Clare Middle School responds to SOR options

Headteacher Nigel Evans and the governing body of Clare Middle School have sent a letter home to the parents of children attending the school explaining the three options proposed by the Suffolk County Council and why option 3, a secondary school in Clare is viable.

It reads that The Governing Body believes that Option 3 would best meet the needs of children and young people in our largely rural community for the following reasons:

• Our rural community has a different character to the urban centres of Haverhill and Sudbury.


• The Clare Middle School site would be retained for educational purposes and not be simply ‘disposed of’.


• Clare Middle School has been recognised in its recent OFSTED inspection as being good with outstanding features. A Clare High School or Community College would be in the best position to further develop and extend this high standard.


• The site was built as a secondary school in 1955, changing to a 9-13 middle school in the early 1970s, so a change back should not be overwhelmingly difficult.
  The middle school has technology college status, so again is in an advantageous position to meet the needs of the 11-16 age range.


• There is room for expansion of the buildings, while retaining existing playing fields, on what is a magnificent site.


• Former Clare Middle School pupils at Samuel Ward do exceptionally well when they take GCSEs, with 87% achieving A* to C grades in 2006, far exceeding national, county, Castle Manor, Sudbury Upper and Samuel Ward’s own averages. A Clare High School would be in a position to be a real asset to the community and its young people with such results.


• The local rural community would be more economically sustainable with a Clare High School providing jobs and reasons to be in Clare. It would therefore be good for the local economy and for business. A Clare High School would be a centre for regeneration and the future well-being of our rural area.


• Clare Middle School is used by a wide range of organisations out of school hours. A high school in Clare would be in a position to continue opening these facilities to the rural population for community use. The other options could not allow this.


• Members of the community have chosen to move here because of the quality of educational provision in the rural area. A lack of a high school in Clare could lead to this trend being reversed.


• Other rural high schools in Suffolk and in counties such as Cambridgeshire have excellent results. Some of these are relatively small schools which attain high standards in personal, community environment. Current research and thinking supports this approach.


• Substantial sums of money have been invested in Clare Middle School in recent years, particularly since gaining technology college status. This can be witnessed in quality of the refurbished science laboratories, the food technology room, the music room and its practice rooms, the new performance lighting in the hall, and the two ICT suites, amongst others. Options 1 and 2 would lead to a huge waste of this investment.


• The good working partnerships between Clare Middle School and the six feeder primary schools would not be lost, but have the opportunity to strengthen and thrive.


• A high school in Clare, that is, the three secondary schools option, gives more parental choice and diversity of provision, than either of the other options.


• A high school in Clare could be an attractive option for parents who might otherwise seek provision outside of Suffolk or, indeed, the state education system.
  

The letter goes on to say that the board 'believes the consultation document has not entirely represented the relative strengths and weaknesses of the three options'.

In fact it barely mentions any of the above advantages but focuses rather on the cost of implementing option 3 which incidentally is not as high as some might like you to think! The figure of £18m recently banded about was described by Frank Stockley, senior education officer, as 'a little wide of the mark as the cost would be closer to £7m'. Only £11m out! Suffolk County Council are unable to say how much option 1 and 2 would cost - how convenient!

You can download the Clare middle school letter in full by clicking on the following link: http://groups.google.co.uk/group/ruralclare/files