions work jointly with local campaigning groups as they develop with a view to ensuring optimum outcomes for pupils, parents and wider local communities.”
It’s all well and good the council are “allowing” us a voice but that dont mean Jack when there not going to listen. There wrong to do this, simple. Tax the second home owners do what you’ve been doing ie filling your own pockets and just take less for yourself if anything at all. I dont think any government official or council figures should be paid… we as citizens would love to feed you whilst you look after us but that’s as far as it should go. They should want to help us because of us not because they want a fat pension and a whole load of cash… ughhhhh
The usual mad rant for a change Sang. You suggest that “government officials or council figures” should not be paid. No one is going to work for nothing so that is nonsense. These schools will be closed if there is no economic argument for keeping them open. Empty school spaces are costing over £800k per year and that cost is coming out of your council tax. You might be happy funding wasted school spaces but I am not.
Well that’s what you get for striking over pay something had to change to save money so you could get your pay rise
What has to change so that we can pay the staff is a real democracy. And not a pretend one where the Tories and Labour raid our tax money giving it all to their mates. Putin is well impressed how for decades the politicians of all sides have stolen so much yet still have power.
Nothing whatsoever to do with the strikes. This is due to the falling birthrate on the Island. The number of children of primary school age (4 to 11) will fall from 9,200 in 2017 to around 8,000 by 2025.
If that trend continues, there will be no school age children on the island in 50-60 years. Remarkable decline with several obvious causes.
What’s the cause then? Pensioner’s not having enough children? Another agiest rant.
There are several causes but bad economic times generally, and high unemployment specifically, mean fewer babies. Lower or more uncertain incomes matter because having children costs a lot. At present, younger adults are concentrated in lower-earning sectors, doing less secure jobs, bankrupted by childcare costs, and renting poor-quality homes. Many of them want children but postpone it until they feel financially secure enough to support children, and then only have one child or more frequently none. Each couple in the UK now produces 1.6 children, which obviously is leading to a dwindling population. The problem is even worse on the island because wages are very low. We are the architects of our own extinction.
What a silly comment.
The cold hard truth is that there isn’t a great deal to keep young people on the island. By the time they get around to having kids they are living and working on the mainland.
We get a lot of nasty comments on here about young people breeding thousands of kids for benefits, but the truth is just the opposite as proven by the falling birth rate and the falling number of primary school aged kids.