Bishop condemns school plan
Tuesday 13th May 2008, 11:50AM BST.
One of Shropshire’s most senior church figures has condemned moves to close 16 county schools to create eight primaries.
Half the schools involved in the plan to tackle falling pupil numbers have a Church of England connection.
“We are opposed to these closures,” said the Rt Rev Michael Hooper, Bishop of Ludlow. “We believe that closure should be on educational grounds alone and we do not accept that this is the case.
“We have supported many of these schools financially and in kind since they first opened their gates; and while we recognise that things are changing, it is a very severe change to the life of those communities if the school closes.”
Referring to Lydbury North School, where there has been strong opposition to the plans, the Bishop said it had a good governing body with excellent leadership.
“The vision shown by that leadership has strong local support from parents, so its future should be secure,” he said. “We are opposed to this threat from the council.”
The Dioceses of Hereford and Lichfield which cover Shropshire will be objecting to the proposals when they are considered by the county council cabinet on Monday.
Meanwhile plans to close the two schools in Bayston Hill to create a new one have met with a mixed reaction from campaigners.
Parents, teachers and staff at Oakland Primary have actively campaigned against a move to amalgamate them with nearby Longmeadow Primary School. But the proposals drawn up following an initial consultation have suggested a joint school built on a different site.
Cameron Taylor, chairman of governors at Oakland School, said the change was a positive move, but argued that Oakland had proven its financial viability.
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
I find this some what confusing as the C of E Diocese representative at the Feb Scrutiny meeting voted in favour of continuing with the consultation on all amalgamations. Was that vote a mistake or has the Diocese changed it’s position in the last few week. If they have changed what new information has caused the change.
Report abuse
Syd.. I’m also confused by this statement/story
Hereford Diocese is in favour of amalgamation of two of its schools in Shropshire (as are the governors).
Lichfield Diocese is in favour of all the amalgamations related to its schools in Shropshire.
Report abuse
Diocese of Lichfield welcomes Shropshire school proposals
Date 13/05/08
The Diocese of Lichfield has responded to the Shropshire School Reorganisation proposals by welcoming plans by Shropshire County Council to amalgamate four of the diocese’s schools in the county.
The Council yesterday published plans to amalgamate:
Beech Grove CE (C) Junior School and Oswestry Infant Community School
Meole Brace CE (C) Infant School and Meole Brace Community Junior School
Holy Cross CE (Foundation) Junior School and Springfield Community Infant School
Longmeadow CE (C) Primary School and Oakland Community Primary School
In each of these cases the County propose to close both schools and to invite the Diocese of Lichfield to promote a new Church of England Voluntary Controlled school to replace them. The Diocese of Lichfield supports these proposals.
Colin Hopkins, diocesan director of education for Lichfield, said: “We welcome these proposals which, if implemented, will enable the Church of England to continue serving the children from these communities, and will restore the historic situation in which the Church founded schools to serve the whole community.
“Our approach to education is strongly inclusive and we see our schools as being at the heart of community. We support the concept of amalgamation where there are demonstrable educational benefits.”
If these proposals are approved by the Cabinet on 19th May, there will be a further statutory consultation. Mr Hopkins added: “The Diocese of Lichfield is strongly committed to working with all partners and both the predecessor schools in each case to achieve the best possible educational benefits for all the pupils and the community.”
ENDS
NOTES: The Church of England in Shropshire is served by the Diocese of Lichfield in the north and the Diocese of Hereford in the south. This welcome applies to proposals affecting schools in the northern part of the county.
The Diocese of Lichfield recently published a rationale for Church Schools setting out the benefits and answering objections raised by critics.
Report abuse
Not much wisdom or discernment, but plenty of spin then. It turns out that he wasn’t speaking on behalf of at least 83% of the children of Shropshire, the Church of England or even his own Diocese.
If he checked what was happening he’d find that any decision must be in the interest of education in the area. He’d also find that the interests of most children in the area are not served by taking funding for children’s education in Ludlow, Shrewsbury or remote villages to subsidise half-empty schools in unsuitable buildings.
As a sign of commitment, would he like to offer to pay to replace Lydbury North school with modern fit for purpose buildings. It could also be the village hall as the current one has seen better days. It could also include a post office counter too. Whilst being committed, could he also replace the subsidy that is top-sliced from other children’s education funding (some in great need) to cover the cost of teachers?
How much did the Diocese put into schools last year or last half century, and how much has the state over the same period?
Report abuse
Perhaps the often empty churches in Shropshire can be used to provide accommodation for schools & post offices, thereby reducing the need for unnecessary travel?
Report abuse
Thanks Michael
Problem solved- pull out the pews and all chip in to a combined school/village hall/post office/shop/study centre/surgery and church facility fit for the 21st century.
Can we share staff as well- a locally based Bishop/Postmaster/Teaching Assistant/Technician would be a flexible use of skills, “maximising available local capacity”.
It should help the Church of England, as they’ve been making fewer clergy manage more churches with fewer churchgoers for years.
All aboard…
Michael Pope
Report abuse
A lot of old village schools with falling numbers and old buildings are uneconomic to run and need to be amalgamated into newer and larger premises. It is a question of economy and not nostalgia. As a taxpayer, I want to see councils spend my money wisely. Pouring pounds into small village schools which, lets face it, exist to educate children whose parents can either afford to live in a village or afford to commute to school is not a good example of clever budgeting.
Report abuse
If the church is that concerned about proposed school plans why doesn’t it put it’s hand in it’s pocket and utilise some of the millions of pounds it has to help finance the schools that the local authority is having to close because it simply cannot afford to fund them.
I am as will be seen from my previous correspondence with shropshirestar.com not exactly an admirer of the administrative management of either Shropshie County Council or Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council but that doesn’t remove the fact that the Church of England has and probably will always have significantly more money than either of these authorities and so could easily help out. Afterall most of the schools affected are C of E. and the church is only too pleased to have it’s name on the school name boards outside.
Report abuse
Amazed of T
I’m not sure that closing buildings that have stood for 150 years and are sound in condition on the basis of overcapacity and then spending multi millions building new schools is sound either. The money may come from a capital budget rather than a revenue budget but it is still all tax payers money. They will spend way more tax payers money building new school capacity than they would keeping small rural schools open all at tax payers expense.
Also don’t assum all people whose children attend village schools are wealthy it just isn’t true. Rural poverty does exist and is as real as urban poverty.
Report abuse
School plan condemns Bishop?
Report abuse