Forest parents put Education on spot
IF THE politicians and staff leading the two-school model were feeling rattled and deflated after Sunday’s protest march, they were showing no signs of it at a meeting with Forest Primary School parents.
The team from Education, Sport & Culture took a business-as-usual approach and showed determination to deliver on the vision of two 11-18 comprehensive schools.
Monday night’s presentation was the first in a series of at least 11 meetings taking place this month and next with primary school parents.
About 30 parents from Forest School turned out and questions mainly focused on the pupil experience, with points raised about space, special needs, curriculum breadth, bullying, potential building work disruption, academic outcomes, the views of teachers and timeframes.
The first question from the audience headed straight into the crux of the issue.
‘It sounds a bit big for a small island. I’m worried about lunchtimes and people crammed into canteens, there’s not enough space.’
Executive head teacher Liz Coffey responded that there was plenty of space all around the Beaucamps site for pupils to run around and let off steam and on wet days, the staggered lunchtimes and different operational systems meant that it would be managed.
Later on, in response to a similar question, Education member Deputy Peter Roffey said that if lack of indoor space became a problem in the future then they could extend the building, although he did not anticipate that option being needed.
The next question revealed a lot of scepticism over the huge transformation.
‘Does it all boil down to just being able to offer German and Spanish? Is that what we’re spending £157m. on?
‘How many children are banging down the door to learn German and Spanish?’
Mrs Coffey outlined how curriculum breadth was a cornerstone of the scheme and that pupils should not have their interests curbed and the system should be equitable and fair.
On a query about academic outcomes, Mrs Coffey said that in 2024 ‘it will be lined up’ because that is when the current Year 7, and first non-selective intake, sit their GCSEs.
It was difficult to sum up the overall atmosphere among the audience, but some of the questions indicated strong concerns and there was a lot of shaking heads when it was suggested that pupils were keen to use sustainable travel options such as the bus and cycling.
After the meeting, one parent, Ben Nichols, was feeling exasperated.
‘It’s always the same, it’s all hyperbole and talking in abstract concepts, there’s not an awful lot of concrete ideas and it makes it difficult as a parent to see the vision they’ve got in place.’
Chad Murray thought the meeting was very useful and he was open-minded.
‘I came here very sceptical. I’ve been fairly outspoken on social media that I didn’t support their proposals, and I must admit that I’m very happy and pleased to go away from here tonight with a different outlook and I do think now that I support the ESC proposals.
‘I do think it’s essential that people attend these meetings to hear it from the horse’s mouth.’
