Islanders quizzed council officers last week over Isle of Wight Council plans that could result in the closure of six primary schools.
The Policy and Scrutiny Committee for Children’s Services, Education and Skills received questions from concerned members of the public including how Island children will be able to engage with the consultation on the County Hall proposals and how the council aims to mitigate disruption and difficulties arising from the plans.
Jen Hughes, a parent representative for Ryde’s Oakfield CE Primary School, said:
“Given that this period of consultation ends in 14 days, and this is predominantly during half-term – 12 days – when will our children be given the chance to engage with the consultation process?”
Ashley Whittaker, director of children’s services, responded:
“In terms of collecting the voices of children and young people, if we go back several months to the period in April and May when we started engaging with members of the community across the whole Island, there were conversations with children and young people at that point.
“So they were absolutely involved in those early discussions and we’re confident that, in terms of the education strategy, the views of those children and young people have been reflected in there.”
Quoting a report from the Local Government Association (LGA), which states ‘mitigating action’ is required to ensure there is ‘minimum disruption to children’s education’, Peter Shreeve, assistant district secretary for the National Education Union on the Isle of Wight, asked:
“Do we have any further details we can share about mitigation now?”
Whittaker answered:
“Transition planning is done on a regular basis already when children are moving for example from an early years setting into primary school or when children are moving from a primary school into a secondary school or when young people are moving from secondary school into post-16 education or training.
“That’s the key principle of it but also a key element of that is distinguishing between the different needs of children.”
In a written question, a couple asked whether the council could provide evidence that it had taken into account the plans’ transport implications for parents and pupils following rural school closures, including “considerable” journey costs with “earlier” and more “stressful” starts for children.
A council spokesperson said in a written answer:
“During the pre-publication consultation phase, all of this information will be analysed and considered.
“This would include mapping children to understand if they are attending their most local school or if they are attending the schools due to parental preference.
“All the detailed information will be included and presented to the cabinet on December 12.”
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