Councillors have voted to close two threatened Isle of Wight primary schools and keep three open, it has been decided last night (Thursday).
Following months of controversy, the Alliance administration this evening approved the closures of primaries in Cowes and Arreton but voted against recommendations to close primary schools in Wroxall, Brading and Oakfield.
It also gave the go ahead to the creation of a 12-place primary resourced provision for autistic children at The Bay CE School in Sandown.
This evening’s votes, which education cabinet member Cllr Jonathan Bacon was not present for, follows the corporate scrutiny committee’s (CSC) recommendation on
Tuesday for the “whole process” to be referred to the council’s new committee system of governance, due to be brought in from May.
CSC cited insufficient evidence in support of the closures as well as community and social impacts.
At the same CSC meeting, Church of England (C of E) education chief Jeff Williams said the Diocese of Portsmouth was not “bluffing” over its possible legal action against the council over the closures which encompass three C of E schools: Oakfield, Brading and Arreton.
In a letter mentioning possible litigation sent to the council last month, the Diocese described County Hall’s proposals as “unclear, inconsistent and damaging”.
It said the council had not carried out a “fair and reasonable process” in identifying the schools earmarked for closure.
At the beginning of this month, five trade unions representing ‘thousands of school workers on the Island’ wrote to the cabinet, urging them to call off the ‘potentially catastrophic’ plans.
The email, signed by Duncan Morrison (NEU) Mark Chiverton (UNISON), Mark Dickinson (NASUWT), Dom Kingsmill-Stocker (NAHT) and Liam Cumming (GMB), said the closures would affect ‘thousands of children’s lives’, make ‘hundreds of staff redundant’ and damage ‘perhaps irrevocably, five communities on the Island’.
A cabinet report published in advance of this evening’s meeting cited a ‘declining pupil population’ and warned of ‘significant risks’ to some schools’ ‘financial sustainability’.
It says:
“In November 2024, we had 2,311 unfilled physical school places. This has increased from 1,898 unfilled school places in October 2023.
“Falling rolls make planning and staffing decisions difficult, with schools potentially having to make year on year redundancies.
“At times, the effective management of school places will include the need to remove surplus places and/or expand provision to ensure overall provision aligns with forecast need.
“Due to a significant reduction in birth rates on the Island, action is recommended in the primary phase to ensure demand and capacity are aligned and we continue to provide the best outcomes for children, which is the focus of this report.”
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