Clare school campaigners win MP's backing

TORY MP Tim Yeo has accused Suffolk County Council of turning its back on both Labour and Conservative principles by ruling out a community's bid to turn a middle school into an upper school as reported in the East Anglian Daily Times.

The county council is seeking to close all 40 middle schools and expand both primary and upper schools to take the extra pupils.One of those earmarked for closure is Clare Middle School. But those living in Clare have set up an organisation called Clare and Local Area for Rural Education (CLARE) aimed at saving the middle school site and forging a brand new upper school, which would be called the Stour Valley Community College.

However the county council has ruled out the idea as not “viable” claiming it would cost about £7million to set up - something denied by the CLARE group.

South Suffolk MP Tim Yeo has now written to the county council's portfolio holder for children and young people Patricia O'Brien claiming if the Tory council was “genuinely Conservative” it would not dismiss the campaigners' hopes out of hand.

"I am afraid it looks very much as though your decision has been driven by a slavish following of Labour dogma about “optimum” school size and increasing spending in urban areas,” Mr Yeo said. “It is clearly not based on what are the ingredients of a good and popular school or any understanding of how creating more choice will drive up standards in all schools. Conversely, there is no recognition of the detrimental impact the creation of new monopolistic super-schools is having on discipline and educational standards"

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