SHEPPEY SHORT-CHANGED

4.18.08pm GMT Fri 15th Dec 2006

children attending primary school up to the age of 11 and then going straight to secondary school

At a meeting of the Schools Organisation Advisory Board on Wednesday, 13 December, Martin Vye, Liberal Democrat Canterbury Councillor, deplored the way in which the consultation on changes in the Schools system on the Isle of Sheppey had been carried out.

Martin said: "Parents of children at Sheppey Schools, and teaching staff, are in a state of high anxiety. KCC is proposing that the present arrangement on Sheppey of first schools (up to the age of 9), middle schools (9 to 13), and a secondary school (13 to 18) be totally changed to bring it in line with the rest of the County. This would mean children attending primary school up to the age of 11 and then going straight to secondary school. The problem is, the only secondary school on the island, Minster College, is in crisis. Parents of children in first and middle schools are understandably worried about the transfer of their children at age 11 to Minster College."

Martin went added: "A number of possible ways to radically improve secondary education on Sheppey are being actively pursued. It makes no sense at all to ask people to accept a closure of middle schools, when no-one know how 11 to18 education will be organised."

Martin was told by senior officers that they agreed the consultation was awkward, but it came about because the government insisted on keeping consultation on changes to first and middle schools absolutely separate from consultation on new secondary school arrangements.

He concluded "I understand the value of simplifying the system. But I vote against the proposal as it stands. It would show cavalier disregard of parent's anxieties to agree to a massive upheaval in schools on Sheppey without knowing what will happen to children at age 11. I cannot possibly do that."