Wales: Where does the school closure policy need to go?

[Harold Schiffman]

.
30 November 2007:

Where does the school closure policy need to go?
Nov 29 2007 by David Reynolds, Western Mail

EXACTLY three weeks ago we released our report on school closure for
the Institute for Welsh Affairs. Now the dust has partially settled,
where have we got to? And where now does policy need to go? Some of
the reactions to the report were predictably humorous. Kirsty
Williams, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on education in the
Assembly, used the word "hype" about the study, at which the words
"pot", "kettle" and "black" come to mind. The Welsh language pressure
groups landed the lowest blows of all – in alleging that we had only
gone to schools that were known successes as seen by Pembrokeshire
Council, a total fabrication of course.

How sad that people associated with the most noble cause – the Welsh
language – are now the saddest act in town. The English-based pressure
groups speaking for small schools issued venomous statements even
though they have publicly and privately acknowledged that schools with
fewer than 50 pupils are problematic. But is there any sense that the
messages of the report – that extremely small schools may be worse
than the very small schools that are being created through closure –
are being listened to? Well parents' groups seem to be as vocal as
ever in their opposition. But a Plaid Cymru Assembly Member – Lord
Elis-Thomas – acknowledged that there were educational arguments in
favour of closure, a brave statement for a politician from Gwynedd.

Also, the Minister for Education – Jane Hutt – welcomed the research
and indeed promised further research supported by the Welsh Assembly
Government into the whole topic. But what do we do now? It is clear
that the pressures producing small school closures will not go away
and are intensifying daily. The tight financial settlements announced
by the Assembly will make the case for closure even more irresistible,
because councils will be increasingly unable to justify £10,000 per
child in some schools while giving only £4,000 per child to other
schools.

The reduction in the numbers coming into primary schools because of
the reduction in the size of the birth cohorts that is gathering pace
has yet to show its full consequences.

The impossibility of improving the school building stock to anything
approaching adequacy, on per-pupil expenditure, running at a level of
one third of that in England, will intensify pressure on councils to
improve some of the larger schools and bring pupils to them from the
much smaller schools that they cannot improve because of the costs.

So, in the absence of the Assembly giving to education the money that
it is receiving for education in the Barnett formula, and in the
absence of Sir Richard Branson appearing over the horizon, what are we
to do in Wales if school closures – as widely recognised – are likely
to affect 200 to 300 schools in the next five years?

The first need is for there to be an all-Wales approach that involves
basic, high-quality standards in the judgments that are being made in
different councils. It is reasonable to advocate that citizens of
Wales should have lives that reflect their local contexts, as
expressed in their local council decisions. But if their councils are
using different definitions of what is a "small" school, if there are
different procedures about consultation and if there are different
levels of funding that are either provoking closure, or protecting
schools from closure, then there is considerable territorial
injustice.

The second need is for there to be communication between councils and
parents. Too often councils have assumed they have only to announce
policies for them to be put into practice.

But closing schools is not the average policy.

Many parents have made "lifestyle choices" about the village they have
moved their family to in which an integral part of the choice is the
village school. Many families have attended the same village school
for generations.

Communities potentially affected by closure need to be treated with
sensitivity. Coalitions in support of closure need to be built, not
assumed. The media – ever happy to show placard waving parents – need
to be directed to parents of now closed schools who are happier with
their new "area" schools.

The third need is to give everyone involved time and space to get it
right. The headteachers involved need time to plan, especially if they
are teaching heads, that may need additions to the school budget if
they are to be "bought out" during the move. Buildings should not be
occupied if they are half ready. Teachers in the different schools
need the opportunity of release from day-to-day activities to meet
each other and plan, which again may not be possible to fund from
existing school budgets.

School closures are not going to go away as an issue, even though some
may try to stop them. They will happen because society is changing.

They are about ensuring that the interests of the majority of children
are not harmed by the resources that pour into the education of the
minority of children.

Maybe – just maybe – Wales has learned enough to stop the backwards
glances at an imagined past and its schools and to look forward to a
desired future.

David Reynolds is Professor of Education at the University of Plymouth
and Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Exeter. He
lives in South Wales. Email: dreynolds1 at plymouth.ac.uk

  http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2007/11/29/where-does-the-school-closure-policy-need-to-go-91466-20175656/


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