Call to rethink Purbeck schools reform (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Call to rethink Purbeck schools reform
11:10am Friday 20th February 2009 in Search By Laura Kitching
COUNCILLORS in Purbeck are calling for Dorset County Council to ‘think again and improve its consultation process’ before changing the area’s education provision.
Parents and supporters of the Purbeck Middle Schools Campaign Group hailed the outcome of a packed special council meeting, held at the Purbeck School in Wareham as a ‘huge encouragement’.
The meeting was held to discuss the district council’s response to Dorset County Council proposals to change the current three-tier education system to a two-tier system in a bid to reduce surplus school places.
This would see the closure of all four middle schools in Purbeck – Bovington, Sandford, Swanage and Wareham. The district council refused to comment on the relative merits of either system of education, as it is not an education authority.
However, it has called upon the county to reconsider the options and ensure that parents, teachers, governors and children have a say in deciding which of the options should form the basis of education in the district.
Andy Kent, chairman of the Purbeck Middle School Campaign Group attended the meeting.
He said: “Councillors were angry that it has been left until the review team have rejected all options, other than reorganising to two-tier, before involving the wider public and that has undermined the quality of the debate at this stage.”
Mr Kent said 20 members of the public spoke during an extended public participation period and ‘none supported the county council proposals’.
He said: “Many objections were raised. They varied from the environmental impact of the proposals, the horror of 11-year-olds being bussed from Swanage to Wareham on a daily basis, the disruption to pupils currently at the schools which would be extended.”
The district council will now submit its detailed response to the consultation. To find out more about the current consultation, visit www.dorsetforyou.com
