A new vision for education?

Flourishing, large secondary schools may not necessarily be all things to all pupils.

It doesn’t follow that some young people – deemed to be “failing” because they are not likely to get the prerequisite number of GCSEs at the required grades – would do better in a different, better performing school.

In fact, pointed out Richard Bourne, one of Colchester’s county councillors, they may do even worse.

“A lot of children in these communities suffer from deprivation,” he stressed.

“But if you take them out of their schools and submerge them in larger schools – no matter how well those schools are performing, then they will be lost.”

But unless something is done now, education in Colchester is going to be lost for a very long time. Or so it would seem.

While Mr Bourne couldn’t completely get behind Essex County County’s solution – which includes closing two schools permanently and building an academy – he agreed there had to be changes.

“It’s a very stark choice,” he conceded. “Do we take this opportunity – and this option – or do we wait for another generation, when it could be too late?”

But nothing is set in stone, and many who live near the two threatened schools, Alderman Blaxill and Thomas, Lord Audley, insist the fight goes on.

Just because the proposals were nodded through to the final consultation stage, with no opposition, doesn’t mean this is a done deal.

Yet Jeremy Lucas, another Colchester county councillor, couldn’t have spelled it out better for the packed committee room at County Hall.

“If we don’t do anything,” he declared, “we condemn another generation of children to not receiving the education they deserve.

“We have got all this money available to do it – so we must get this done quickly.”

The money is really the key. There is about £150 million on the table from the Government, via its Building Schools for the Future project, to spend on Colchester’s schools – but only if the county council’s plan meets with Education Secretary Ed Balls’ approval.

Priority? Mr Balls insists all secondary schools in the town must hit a minimum 30 per cent target of 5 GCSE A*-C grades. Equally pertinent, there is a time limit on the £150 million’s availability.

“We must take action – and this option means all the building work will be paid for with Government money,” said Mr Lucas.

“If we don’t act now, it will be a long time before anything could be done, and that will be a complete generation wasted.”

But Mr Bourne believes generations can be wasted long before they get to secondary school.

“A lot of children in the communities around these two schools do suffer from deprivation – and this deprivation shows up a lot earlier than secondary school,” he revealed.

“I know of kids who have started primary school still wearing nappies and eating with their fingers.

“The county council must do a wider study taking in primary schools, early years and community health if we really want to give all the children of this town the education they are entitled to.

“I also think that kids from these communities who go to the bigger, more successful school should be tracked – prove that what you are doing is helping them.”

Lord Hanningfield is sympathetic to the wider study. What he is not sympathetic to is “tracking”.

After the meeting he insisted good schools – no matter whether big or small – raise an individual’s expectations.

But does raising expectations necessarily mean they achieve?

“With both academic and vocational excellence on offer through these proposals, I cannot see that being a problem,” he said. “Do you know, in five or six years when all this should be all over, people are going to say how wonderful it is.

“They will be so pleased, many will wonder why they were against it in the first place.”

FACT FILE
THE PROPOSALS

Essex County Council held weeks of consultations with parents, teachers and residents over its preferred option for the future of education at Colchester’s non-selective and non-denominational secondary schools.

Yesterday, cabinet members at a meeting in County Hall, subject to further consultation, agreed to:

• Close Alderman Blaxill and Thomas, Lord Audley schools with effect from August 31, 2014, and to stop year 7 intakes from September 2010, with the schools’ current priority admission area re-designated to the four surrounding non-selective schools in the Colchester area which would each, along with Gilberd School, be enlarged
• Close Sir Charles Lucas Arts College on August 31, 2010, and build an academy on the site
• Develop proposals for a “vocational centre” in south Colchester (at Thomas, Lord Audley School) for 14 to 19-year- olds from the whole Colchester area. It would be managed by Colchester Institute.

The next phase of consultation will begin on February 6 and run until March 13, including a public meeting at Colchester Charter Hall on March 5.

WHAT THEY SAID

LORD HANNINGFIELD: Leader, Essex County Council
We had to do something to improve secondary education in Colchester.

Some schools do their job very well indeed, but others do not. That means children at those schools are not getting the education they need, so it is up to us all to change that.

I believe this will work. There are many people in Colchester, including staff at secondary schools, who want these proposals to happen.

I am not doing this as a politician – I am doing it because, as leader of the county council, I have a responsibility to ensure education in Colchester is of a high standard.

But we cannot do without Government money – we need the £150 million to make this happen.

JONATHAN TIPPETT: Executive Head, Stanway, Alderman Blaxill, Thomas Lord Audley Schools
The only reason why our option (option 4 – new school created by amalgamation of Stanway, Alderman Blaxill and Thomas, Lord Audley) did not find favour was because it did not tick the right boxes to access the £150 million Government money.

During a meeting I had with Jim Knight (schools minister), he made it clear it was all down to local determination – only the local authority can put forward this kind of plan to Government, and Essex wasn’t going to back something which would not release the cash.

But I am not jumping ship.

To everyone, I say I will be still be here when all this comes to fruition in 2014.

DANNY CLOUGH: Principal, Colchester Institute
For us, this is early days.

If the proposals are accepted, we could be managing a vocational skills centre at the Thomas, Lord Audley site in 2010.

We would also be interested in being considered to be the sponsor for a vocational-based academy at the Sir Charles Lucas site.

I realise many people are against the closure of the schools, but I can see where the two key elements (to close the schools) come from – falling numbers and standards not rising quickly enough.

But education in Colchester needed to see some kind of reorganisation. There needed to be ambition – and the schools needed to move forward and to grow.

The proposals make that a probability.

JUDE HANNER: Head, Sir Charles Lucas
I am delighted with the outcome.

I have been on record throughout the consultation period as backing these proposals – especially turning Sir Charles Lucas into an academy – because I think the opportunities for the kids here and across Colchester are tremendous. I came here four years ago to help solve problems faced by the school. My intention is to gradually build good standards and to sustain. I am not into quick fixes.

I believe a great deal of thought has gone into what education in Colchester needs and I also believe the county council has listened.

This is shown by the proposal to turn the Thomas, Lord Audley site into a vocational centre. Be in no doubt – the status quo could not remain. Excited? Yes, I am.

BOB RUSSELL: Colchester MP
It will not work.

If you close two schools and send pupils to the other side of Colchester, traffic congestion will be even worse than it is now.

But that is only one reason why these proposals will not benefit the children of south Colchester.

Look at the map of Colchester – not to have a secondary school in the south of the town is ridiculous. So is this assertion of falling rolls. The proposals don’t go beyond five years, and they don’t take into account the number of new homes which will be built in Colchester - and that includes 2,000 in the south of the town. This makes a nonsense of the county council’s declaration for sustainable communities and safe routes to school - and it is a wasteful investment.

BERNARD JENKIN: North Essex MP
There is no reason why these proposals should not work.

What pleases me is that this outcome shows the consultation period has been real. If not, we would never have had Thomas, Lord Audley becoming a vocational centre with the possibility of Army involvement.

I suggested an academy with a military emphasis, and was looking at Sir Charles Lucas. OK, that won’t happen, but parents strongly advocate having the military involved – after all, there is no one better at vocational skills than the Army. There would be so many opportunities for young people - and, no, this would not be a recruiting tool for the Army. Instead, the military would ensure the centre had strong moral values.