Solent Middle School has just received its latest OfSted report – achieving Outstanding.
Not only did they get an overall Outstanding grade, but achieved Outstanding in every one of the 27 categories that the school was measured on.
They literally couldn’t have got higher marks in their assessment.
Brian Evans, the OfSted lead inspector said, “I think that Solent Middle is an outstanding school that achieves very high standards.”
From Outstanding … to Closure
Solent Middle is one of the schools that the IW Council has decided to close.
Despite this, we understand that the team at the school is sticking together, in the words of a source, the staff are “doing everything that they can for the children at the school.”
Cllr Pugh – Back us or sack us
In July 2008, Cllr David Pugh, current Leader of the Isle of Wight council tied the re-election of the Conservatives to the schools reforms, which will lead to the closure of a number of Island schools, including Solent Middle.
Isle of Wight radio referred to this at the time as the Conservatives ‘Back us or sack us’ approach.
In the official press release from the Isle of Wight Conservative Group, Cllr Pugh was quoted as saying, “We are putting our plans for reforms to the Island’s education system at the heart of the Conservative re-election campaign – giving the Island a clear choice in 2009.”
Later he said, “This announcement will allow the Island to have its say before the ultimate decision (to close the schools) is made.”
The elections are next month.
