17/08/04 - Cllr Lister, Education Response

Letter Sent To The Evening Advertiser

Dear Sir,

             With reference to the article “It’s come too late for us” in today’s Evening Advertiser, may I make the following observations: -

(i)                 97% of children in Swindon may go to their first choice schools, but that is taking Swindon as a whole. In the N. Sector some 72 children did not get the school of their choice, and that I would suggest is something like 20% of the applicants for places at Haydonleigh, Catherine Wayte, Abbey Meads and Bridlewood.

(ii)                It may well be that it will cost some £1.25m to put temporary classrooms at Bridlewood, but I suggest that it will be money well spent, for few things are more important than a child’s primary education. Obliging parents to take their children 2 miles or more to school may be good exercise, but it does not enhance their educational prospects.

(iii)              The problem that is currently apparent, will almost certainly be worse in 2005/06, for Primary Schools (PS6 on the Educational campus and PS4, just north of Haydonleigh) are not set to open until Sept. 2006.

(iv)              It may very well be that the primary school admission problem will not be solved with the opening of these two new schools, given that the present schools are grossly oversubscribed and building continues apace to the north of Thamesdown Drive. Notably PS7 in Oakhurst is currently not scheduled to be built at all, though the site has been reserved.

(v)               The simple fact is that there are too few places where they are needed and too many surplus places where they are not needed, with the result that Tribal (who are currently running the LEA) are shunting children into the nearest surplus places in order to meet their commitment to the DfES and doubtless earn a substantial bonus in the process, with scant regard to the convenience or wishes of parents let alone their children.

In short there is no certainty that the problem in north Swindon will be solved when the new schools are built, indeed the strong probability is that the problem will be even more acute. In the meanwhile, a substantial number of young children (4 to 6 years old) and their parents will be inconvenienced to the possible detriment of the children’s education. I am keenly aware that as a Council we are trying to keep Council taxes down, for I sit on the Budget Strategy Task Group that has that as its prime objective, but I firmly believe that education and particularly primary education is a priority investment for the future. Children only come this way once in a lifetime.

Cllr Owen Lister