Isle of Wight Education Consultation Textual Responses
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APPENDIX 6 Isle of Wight Education Consultation 26 Jan – 30 Apr 2015 Textual Responses Appendix to Paper B - 81 Contents Secondary Schools .................................................................................................................................. 1 Option 2 what site should a merged Medina and Carisbrooke school be on? ................................... 1 Your alternative proposal for Secondary Schools ............................................................................... 1 Specific comments on Option 1 .......................................................................................................... 7 Specific comments on Option 2 ........................................................................................................ 18 Specific comments on Option 3 ........................................................................................................ 28 Impact if Option 1 were to happen ................................................................................................... 30 Impact if Option 2 were to happen ................................................................................................... 37 Impact if Option 3 were to happen ................................................................................................... 47 Post-16 A-Level Education .................................................................................................................... 49 Alternative proposal for post-16 A-Level Education ......................................................................... 49 Specific comments on Option A ........................................................................................................ 54 Specific comments on Option B ........................................................................................................ 59 Specific comment on Option C ......................................................................................................... 64 Specific comments on Option D........................................................................................................ 66 Specific comments on Option E ........................................................................................................ 69 Impact if Option A were to happen .................................................................................................. 71 Impact if Option B were to happen .................................................................................................. 75 Impact if Option C were to happen .................................................................................................. 79 Impact if Option D were to happen ................................................................................................. 81 Impact if Option E were to happen ................................................................................................... 83 General Comments ............................................................................................................................... 84 Appendix to Paper B - 82 Secondary Schools Option 2 what site should a merged Medina and Carisbrooke school be on? case Q3b 65 current isle of wight football club ground. 83 None - don't merge them 130 West Wight Your alternative proposal for Secondary Schools case Q4 1 Merge Sandown and Ryde instead. Reduce the size of Christ the King as it seems to be the only school getting worse and is clearly not coping with its current capacity. 5 I would like to size of all the secondary schools reduced. They are amongst the biggest in the Country. 6 Create a distinct and central 6th Form managed by the College 7 Why not close the free school as the school is just escalating the extra places available, also they will not be able to stay where they are when up to full capacity. (Medina is a music and arts college) so it is just duplicated. 10 Merge ryde and sandown academys on the sandown site. They're worse and less respected than medina and carisbrooke. 23 Christ the King College intake should be lowered - the school is performing less well with more pupils and the two sites are too small for that many pupils when they were initially designed for 360 pupils on each site (as middle schools). The admissions number should go back to 180 so that the Christian ethos of the school can be retained (many parents are choosing it as it is the only 'good' school and thus the Christian values are being lowered) and so that exam results can improve (the IOW has very large secondary schools compared with the areas of the country that have high performing schools e.g. Kent). With CTK intake lowered, parents would be forced to choose other schools which would drive up standards in these schools. Ryde Academy appears to be doing well, has the Government funding for new buildings and has acquired the old Haylands Primary site and so intake here should be increased (this would also make sense given the geographical weighting of the island's population). Cowes Enterprise College and Carisbrooke College have been performing a lot better as smaller schools (375 in each year group at Carisbrooke High School was it's downfall) and so should be kept as 4-8ish FE schools. Sandown has historically done well but numbers have decreased due to the Free School opening and so this should be kept as a medium sized secondary school to maximise the use of its outstanding facilities. Medina intake should be lowered to a 7FE entry maximum. 24 retain 1 school in newport and 1 other together with the studio school and the college 25 Adjust all secondary school sizes for 11-16, have a North & South six forms (or an East & West/Central/Newport) to provide sufficient 16-18 coverage - but no more than two inclusive of the IW College; maximise the vacant capacity and facilities at Cowes; combine PSBP1 funding for replacement 11-16 provision at Carisbrooke/Christ the King sites following options appraisal within west Newport/Wellington Road; lobby strongly with partners and central gov for PSBP2 funding for Sandown and Medina premises to suit the optimum provision based on pupil numbers, spread of places with standards informing the outcomes. 1 Appendix to Paper B - 83 29 The educational standard achievable by a student is governed by many factors, including school standards and sizes, parental input, and the child's genetically determined ability. Being an island with limited opportunities, the most able students tend to leave, go to university and setup home off the island. So *in general* the Island is left with children of parents who are less likely to reach a high standard, who in turn are less likely to reach a high standard due to a lower quality of parental input and lower standard of genetic ability. This is the elephant in the room here. Tinkering with school structure may have a marginal, temporary effect on standards - however, the root cause needs to be addressed if there is a genuine desire to improve standards for our children, and the Island as a whole. Making the island an attractive proposition for employers and professional people will stop the "brain drain", and perhaps even encourage an influx of more able parents and their children which will boost the island up the league tables. The only way this will be achieved in my opinion is with the creation of a fixed link to the mainland. In the meantime, merge Carisbrooke and Medina on the Medina site, allow CTK to build a new school (incorporating junior and secondary - Newport CE+Carisbrooke CE) on the existing Carisbrooke site, move all sixth form education (except CTK) to the Isle of Wight College, and keep class sizes to 25 or below. 30 ( 35 Leave Medina as it is an improving vibrant school with happy children and enthusiastic staff. 37 Leave them alone, these children have had their education interfered with too much already having been through reorganisation to 2 tier already. Focus on educating our young people to the standard they deserve! 39 Take Ryde and Sandown away from the current company, both schools have suffered through the Academy being a second rate company. The secondary schools are centred around Newport and a lot of pupils bus into, quite rightly, the biggest town but if you concentrated on making the Ryde school a completely new entity (maybe a shut down and complete relaunch (a school where pupils have expectations and are proud to achieve)) then you will not have so much of a bias towards students having to travel to Newport where the Welllington Road area is so overcrowded anyway. The obvious answer is to merge Carisbrooke with Medina on the Medina site where facilities can cope and then move CTK to a completely new rebuilt school at Carisbrooke but like my thoughts on Medina Site like Ryde it would have to be a complete relaunch as a new school so as not to have any bias to one or the other schools. My biggest concern as a parent is the lack of trust in the IW Council being able to do this professionally and with the pupils progress at the cebtre of the concerns especially when the pupils this will effect are just recovering from the complete debacle of the three to two system. 49 I consider that provision should be based upon the proven ability of those organisations to achieve examination outcomes and progression opportunities for students, given that this is about improving opportunities and attainment for children on the island, I believe that there should be the focus of plans. I understand the Isle of