Competition notices for the “new” secondary schools that Isle of Wight Council plans to create as part of its proposed reorganisation to a two-tier education system have been issued.
The council intends to replace the five community high schools (Ryde, Cowes, Carisbrooke, Medina and Sandown) with new schools on the same sites catering for ages 11 to 19, instead of 13 to 18 as they currently do, a transition due to be achieved by September 2011, alongside the phased closure of the Island’s middle schools and extension of the primary age range to 11.
In addition, two primary school amalgamations – East Cowes/Whippingham, and Chillerton & Rookley / Godshill / Wroxall – are due to be let by competition as new schools.
The full competition notices are available to download on the council’s Web site.
Site Shrinkage?
There’s a lot of detail to take in, but one glaring change we noticed skimming through the documents is that the “new” Carisbrooke Secondary School would occupy only about two-thirds of the current high school site.
Perhaps those familiar with the other high schools can take a look at the maps in the full competition notices and let VentnorBlog know if there is any similar “shrinkage” there.
Potentially worrying is the statement in the notices that, aside from Cowes, which already has funding earmarked, each new secondary school has estimated capital costs of £250,000 but that the availability of BSF (Building Schools for the Future) funding to cover the far more substantial costs of remodelling the schools is “not yet clear”: that’s £18 million to £28 million per secondary school for Carisbrooke and Medina (or Fairlee as it’s called in the competition notice) and £28 million to £36 million each for Ryde and Sandown secondaries.
The idea of competitions to run schools arises from 2006 legislation (the Education and Inspections Act), so it is relatively new and untried.
We believe the Isle of Wight is the first local authority in England to propose letting all its secondary schools (with the exception of Christ the King) at once by competition. The local authority doesn’t intend to bid for the schools, but will act as adjudicator for bids which could come from on or off the Island.
The Office for Public Management (OPM), an independent organisation commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to support the Isle of Wight Council to run the new school competition, will be running seminars for those interested in knowing more about bidding for schools.
More details to follow.
Image: blech
