County Hall’s watchdog panel will today (Tuesday) scrutinise the Isle of Wight Council’s expected landmark decision to close 5 primary schools.
The Corporate Scrutiny Committee will pore over a paper due to be presented at Thursday’s cabinet meeting which covers both the case for the closures and a linked statutory consultation that finished at the beginning of last month.
A total of 8 attached documents contain consultation responses and are confidential under the Local Government Act 1972 – ‘information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual’.
At Thursday’s meeting, Alliance administration cabinet members will make final decisions on the closures of Arreton St Georges CE Primary School, Brading CE Primary School, Cowes Primary School, Oakfield CE Primary and Wroxall Primary School.
They will also decide whether to approve the creation of a 12-place primary resourced provision for children with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) at The Bay CE School, another move which has been under consultation.
Signed by education cabinet member Councillor Jonathan Bacon and director of children’s services Ashley Whittaker, the report says:
“In the cabinet report from last December, we highlighted several key issues and challenges faced by Island Schools due to a declining pupil population and the resulting impact of falling rolls.
“The council and school leaders have been collaborating closely to manage this situation, particularly as some schools face significant risks to their financial sustainability.
Article continues below this advertisement “Without financial stability, the resources needed to maintain a diverse and appropriately delivered curriculum are compromised, making it increasingly difficult for these schools to deliver high standards of education.
“This report is focused on ensuring suitable and sufficient school provision is available at the primary school phase to meet the needs of all children and is a key strand to our draft Education Strategy.
“Contrary to the declining birth rate, the Island has seen a significant growth in the need for additional special educational needs provision with 6.6% of our school population (4-19 year olds) requiring an education health care plan (EHCP).”
This crap is rolling on and on, people must
understand, if classrooms are empty then schools
need to merge and close some down, it is not rocket
science.
Alternatively move families from the mainland to the
Island and their children can fill the empty classrooms.
They are just time wasting, obviously have nothing
better to do.
For god’s sake shut up
Don’t like to hear the truth, then stop
reading the truth.
“Don’t be a Numpty all your life”
Remember what happened when they closed all the hospitals on the island?
Now we aint got enough beds.
The same thing will happen with the schools. It’s all about money.