Wakeman School loses appeal against closure
Monday 28th November 2011, 2:24PM GMT.
Shrewsbury’s Wakeman school has lost an appeal against its closure made to the schools adjudicator and will shut its doors as planned in August 2013.
Headteacher Karen Moore said the decision by the schools adjudicator Canon Richard Lindley marked the end of the school’s fight to remain open.
She said she was disappointed with the outcome of the appeal, which can now only be challenged by a judicial review.
Canon Lindley had been brought in following a rare move by the Diocese of Lichfield to ask for a review of Shropshire Council’s decision to close the school, using its rights as one of the consultees.
But in a report sent to the school and Shropshire Council, Canon Lindley backed the authority’s decision to close the school in August 2013.
He claimed the council’s financial argument for closing the school was ‘incontrovertible’.
David Taylor, Shropshire Council’s director of people’s services, said the decision vindicated the authority’s move to close the Wakeman.
“The announcement reflects that the decision to close the Wakeman School and Arts College, while extremely difficult to make, is the right decision for the future of education in Shropshire,” he said.
Mrs Moore said: “We have explored every option including academy and free school status.”
She added: “It has been decided that to continue our fight would be detrimental to the welfare of our students.”
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It was never be kept open. The Fletcher development opposite is selling like hot cakes. The proposed development on the Gay Meadow will be a money spinner. The refurbished Wakeman apartments will out shine York, Bath etc for “Riverside Living”
Let the bidding commence!
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This is a very sad way to end our childrens education,a school that will leave this part of shrewsbury devoid of life since the football ground moved but when you live under the cabinet system of shropshire council you may wish to look abroad for democracy as shrewsbury is missing out big time in this tory dictatorship well done to the staff who stayed and fought this vile hatchet job.
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Can we now move on?
The school is closing because the case for keeping it open isn’t strong enough. The independent adjudicator has listened carefully to the evidence from both sides .
Please, Wakemanites don’t waste more energy in this futile campaign of yours.
Enthuse your children about their new schools so they can go there in a positive frane of mind.
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How can you have a positive frame of mind when you go to a school with 2 years to go before you leave for the big wide world.Sad day as shrewsbury.My kids are now worried where they will be putas choice in shrewsbury is not a option anymore.
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Take your own advice Port Hill Boy. You have wasted a lot of time on the message boards for someone who has been bored by the whole process…..
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Far from bored Dave.
Have found it like watching a slow motion crash as some head in the sand parents and staff have failed in epic proportions despite using emotional backmail and sob story tactics.
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Port Hill By likes being winding you all up and basically behaving like a child
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You are spectacularly ignorant
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I am a year 11 pupil at The Wakeman, for some of us it’s too late to move schools. We only get one education in this world, and it’s getting messed up!
We love our school, and the people in it, this is very sad for us so please don’t be mean about it
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The school isn’t closing until 2013, so as a year 11 pupil it won’t directly effect you.
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Lizzie,
Lucy may not have to move schools, but all of the children caught up in this process have been affected by it.
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well, we tried our best. we did all we could. this has happend to me beofore, like a fellow pupil said to me, wakeman school and arts collage will be in all the pupils hearts. well done pupils of wakeman, teachers and parents!
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WHAT new schools?? Thats the whole point. There are only 2 secondary schools in Shrewsbury that have spaces – Meole and the Grange. The others, Priory, Belevidere and Sundorne are all FULL ! Meole doesn’t have any more room in its current year 9 – yet it is expected to build portables to accomodate the Wakeman students. There is no comparrasion with the other schools as to what Wakeman offers. It is a GREAT loss to Shrewsbury and will be very noticable in a few years.
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A sad day for Shrewsbury – all the best to all the children and staff at the lovely Wakeman School. x
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Seems what ‘developers’ want developers get. More luxury appartments with cars to overburden the gyro system. Strong whiff of brown envelope quantiative easing about this.
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What terribly sad news. We stood together and did all we possibly could to prevent this, but it is of little comfort today. Lots of love to everyone affected by the decision xxxxxx
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Let them eat cake.
Let us hope then that the cake may yet prove unpalatable.
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A viable choice has now been removed from many children and parents in Shrewsbury.
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The school closure was for one reason only and that was for property development. Why can’t we have some honesty?
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I go to the Wakeman school and i love it!!! the Shrewsbury council had made their decision way before we were fighting and even though we tried to get them to listen they didn’t and made sure that THEY were the ones to win! Now i’m sure they are happy but the council and Cannon Richard Lindly have made their decision to make every one of the Wakeman students un-happy! I love Wakeman and they may have taken Wakeman out of the community but they will never take it out of our hearts!
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How can I enthuse my son, who is high-functioning autistic and finds any change extremely challenging, distressing and difficult. I specifically chose Wakeman for its smaller size, logical and simple school layout and recommended special needs support.
He has coped well with the transistion from primary to senior school but only becuase of the excellent staff, and the small size of the school, less than 500 pupils meaning he can just about cope with the noise, school layout, classroom changes etc.
Moving schools will have a huge impact on his daily routine, currently my son is able to walk to school independently which has been a huge boost to his confidence ,moving schools will take away his new found independence, attending Meole Brace or Priory means I would have to arrange a taxi for him to and from school as I don’t drive. At the moment we havent found a local school that will enable Connor to thrive and reach his full personal and educational potential
Closing this wonderful school will be extremely detrimental to his progress and the stresses of having to start a new school, making new friends and learn a new routine are likely to have a hugely negative impact on him as an individual as well as his education.
It is in my opinion morally wrong to close this school and I feel this Council does not have its priorities right, but then money talks louder. I’m so very cross and saddened.
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What a terrible way to end my education, as a pupil myself in Year 9 my year is crucial, maybe not the most important but still crucial year of my education. Im choosing my GCSE’s this year and now with moving schools, starting all over again is going to be tough, not only is wakeman now a missing part of my year 9- year 11 education its a missing part of shrewsbury town.
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I can’t beleive that Wakeman is closing , i mean it is such a good school i don,t know why the council decided to close the Wakeman school & arts collage and I was really looking forward to going to Wakeman but now I will never have the chance to go there and as we all know it will always give us good memorys.
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If my child had wanted to go to Meole, she would have chosen to go. We now have no choice where she will go as The Priory is full .
Wonder how much the Council will make from selling The Wakeman and the land for building houses and apartments ?
Will it cover the cost of building a new secondary school in the future, which the council had admitted it will need ? Dont think so.
Well done to all involved in trying to keep the Wakeman open, think it was a done deal fight from the start.
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Terrible news, feel sorry for all those who campaigned against this. Shame on all those involved in this decision. My thoughts are with the staff and students who have to live with this.
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After reading most comments on here it is heartwarming to note that some people care my kids are upset as they will have to move but where to i don’t know,but please no mass exodus of the school make sure your kids get a chance to learn in smaller classes and not 35 a class they will when they move sadly the torys don’t care for our young those who were young in 80′s will remember this but a fight was lost but remember that these elected members are supposed to represent us the electorate i didn’ vote for them but EVER FEEL YOU HAVE BEEN CHEATED REMEMBER MAY 2013 IS THE DATE WE NEED A CHANGE.
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7 May 2015 is the next general election!
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Local elections perhaps? They are the ones who are closing the school. The MP representing the area actually supported keeping the school open.
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SORRY WELL DONE TO THE STAR FOR THE COVERAGE GIVEN TO THE SCHOOLS ISSUE AS THIS HAS BEEN THE ONE SOURCE OF TRUTH KEEP IT UP.
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As a year 9 student at Wakeman I am appalled and as a sybling of a child with special needs I wonder where he will go and how he will cope in another school that cannot cope with his autism.
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I am sure I talk for everyone (except for the council)about the fact that if we had any way of keeping this wonderful school open we would automatically grasp that opportunity. i am also sure that if we could get back at the council we would because they are not only making our teachers lose their jobs the are also destroying the education of all the pupils because some of us have our GCSE’s next year and we wont be able to be ready for them then!
But I am happy for all the people who have tried to keep this school open! Thank you!
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It is funny how the council has so desparate to shut the Wakeman but so desperate to keep Rhyn Park Open, despite the fact that they both are faced with similar problems. The answer is simple, you can flog the land at Wakeman, whereas you cannot do the same with Rhyn Park. The council should have tried to help both the Wakeman and Rhyn Park to keep their numbers strong, but that would have taken a bit of effort and planning over many years. Instead they have decided to shut the Wakeman and sacrifice Ifton Heath for their convienience. The council does not care about education it only cares for making money to cover their poor decision making.
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A shocking decision.
And terribly sad news for all of the wonderful people who make Wakeman the lovely school that it is. My thoughts are with you all.
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I am so grateful that my elder child has had such a lovely start to her secondary education at this wonderful school. We are devastated that she will now be forced from a place she loves and that my younger child will never have the opportunity to join her there. Thank you so much to all of the staff at the school for all you have done for the children- we will miss you and The Wakeman so much.
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squirels! i am sure everyone agrees with you helen!!!
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Very sad news, even for someone whose only connection with the Wakeman was standing under its windows at the Gay Meadow.
But I find it heartening to see the number of comments from students on here. I hope and believe that being involved in such direct activism as the fight for your school – even if it was a losing one – will be good for your future in all sorts of ways.
The other thing revealed here is the value youngsters do place on things like education and community – unlike councils and governments who only tend to see pound signs.
Much sympathy to all at the Wakeman, but hope things work out well wherever you go next.
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This is truly a DISASTROUS day for Shrewsbury.
At the recent public meeting with the Adjudicator the Council said that the closure of the school was not about money but about dwindling numbers. NONSENSE!!! We will see very soon after the Wakeman closes its doors how it was ALL to do with money as by selling onto developers the Council could then put money back into its coffers which it has mismanaged for quite some time.
Full praise must be given to Karen Moore and her dedicated teaching staff,as well as the governors, parents and – most importantly – the pupils for putting up admirable opposition to an UNJUST closure. Shrewsbury as a town will rue this closure a lot sooner than many people think!!!
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I left the Wakeman in July ’10 with a 100% pass rate in my GCSEs. I, as well as my entire year group, were a community – I can’t think of another way to describe it. Everyone got on so well with each other, there was a real sense of warmth and atmosphere when I went into school every day. There was a distinct relationship between teachers and pupils that really stood out.
Whilst pass rates may have been up-and-down in some subjects, what you need to remember is that statistics only show grades. They don’t show the expectations of the students and how much they’ve improved during their secondary education. If Wakeman is to be judged purely on GCSE results, it has a huge hindrance against other schools whom may have taken on a brighter student as their average.
A drop in the total of pupils shouldn’t be accounted for the school’s closure. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I really pity the students there and if I were them, I’d be extremely frustrated and upset. The mass coverage of the Wakeman’s closure hasn’t helped, as it decreased interest of potential new students as well as causing their current students to move elsewhere as well.
A twisted and thoughtless move by the Council. Absolutely ridiculous.
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what a great day for councillors, property developers and brown envelopes. a very sad day for education, scholars and shrewsbury.
the church of england and the bishop of lichfield turned out to be as useless as their boss in canterbury and his boss upon high
floreat salopia and floreat wakeman
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How can the “independent adjudicator” be independent when his e mail address was .gov.uk same as all workers at Shropshire council!!!!!!!! This is such a waste The Wakeman is an excellent school and another school will need to be built within 5 years costing all shropshire council tax payers.This is a short term gain of money but alas more money will be wasted .
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Cathryn i agree with you 100% and atcham jack also makes good points maybe those who attended the meeting with the adjudicator will remember he wanted the meeting ended within a hour and a half and was quite rude to a lady who was trying to make a justified point but threatened to close the meeting as we are not all official speakers he had no understanding of people feeling intimidated by public speaking the chap from Lichfield who supported the school from the church was good but sadly this council has $$$$$$$$$ in it’s eyes and ££££££££££ in it’s heart not our childrens future.
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LMAO at your ignorance…
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The Adjudicator’s report said:
“I have concluded that the Council has been painstaking in its attention to detail and accuracy, and have no reasons to question its data or interpretation.”
So there really is a school between Wakeman and Gay Meadow….for all those of you who haven’t spotted it, look harder.
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For those of you who haven’t been following the story, Shropshire Council stated in its case to close Wakeman that “None of the likely [housing] development areas are close to Wakeman and in all cases there is another school more conveniently placed to take pupils.”
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MONEY . MONEY , MONEY , HOW MANY BROWN ENVELOPES WILL THEY NEED ? . SUCH A WASTE OF A DECENT SCHOOL I HOPE ALL THOSE WHO VOTED FOR IT TO CLOSE CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT .ALL THOSE POOR PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE FROM CLEANERS TO TEACHERS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THEM ?
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i went to wakeman over 20 yrs ago the school still holds a place in my heart to close a school that so many children depend on around the centre of shrewsbury is a joke if the council did not waste so much money on wasted projects in the town that no one cares about you could have a smile on all the young pupils that have now got to change school when it shuts
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Very sad news for the wakeman yes, but for the sake of these children, who do not have a choice and also have the unknown ahead of them, let us be thankful that they do have a good, warm, kind friendly school such as Meole to go to, the community spirit in the last few years is second to non, as is their learning support for all. So for our children, let us now be positive and show grief no more. They are at the beginning of a new journey, not failing at the end of an era!
The decision is made, time to be positive for their future, children are far more resilient than us adults!
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Emma,
We may not agree with the decision and we may be sad and angry with it, but it has been made and I agree that when the dust has settled we must help the children to move forward with hope and confidence.
There are two things that I would like to add to what you have written. The first is that throughout the campaign to keep The Wakeman open the children involved have shown that they really love their school. They appreciate their teachers and their friends and genuinely value their education. This is a wonderful thing and I am sure that they will take it with them and that it will benefit them and their new schools when the time comes for them to move on.
The second is that The Wakeman will not close its doors as a school until September 2013 and until then children will still be learning, and staff still working there. My daughter is one of those who will leave at the end of this academic year, but as well as helping her to settle happily at Meole Brace, I will continue to help The Wakeman however I can. We have got to move on, but that doesn’t mean we should turn our backs. Our family will be joining Meole Brace’s community, but as long as it is there we will always be a part of The Wakeman’s too.
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Well
I have been down a similar path to this before, it was sometime ago and in a different town, it is sad but we will move on as will the pupils and staff.
I will predict however, that in a few years the council will live regret this decision probably when they are scratching their heads as to where they can accommodate the increase in pupil/student numbers forecasted.
The oldest school and one that Wilfred Owen went to should be kept and should improve its riverside facilities to accommodate more pupils/students/and adults for evening classes all within walking distance of many homes.
Did you know that the Wakeman School has one of the finest and progressive schools IT departments in Shropshire.
Perhaps when the building is converted in to flats the plaque in the foyer should not only bear the name of Wilfred Owen as a former pupil but also that of the council member responsible for closing it.
Gary
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It’s a school, there are enough to go round-move on.
Parents are to blame for this closure anyway, days gone by you went to the nearest school, now, you can send your children to, hopefully, any school that takes your fancy!
no one has died, no one is seriously ill so do us all a favour and move on…
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