THE council's July 11 report, Options for Securing a Long-Term Future for Myers Grove and Wisewood Secondary Schools, recommends to either approve the merger or pursue a further consultation to propose a split-site school. This is backed by evidence and research.
I had not appreciated the far-reaching consequences, not just to children in the north-west catchment areas, but also for the whole of Sheffield.
It will affect funding from the whole of Sheffield's education and other funding reserves. We have as
ked Liberal Democrat councillors would they consider using the monies they intend to use from Sheffield’s funds for the two new schools to improve the bottle-neck at Malin Bridge and other traffic problem areas in the city instead. This would benefit all our communities.
The Parents Action Group does not underestimate the emotive feelings of parents from both sides of this debate.
We need councillors to make rational decisions, not based on parents’ emotive feelings but on hard evidence that demonstrates what is going to be the best value and give the best access to modern education to all children in Sheffield.
The Labour and Conservative parties support a merger. The Green Party’s Jillian Creasy told the Parents Action Group that they voted against the proposal in order to allow further scrutiny of the original proposal.
And the independent councillor told us he would base his decision purely on the facts presented to him. The Liberal Democrats support people who oppose a merger.
On July 25, Sheffield councillors will vote on the future of our children’s education in the north-west of the city.
And I think not only will Wisewood and Stannington wait with bated breath, but so will the rest of Sheffield too.
Sue Stephens, Member of the Parents Action Group
Split site solution will not work
THE suggestion of a ‘one school, two site’ solution is simply unworkable. It would lead to an unmanageable amount of traffic at Malin Bridge as parents would have to transport children in both directions at the beginning and end of the school day.
The Government has given a clear indication that if the issue of reducing school places is not addressed, the whole of the BSF funding in Sheffield of £250million will not be granted.
Even if BSF funding should be made available for the two-site solution, sustaining these two small schools will be a funding nightmare for the whole of Sheffield for generations to come.
The report suggests an annual figure of £1.1 million in addition to the budgets already allocated for the two schools. This will have to come from the budgets of every school in Sheffield, not to mention that it would set a precedent of assisting any school which is struggling financially in the future.
The Save Our Community School campaigners have chosen to ignore the professional opinions of all the educationalists involved during the consultations, including the head teachers at both schools, who firmly believe that a one-site, single school merger is the only long-term, sustainable solution for this area.
The full article contains 522 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
