On Monday evening, we met up with Mervyn Benford from the National Association for Small Schools (NASS).
He’d been invited along by Standards Not Tiers to discuss the current situation with the Island’s proposed school reforms and answer questions from the public and we caught up with him beforehand for a chat.
Mervyn isn’t just talking off the top of his hat. His background in education is extensive.
He’s been in education for 45 years, with 15 of those being as a headmaster. He moved on to be an OFSTED inspector and now is a consultant. He’s currently working with the education system in Sweden, which as many of you probably know, is a country with a very impressive educational record already.
He’s got a lot expertise in the subject and is well worth listening to.
“The public is not being told all of the facts”
We began the interview by asking Mervyn what are the issues facing Island parents and those working in schools?
His concern with the process was obvious, “The public is not being told all of the facts that they need, about small schools or school size as an issue, in order respond to the consultation. They’re not even being given enough information about their own situation in their own areas, in order to make an informed decision
“If a parent has to decide how to respond to the consultation about their school closing and their children being moved somewhere else, and if they’re not allowed to know if their road is safe (Ed: This is the case in St Helen’s) or if it will cost money if the children have to be bused, then how can that parent possibly make a response?
“This is being repeated up and down the Island.”
He was genuinely concerned that Island members of the NASS were being ‘sold down the river’. A worrying statement for any parent of a child of school age to hear.
The second item that Mervyn showed great concern for was what he referred to as the ‘spurious’ issue of IW Council’s minimum of one form entry.
He pointed out that NASS has lots of research proving that “Schools with under a hundred (pupils) on the role are producing the best results.” By strong contrast the council, he says, has shown no proof to the contrary.
He went as far as pointing out that if the IW councils rules were applied across the country, all small schools would be wiped out.
Lack of guidance
What was most worrying of all was Mervyn’s third point that in failing to provide adequate information, the authority is in breach of statutory requirements.
Statutory guidance says that they most provide sufficient information and many feel that this has not happened.
It’s not too late to have your say
However, it’s not too late to make your views known to the Council and influence the process.
Mervyn made it very clear that the public’s views must be considered when the decision makers put forward their plans for the schools. This is a statutory requirement and if representations were made by the public and then ignored, the council would be in breach of those regulations and could to held to account.
The message is – make the most of the extension of the consultation period – let the council know how you feel about the changes that will affect your children and grandchildren.
Will Closing Chale Free up Money for Other Schools?
When the reorganisation of the schools was being discussed, Chale School was often brought up as an example of the imbalance in the primary education across the Island, with the IW Council saying that it wasn’t right that resources be spent on such a small school. It was disproportional, they said.
Mervyn has see this approach before, “This is how councillors always frighten the public to persuade them that somehow they’re losing out. They’re not. The amount of money available if you close all of the small schools in an authority is a fragment of the overall budget.
“It’s a myth, a convenient myth. Some of our professional colleagues, who ought to be supporting the argument have decided that small schools are an expensive luxury. Despite the fact that they get better results.”
The costs of transporting children
Back in June Melanie Swan asked the education officers what the cost of transporting the children from the area of their current school to the new schools would be – after much badgering, the officers admitted that they didn’t have the figures.
Pretty amazing when you consider it’s a major part of the plan, especially when the argument from the council is that money will be saved by closing the small schools.
In light of the failure of those officers being able to provide the information, we asked Mervyn if he knew of any rough numbers on this important issue.
He told us that, based on figures from schools in Scotland and Shropshire, “using present contractor estimates, the costs comes out at around £1,000 – £1,500 per pupil, per year, per five mile journey.”
Listen to the interview in full by clicking
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/mervyn-benford-nass-interview.mp3]
