County Hall’s school place planning process, which could see the closure of six Isle of Wight primary schools, has ‘basic flaws’, a councillor has said.
An open letter addressed to the Isle of Wight Council’s cabinet from Cllr Nick Stuart, representative for Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet, raises concerns over the lack of a criteria for the process ‘agreed by all stakeholders’, missing clarity over costs and what effect the school place planning consultation has had on the council’s latest closure recommendations.
Cllr Stuart’s communiqué has been sent in advance of a cabinet vote this evening (Thursday) on recommendations to close Cowes Primary School, Arreton St Georges CE Primary School, Brading CE Primary School, Godshill Primary School, Wroxall Primary School and Oakfield CE Primary School.
It said:
“The process has basic flaws and as the decision making body I recommend you delay action until you have satisfied yourselves you have the agreement of all parties to the selection process.
“I have pointed out in public and privately for over two years that it is essential to have the criteria for a school planning process agreed by all stakeholders before you start the process of selection.
“It is bizarre that there is no agreed set of criteria with appropriate weighting and a matrix for decision making.
“There is no clarity of how the stated cost of delaying a decision of some five million has been reached and no analysis of the effects of external delays or of mitigation by taking alternative approaches.
“There was extensive contact from the council and administration and a full collection of opinions from stakeholders. But a genuine consultation suggests real outcomes and I do not see any significant changes to the recommendations.”
The letter added the council’s documents ‘utterly fail’ to show why the six primary schools listed in the plans were chosen out of the ‘whole Island cohort’.
It also said ‘hundreds of pages’ of ‘considered opinion’ and ‘suggestions’ from residents and organisations have been ‘summarised’ and ‘dismissed’ by County Hall.
The refusal of ‘three out of four academy schools’ to engage with the council is described as a scandal which should have been ‘pursued vigorously’ due to it making a ‘mockery’ of the process.
The council report setting out the closure recommendations said:
“The council is in the process of developing a new education strategy for the Island to improve educational outcomes for all children.
“A vital element of this emerging strategy, a draft version of which was published on 8 July 2024, is aligning the number of primary school places with the changing population size.
“Having a certain level of surplus places across our schools provides flexibility; allows for movement onto, and around the Island, and helps meet parental preference.
“However, the consequences of having too many surplus places can be severe.
“The main impact on schools of surplus places due to falling rolls is the resulting reduction in individual school income, which without a corresponding reduction in costs, results in a deterioration in the school’s overall finances.”
It added the ‘main principle’ of education provision is to provide schools with ‘high quality’ standards and which are ‘financially sustainable’ in the long term.
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