In the afterglow of the Olympic Games, a Governor at Lanesend Primary School has been in touch with VB to express their concern at the council’s plans to reduce the school’s playing field by two-thirds in size with the introduction of a 1.8m high fence.
Lanesend recently relocated from their old school building (to the left of the school on the plans below) into the former Somerton Middle School site. As you’ll see from the diagram below, the boundary of playing field that was previously associated with the school building has now been reduced significantly.
We understand that the headteacher and Chair of Governors were informed yesterday by the Isle of Wight council that a new boundary fence would be erected and that from the beginning of the new school term, the school will have to make do with a reduced playing field.
Speak to the GovernorsIn the letter from the council, it states, “The nature of the additional fencing has previously been discussed and mentioned to the school over the last few months.”
However, as we understand it, the head teacher had informed that council that she was not prepared to discuss the boundary issues with them and that they must be discussed with Governors. This, we’re told has not happened prior to the announcement of the new boundary fence being installed.
Short notice
The Governor who got in touch with us expressed frustration at not only the reduction in size of the playing field – which had previously belonged to Somerton Middle School – but also the short notice given to the school on the matter.
Also of particular concern was the sentence, “We also need to ensure that access for future maintenance to all areas is included.”
Alternative Education Provision Site
Readers may remember that parents of the school had expressed concerns over the relocation of services currently provided by Clatterford Tuition Centre.
It’s proposed that those services be carried out from the former Lanesend Primary School site, as you can see marked on the site map below – Cowes AEP Site.
This is despite a further public consultation on the matter still to be completed.
We have written to the council to ask for a comment and will update the article once we’ve received it.
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