Newsletter - March 07

C.L.A.R.E.
Clare & Local Area for Rural Education

NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the first news letter from C.L.A.R.E, the parent group actively involved in trying to ensure the best education for the children of Clare.

As you know, on the 22nd March, a recommendation was made to the Suffolk County Council by the review panel to change our education system to a two tier system and lose middle schools. Despite this recommendation, there will still be a review period. C.L.A.R.E will continue to campaign for the best outcome for our children and the community.

Since parents coming together in January this year, C.L.A.R.E. has established a network of valuable contacts including MP’s and Councillors and has gained full support from the parish council and local businesses. Our petition received over 250 signatures from parents and residents of Clare.

In February we sent out a questionnaire to the parents of Clare Primary school. It was evident from the answers given, and the comments made that the vast majority of you were unhappy with the proposal for change and concerned about the future of our schools. This information proved incredibly valuable when presenting our case on the 15th March. Thank you to all of you who took the time to complete and return it.

On the 15th March a presentation by C.L.A.R.E. was given to Cllr Patricia O Brian, Cllr Jane Midwood and Rosalind Turner in the presence of many of the Primary school parents and teachers. At this presentation, we put forward a number of options available to Clare and surrounding villages utilising our current middle school. Our presentation was well received and in fact was mentioned at the cabinet meeting on the 22nd March. Up until now, Clare and local parishes and indeed rural areas in general have been largely over looked and in our case grouped with Haverhill. Now we have a voice and are being listened to!!

You have the opportunity now to contribute your views and aims, this is real parent power. You can contact us by emailing c.l.a.r.e@btinternet.com or by speaking to any of the C.L.A.R.E members. If you do not contribute you won’t have a voice.

What you can do right now is:

Start writing and keep on writing to your local councillor Jane Midwood at jane.midwood@suffolkcc.gov.uk

Or by post to either Suffolk County Council, 8 Russell Rd, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 2BX

Look out for posters of the next C.L.A.R.E public meeting and be there, your presence is very important. Together we can ensure the best future for our children.

Results of the Questionnaire

These are the results from the questionnaire completed by the Clare primary school parents earlier this year.........

QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

34 questionnaires returned by the 8th February 2007.

All had heard of the proposal for a two tier system.

26 said they had heard through the school (some saying school and paper), 6 heard via the local papers and two said other (gossip).

28 said that they are happy with current three tier system, 4 not happy and 2 indifferent.

28 said they preferred the three tier system, 2 said they preferred two tier and 1 said either.

33 said that losing rural schools would have an impact on the community (mostly shops and amenities suffering).

33 said they felt their child benefited from being taught in a rural school with comments like ‘the teacher knows them and their children’, ‘safety and less distance to travel’ ‘knowing everyone’ and ‘security’.

32 said that YES they are concerned about their children being bussed into the larger towns at age 11 rather than 13.

When answering the question regarding the disruptions caused by the changes over the next 10 years…

All but one said that they thought it was a problem
All but one said that their child would find it unsettling.
All but one said lessons and subjects would be affected.
All said it would affect their child’s education, 4 of which said short term, 5 said long term and 25 said both.

26 said that they had heard of the ‘super school’ idea, 8 said they had not.
'Utter madness mixing 3-18 year olds together' said one parent.

32 said they would not be happy to send their child to a super school and 2 said they did not know.

33 said they had not been given enough information from the county council regarding the proposed changes.

7 said they had been given the opportunity to voice their opinions and 27 said they had not.

7 said that the Clare middle school did NOT have the potential to become a secondary school but they did not want their child to go to a secondary school out of town, ie. they wanted the three tier system to stay and a good quality upper school from the age of 13.

Of the 27 people who said the school did have potential, all would be happy to send their child there.

Some excellent feedback with general comments including fear of disruption, no need to change, environmental issues and the biggest concern, bullying.