Time to celebrate and move forward
Council: 'There is a problem in your area of falling rolls.' Community: 'Great, that will give us the chance to have smaller classes and raise achievement.'
Council: 'Sorry we can't do that, education is funded according to pupil numbers, so the fewer the pupils, the smaller the budget from central government'.
There is no 'problem of falling rolls' in the north west of the city, the problem lies with the way education is funded.
Our battle should not be with our local council, it should be with the national Government.
Gordon Brown says he wants to close the gap between state schools and the private sector. Well, falling rolls gives us a chance to achieve smaller class sizes and spend more on each pupil without it costing a penny more to taxpayers.
Let's unite and send a message to Gordon Brown: "Keep education budgets the same when numbers fall and let our state schools have some of the advantages bought by the privileged in private schools."
Wisewood has 775 pupils and the numbers of children living in its current catchment area may, under the worst case scenario, fall to 665 in 2011. Birkdale senior school has 512 (including a 6th form). No-one is telling Birkdale they are too small.
Let us call on our MPs to take this message to Gordon Brown. He says he wants to listen to communities – come on Sheffield, this is our chance to speak up for our children's education.
Teri Connolly, Wisewood Governor
I was both surprised and disappointed to see that John Wilkinson and Diane McKinlay, heads of Myers Grove and Wisewood schools, chose to step into the party political arena.
Some of the statements in the article are misleading and entirely false. I would urge them to take a lead from their local communities and take a balanced view on the issues.
Now that the future of both schools has been secured the school heads have a responsibility to take their respective schools forward effectively and successfully.
Both heads have overseen their schools make some real improvements in recent times. They can both be assured that under our proposal the council will continue to fully support the schools and their employees, parents and pupils.
The fact is that Wisewood and Myers Grove Schools have been saved, in line with the wishes of their communities. Let's celebrate this fact and get on with the job of ensuring both schools carry on improving and delivering a quality education.
Coun Sylvia Anginotti, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet member for Education
THE vote to ditch the plans for the Wisewood/Myers Grove schools amalgamation will bring cause for much celebration in at least one small part of our city. Had the plans gone through, a popular, well-regarded school would have closed.
Whatever the rights and wrongs, however, the arithmetic remains the same. Pupil numbers in Sheffield are falling and unless surplus places are removed the strain on the education budget will cause real problems. The cost of turning our backs now will be paid by parents across the city as money becomes tighter.
It is all too easy for the Liberal Democrats to oppose change for political gain, but power exacts a high price of responsibility and they should say openly how they would deal with the problem. Had they been in power they would have accepted the advice of their officers and brought forward the very proposals they now oppose. Opportunism is an unattractive feature in any political party. The Liberal Democrats should use it sparingly in case the electorate begins to tire of its sterile and vacuous content.
VK Lockwood
IN your article (7 June) about the cancellation of the Wisewood and Myers Grove merger plans you claim that 'everyone in Hillsborough is really happy about it'. This is simply untrue.
I live in Hillsborough, have one child in year 8 at Wisewood secondary school and another in year 2 at Malin Bridge primary school, and I am certainly not happy
Wisewood is a small school in an inadequate building. To the credit of staff and pupils, its performance has improved in recent years, but it is fully subscribed.
The Liberal Democrats, along with Green councillors have for cynical political reasons deprived us of a new school.
There are exciting, fully-funded plans across the country to renew or replace secondary schools with well-designed, environmentally sustainable, carbon-neutral school buildings. It's a pity children in Hillsborough and Stannington will not be among those to benefit.
Paul Wilcox, Ball Road, S6
JAN Wilson is right in her condemnation of the appalling decision to scrap plans for a new school.
As parents of a toddler living in the Stannington area, we were on the verge of moving house to secure a better education for our son. We attended the public consultations and were convinced the project would go ahead.
I have contacted our local councillors, all Lib Dems, to ask why they opposed the new school. I await their reply, along with details of the 'alternative plans'. In the meantime I thank them all for cheating our children.
Names and address witheld
Stopping the closure of Wisewood school has been a victory for democracy.
Steve Ayris replaced Alf Meade because the 2000-plus people who demonstrated against it went to the ballot box and voted against Mr Meade when he refused to carry out their wishes.
He prefered to toe the party line and that was unacceptable to us - the people. The council leader - Mrs Wilson - was already guilty of 'putting politics before children' by trying to implement the closure.
Mr Calverley, Leslie Road, Wisewood
I would like to answer the points raised by G Simmons, Assistant Headteacher, Myers Grove School, in his letter (June 9). He said the proposal was a 'merger, not a closure.' Could he explain what would have happened after the 'merger'? Wisewood Secondary would be defunct.
Mr Simmons asked who represented the electorate of Myers Grove School? Well, Myers Grove catchment area consists mainly of Walkley and Stannington: both wards returned Lib Dem councillors whose party manifesto had a policy to oppose the merger.
Mr Simmons states that the tone of the meetings changed from anger towards acceptance that merger was the only option. Wrong again. The merger was never accepted as being the only option.
Mr Simmons complains that the views of several hundred of his students were ignored. Well, the views of several thousand members of the Hillsborough community who wished to retain Wisewood Secondary were totally ignored by Labour councillors when they decided to press ahead.
An overwhelming majority of people from across the affected communities opposed the merger so finally the democratic view has been respected.
Lastly, I would like to remind Mr Simmons that a merger is defined as the coming together of two equal and willing partners. If one side of a merger does not respect the other and adopts a 'me, me, me' attitude, the merger is doomed.
Robert Palmer, Studfield Hill, Wisewood
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
