OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
Maya Malfatti Woods, shares this letter sent to the Isle of Wight council as part of the Schools Reorganisation consultation. Ed
We are writing to you regarding the proposal of closing Wroxall Primary (amongst others) which we are greatly concerned about.
When it comes to education, numbers can’t be crucial to decide over our children’s future. Wroxall Primary provides a safe, friendly, space to learn and grow. The teachers and carers (of which many would lose there jobs!) are qualified, engaged and passionate about the school, with a lot of experience to pass on to the young ones. We also embrace the inclusion of SEND children in their classes.
Education should not be manipulated by money
We strongly believe that the possibilities of learning in a mainstream school should not be manipulated by money. Nor the lack of it. As we all know, following misleading promises of the previous government, in the last 14 years more and more cuts were put on schools and SEND funds all over the UK. Former (local) MPs have done nil to put out a pledge for local schools funds.
Small and mixed age classes are greatly beneficial to all, as the older children can improve and learn about empathy and care-taking as the younger ones either learn total on responsibility or stand their grounds. This counts particularly for children without siblings. They can create and recreate more authentically a child’s natural learning environment.
Protecting the environment
There’s the environmental thought of less polluting the beautiful, rural surrounding of Wroxall community. Children can be taken to school on foot if they live close by. On dry days we take our child to school even from Ventnor on the quiet back roads on a bike. If we go by car, we make sure to collect other pupils and make it environmentally friendlier as there are still no school busses on that route!
On school runs Wroxall has enough space for everyone to park safely in the nearby car park.
Gap in the community
The closing of Wroxall Primary would leave a massive gap in the local community and young families, as we all contribute to it with activities and festive events.
It would also create a huge area in the South East Wight with no primary school at all, should Godshill close as well!
Our personal experience
On a personal level: our daughter has joined Wroxall primary from Year 2 as she was homeschooled for nearly two years before. She started reception in Niton where she didn’t get on at all in a crammed classrooms, filled with very young children. We took her out of school for this and other reasons.
She has over the last year settled in beautifully at Wroxall and is the happiest pupil. She loves her class mates, has made many friends, adores the teachers and flies in all subjects and social skills. She now tells us she’d never want to leave her primary – ever!
Any closure would cause great disruption
Disruption of this great and nourishing path would not only devastate her but most of her school mates and friends. She finds sanctuary in this lively, friendly and tolerant school.
As we (like most caring parents) want our child to grow into a free and content human being. Wroxall Primary is our well thought of choice and is the very best place for her to become just that.
Reasons for opposition
Merging our school with St Francis (or any of the other primary schools on the Wight) is not an option for us and many other parents and children for the following reasons:
- We don’t want our child to be in a direct religious environment. We decided to raise our child as a free-thinking and liberal person who will be able to make such fundamental decisions when grown up.
- The classes and in fact the whole school is too big and understaffed in our regards to make sure, every child gets the attention and interaction they need to fully flourish.
- Another point to consider is the already intense if not chaotic state of traffic in Upper Ventnor around school run times. It will affect the neighbourhood immensely as the roads are dangerously overfilled at these hours.
- A lollipop-person or two will finally have to be placed in the areas on extra costs.
£2m already spent on Wroxall
We have learned that additional classes like the ones from Wroxall would be accommodated in “temporary” outbuildings (on extra costs again!). Probably cold and gloomy and uninspiring to any primary pupil. After round £2 million have been invested into redoing Wroxall school into an extraordinary child friendly layout!
We won’t accept second best as no one should be made to when it comes to education for our children.
Find solutions together with us
Hence we would urge you and the government to find solutions together with us, the parents and schools, which will lead to no closures of Primaries on the Isle of Wight.
After the consultation at Wroxall primary last week (30th September 2024) where some of the above was mentioned and stayed eventually unanswered, I am mainly left missing a strong confirmation from both the council as well as our local MP Joe Robertson to even attempt to oppose, speak up and demand more school funding from the Parliament and DFE!
A huge lack of creative, innovative politics
There is a huge lack of creative, innovative politics regarding this matter. We haven’t seen true passion from either the council nor our MP to improve the funding situation on the Isle of Wight.
We, the parents and community, need to be presented and involved with options by the government to avoid all school closures.
We need a shift in funding priorities now
It seems it’s simply been accepted and the local government refuses to commit to their basic obligations and take immediate action for the welfare, mental health and adequate contemporary education of our children.
The three main points by the speakers at the consultation were:
- Sustainable school system
- Improve special needs education
- Work force development
for which to blame are again the funding cuts!
We need a shift in funding priorities now! Anything else is treating symptoms.
With many thanks for your attention and consideration.
