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.
This from Penny Derham, Wroxall. Ed
As a taxpayer with no emotional links to the schools earmarked for closure I have been deeply disturbed with the number of inaccuracies people have brought to light that have been glossed over or worse totally ignored.
Recent revelations in the press claimed the IW council didn’t do sufficient research into their own proposals relating to ownership of three of the sites they are planning to close adds to my massive concern with the process.
The Isle of Wight Cabinet seem indecently hell bent on pushing this through before they are disbanded in May instead of pausing, allowing the full council a say and ensuring complete transparency
Academies should be included in review
As a tax payer I welcome the need to address surplus places on the Island, but I believe it needs to be a whole Island review of schools (including academies), looking at financial sustainability, school numbers, ofsted reports and the costs associated with maintaining the school.
£2m spent on Wroxall
It seems incomprehensible that only a few years ago the council saw fit to spend over £2 million on Wroxall school and now sees its only option as closing it.
If they didn’t know a few years ago that the school wouldn’t be viable, how can they be so confident that in a few years the reverse won’t happen again, and they’ll be spending more taxpayer’s money searching for new premises.
Some schools may need to close
I don’t think many dispute the council may need to close some schools but surely, they should look at those that need extensive maintenance because of their age or those that don’t conform to modern heating/ventilation standards, or those that need adapting to meet the needs of disabled children (as Wroxall already has been adapted).
Open specialist SEN provisions within the school
Now they can no longer use some of the sites they had planned for SEN etc why not review the decision to shut Wroxall and look at some of the options the parents put forward, such as opening specialist SEN provisions within the school, its already fit for purpose and been adapted to meet the needs of these children and it has plenty of safe parking for parents to drop off their children.
This decision would also have the benefit of supporting the “presumption against the closure of rural schools”.
