Council defends decision to close Dunswell Primary School as parents protest
UNDER-FIRE council officials have defended moves to close Dunswell Primary School, as angry parents were taking to the streets to protest today.
East Riding Council has revealed Dunswell Primary, which has been told to improve by Ofsted, is set to lose its headteacher.
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DEMONSTRATION: Above, parents protesting outside County Hall in Beverley earlier this week about moves to close Dunswell Primary School.
It has emerged headteacher Paul Johnston handed in his notice weeks after the watchdog ruled the primary must improve.
Alison Michalska, director of children, families and adult services at the council, said: "This school has been identified by Ofsted as requiring improvement and will not have a permanent headteacher after Paul Johnston handed in his notice in November.
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"The recent Ofsted inspection raised concerns about the performance of the school, especially the lack of progress that children made in the school after Key Stage 1, placing its performance in the lowest 20 per cent of primary schools nationally.
"The imminent retirement of the head teacher, following his resignation in November and the development of the neighbouring Kingswood Parks Primary contribute to making this an appropriate time to consider the school's future."
The council is also looking at closing Gembling and Langtoft primaries, as purse strings tighten under a new national funding regime.
Mrs Michalska said: "As a local authority we have a statutory duty to plan school places and ensure the limited resources we have are used as effectively as possible.
"To achieve this we need to have the right balance between the need for and supply of school places.
"The more schools we have, the less funding each school gets to spend on educating children, as a greater proportion of the available school funding has to be spent on running and maintenance costs."
Seventy five per cent of Dunswell's 88 pupils come from outside its catchment area, including from Hull.
Mrs Michalska said: "In the case of Dunswell School, the children in the school catchment area can all be easily accommodated in Woodmansey School.
"For most children in Dunswell's catchment area, Woodmansey School is less than two miles away.
"We also have to take into account the nature of the school site, which is sadly very limited and there are no viable or appropriate alternative options to improve the school facilities."
About 150 parents and pupils were preparing to march through Beverley today to protest against plans to close Dunswell in July, 2014.
More than 3,000 people have backed a protest petition, to be handed in at County Hall today.
Parent Julie Reed accused the council of making excuses to close Dunswell Primary School.
She said: "We don't want to comment on the head's situation.
"We support him and respect him in everything he has done for us.
"Schools have staffing problems and staffing changes all the time so this is just another excuse from the council.
"The Ofsted report is just a snapshot in time. This is a viable school and we are still oversubscribed."
5 Comments
by Betty162
Monday, March 04 2013, 5:23PM
“I would just like to add that while the council close this school because of cuts.....they are already planning on building a new school down the road next to Keldmarsh primary school.
This is on unbuilt land that used to be a habitat for wildlife. It's to cope with the three thousand new houses along Long Lane that they feel Beverley needs.... They obviously aren't worried about the funding for this,so what's the real excuse for closing this school?”
by AdPotentia
Sunday, March 03 2013, 11:43AM
“The PR department at the council knows all about dirty tricks - jst look at ow they covered up thier own scandal after they were fund guilty by the Ombudsman... they released a sort press relase on BOXING DAY! no one was fired, disceplined and the Cheif Exec got off without even a warning.”
by EducatedSage
Saturday, March 02 2013, 6:16PM
“This article is an example of the all too frequent confusion/blurring of roles within local and central government.
Public servants provide reports and recommendations for decisions to be made.
Such decisions are then made by elected members based upon information to hand and/or political beliefs.
Those decisions should then be communicated to the media by an elected member.
Matters arising from such decisions should also be dealt with by elected members, not council officers.”
by dickymac
Saturday, March 02 2013, 3:03PM
“This stinks of desperation from ER Council. Morally corrupt to imply the head's resignation is in relation to the Ofsted report when they are completely aware of his current plight, which is his business. AS highlighted in minilynne's comment, he is retiring, not resigning. V poor ERYC!
If the school was in such a state as implied in this article there would not have been over 200 people marching on the council offices today. Parents, grandparents, friends and family came out in force to support our school which keeps my child happy, safe and well educated, long may it continue.”
by minilynne
Saturday, March 02 2013, 8:01AM
“More inaccuracies from the council then, the head teacher has not resigned, he has taken early retirement as the officers of the East Riding Council and parents are well aware of. He is leaving due to personal reasons which I am sure he would not like splashing over the papers. To release such a statement that insinuates otherwise is an attempt to stick the boot in, and obviously a reaction to the massive support from parents and the community of Dunswell. Seems like head teachers of a certain age in the East Riding better beware, I foresee an awful lot of schools in the area clamouring for academy status in the next few years.”