Letter: Putting MP straight on Shropshire school closures
Wednesday 9th March 2011, 6:21AM GMT.
Letter: Our MP, Philip Dunne, has spent a lot of time on local media backing up Shropshire Council line on falling school rolls and the fact that some small schools may have to close because of surplus places.
I found it distressing, as did most of the Governors and parents at many of those small schools in Ludlow constituency.
Stiperstones School in my division faces closure as does Lydbury North where my nephew still attends.
Could I just put him right, please? The schools in our area are good schools and provide a caring environment and good education.
Rolls stop falling in primary schools this year and in most here they are now rising again. The secondary schools is where the real problem is now.
The Government says we should keep surplus places to allow parental choice.
If a school closes, the children should gain a better quality education, not worse – a church school and better facilities.
Some of the schools such as Onny, Lydbury North and Stiperstones may not be offered those choices.
Perhaps the MP could tell us which of his schools should close if he is supporting the council’s policy as firmly as he was both on TV and the radio?
Heather Kidd
Parent, Councillor and School Governor
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Have to remember MP’s spend more time toeing the party line than representing their constituents, until it is time for the next election.
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On a subject close to her heart, Lydbury North School (Her Brothers children attend).
Would Cllr Kidd have any comment on the FACT that 44% of the children who attend that School actually LIVE in Bishops Castle and should therefore you would have thought go to a perfectly good Primary School in Bishops Castle, rather than attending Lydbury North which appears to be some sort of pseudo Private School with lower Class sizes.
When in fact if the REAL needs of the LOCAL children were met would not exist as a School because of the lack of pupil; numbers.
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Stephen it is or should be parental choice , which is removed once a village school closes. It may be your opinion that the Bishops Castle school is perfectly fine it may be the opinion of others it is not. Smaller classes are better, small schools are better.Many in our village choose to send to a school that is not not the main one, the view by many parents is that school is poor however it does have small classes so parents choice is made up of many things .
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Perhaps Heather Kidd now regrets ignoring the declared wishes of the South Shropshire community by her backing for the move to a unitary council, as leader of the South Shropshire District Council she would have had a controlling voice in this matter, and would not now be reduced to having to write begging letters in the Shropshire Star.
But quite obviously Ms Kidd does not believe in local democracy or that decisions should be taken as close to the people as possible. She was warned, by Philip Dunn, that Unitary was a move to more central control with less local accountability and more decisions devolved to remote bureaucrats.
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Money has to be saved somewhere, and Stephen’s right, the majority of pupils at these village schools are not even from the area. Therefore, it’s no wonder why these schools are seen as unnecessary expense.
This is nothing compared to what the 16-18 age group is having to suffer.
And all of this education budget is being channelled straight to the mighty “free schools” programme, for snooty parents with more pride and arrogance than sense.
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