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Delight as school merger scrapped
PARENT power has prevailed as mums and dads have managed to persuade the education authority to tear up plans for a proposed merger between Roselands Infant School and Stafford Junior School.
Nearly 600 people – representing one third of the parents at the two schools – responded to a consultation, 15 times more than the number of people who usually write to express their views. In contrast, not a single parent or pupil responded to a consultation to turn ETC into Eastbourne Academy (see story on opposite page).
Nearly 90 per cent of parents objected to East Sussex County Council's plans merge Roselands, which in Woodgate Road and Stafford, in nearby Ringwood Road, creating one school with one head teacher and one governing body, but on two sites.
Concern was increased as, during the last inspection of Stafford Juniors carried out in January 2009, inspectors deemed the school not good enough and put it into special measures.
Roselands was given a 'good' report after their last inspection in July 2008.
The education authority had wanted to create an 'all-through' school, in line with the county's policy. Education chiefs say that, across East Sussex, pupils who go to all-through schools achieve grades between five and 11 per cent higher than those who do not have the same continuity between infants and juniors. But parents argued that there was a lack of data supporting the argument that children in all-through schools do better when the schools remained on two sites.
Education chiefs listened and, at a meeting at County Hall on Tuesday (March 16), rejected their own plans.
Describing it as a win-win outcome, education boss, Cllr David Elkin (Con), who is also an Eastbourne borough councillor, said, "It's power to the people that they have had the honesty to stand up and speak out and have responded."
Cllr David Tutt (Lib Dem) welcomed the news and said, "Consultation very often fails to engage but 581 people expressed their views and their voices have been heard."
Out of those 581 responses, 88 per cent were against the merger plans.
Cllr Elkin confirmed that the two schools would remain with two head teachers and two governing bodies but said that a 'formal partnership' would be created to encourage a better working.
Council officer Penny Gaunt, deputy director for learning and school effectiveness, explained that the relationship will be monitored to check the partnership is working.
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Weather for Eastbourne
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 22 C
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