Parents fear school legacy
PARENTS concerned about a shortage of primary school places in Long Ashton have warned councillors that children face lifelong problems if they are bussed to other villages.
Guy Kingston addressed North Somerset Council on Tuesday night and presented the hypothetical case of a child called 'Sammy'.
Mr Kingston, spokesman for the Long Ashton School Crisis Group (LASCG), said he wanted councillors to understand the human impact that bussing young children five or more miles causes.
Mr Kingston, who has a three-year-old son facing the prospect of not getting a place in Long Ashton, said: "A human story is exactly what the council needs to hear because this issue is about real people, yet the council has managed to dehumanise the whole process.
"It's a crazy situation; temporary classrooms would cost around £8.50 per child per week – less than the cost of transporting them.
"Yet the council is mired in bureaucratic process and appears blind both to the human misery it has caused and the economic sense of our proposals."
He told councillors assembled at Weston Town Hall that 'Sammy' was a Long Ashton everychild, who was doing well at pre-school but, at the age of four, would be split from his friends.
He painted a picture of 'Sammy' being bullied on bus journeys because there was no supervision, and retreating into his shell. He said he could also develop behavioural problems that would affect his education and ultimately his life-chances.
He said the group had been quoted £250 a week for a temporary classroom on the car park at Birdwell.
He said: "By concentrating on the very necessary long-term rebuild of Birdwell School at the expense of short-term measures to install temporary classrooms, the council is abandoning a generation of Long Ashton children."
Cllr Jeremy Blatchford, the executive member for education, said this was an extreme case being presented to pull on people's heartstrings.
He said there was only one four-year-old from the village who this year had to use council-supplied transport, a taxi, to go to school at Crockerne in Pill.
He said most of the other 23 children who couldn't get a place at Birdwell or Northleaze schools in the village had got places at nearby schools such as Flax Bourton and Felton.
He added: "There is a shortage of primary school places in Long Ashton only at entry level. There are places available if a child of eight or 10 moves to the village. Early indications are that the problem next year may not be quite as great as we feared."
He said it was incredibly difficult to predict future intake levels and the major problem was how difficult Birdwell or Northleaze are to extend because of their location on the edge of the green belt.
It would, according to Cllr Blatchford, cost £7 million to rebuild Birdwell.
Anna Oxberry, chairman of the LASCG, said: "This problem is only going to get worse as the demographics of Long Ashton are changing quickly, plus many more new homes are scheduled to be built in and around the village in the next few years. The longer the council leaves this, the much worse it will get."
The group wants concerned parents, grandparents or carers to register with it at www.lascg.org.uk to join the campaign.
16 Comments
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by Michael Pocock, Long Ashton
Thursday, November 27 2008, 5:03PM
“Personally I was really disappointed by the tone of Councillor Blatchford's comments in this article.
His quote from the article is: "There is a shortage of primary school places in Long Ashton only at entry level. There are places available if a child of eight or 10 moves to the village.."
Two points spring to mind.
Firstly, the primary reason that the entry classes are full and the older classes are not is that North Somerset Council permitted a housing development in the village which attracted lots of families with young children. We expected the council to show a duty of care towards its residents (particularly the most vulnerable), but for me that trust is being eroded.
Secondly, even if "the problem next year is not quite as bad as it was feared" (and where is the evidence for this?) it is likely that about one-third of the children in the village starting school next year will be sent out of the village... Unless something changes then 'Sammy' really could be the norm for many Long Ashton children.
Come on North Somerset Council, have a heart.”
by Bob Hodgetts, Long Ashton
Wednesday, November 26 2008, 1:52PM
“I totally support the campaign of the LASCG as a parent of two under school age children. I concur with all the comments listed below. I would like to add that of the 23 children that did not make it into the two schools last academic year, at least 2 of those families are moving out of the village. So clearly this issue could start to affect everyone in the village as house prices are pushed down as families are put off moving into the village.
And what about the environmental impacts of 23 additional cars all driving out of the village every day to get their children to school.”
by P Fenton, Long Ashton
Monday, November 24 2008, 10:40AM
“We are now into our 3rd year of trying to get our 7 year old son into a Long Ashton school. He's currently at school in Bristol (an arrangement that we had to organise following N Somerset allocating a place further away meaning he would have to travel to school alone in a taxi).
Last week his school had a ''Bike to School Day'' with a Lord Mayor visit and special breakfast for everyone who took part. We had to bring our son's bike in the boot of the car so that he wouldn't be left out. Bike to school? If only!”
by Hannah, Bristol
Monday, November 24 2008, 8:21AM
“We are looking at moving to Long Ashton if there are new school places as it'd be a great place to live but there's no way I'm moving to a place where I'd have to send my child on a bus to primary school.
I went on a bus in secondary school to Backwell School and the politics and bullying on buses are horrible, to put a 4 year old on a bus is awful!
If NS council don't sort out this issue people won't buy houses in Long Ashton, and to say it's a temporary problem is ridiculous when 300 new homes were built in the last few years, all aimed at young families”
by Alexandra, Long Ashton
Sunday, November 23 2008, 9:30PM
“It's a disgrace that children can't go to school locally . Obviously North Somerset Council is utterly inept and probaly very dishonest too. Just unbelievable.”
by John Macdonald, Long Ashton
Friday, November 21 2008, 5:18PM
“The first page of the North Somerset schools admission document states:
"Children who walk to school are fitter, have better developed social skills, are more familiar with their surroundings, have better road sense and arrive at school more relaxed and ready to learn... We would like as many children as possible to walk or cycle to school."
All we ask is for the council to give our children this opportunity. As it is, approximately one third of 4-5 year olds in the village are likely to be less fit, have less developed social skills, be less familiar with their surroundings, have inferior road sense and arrive at school less relaxed and ready to learn. This is to say nothing of the wider impacts on the community and environment.
All this is because of inaction of North Somerset to provide adequate school places for the number of children in the village. They have now accepted that there is a long term need. There is plenty of space for temporary classrooms in the short term. So why are we still waiting for a solution?”
by John Macdonald, Long Ashton
Friday, November 21 2008, 5:17PM
“The first page of the North Somerset schools admission document states:
"Children who walk to school are fitter, have better developed social skills, are more familiar with their surroundings, have better road sense and arrive at school more relaxed and ready to learn... We would like as many children as possible to walk or cycle to school."
All we ask is for the council to give our children this opportunity. As it is, approximately one third of 4-5 year olds in the village are likely to be less fit, have less developed social skills, be less familiar with their surroundings, have inferior road sense and arrive at school less relaxed and ready to learn. This is to say nothing of the wider impacts on the community and environment.
All this is because of inaction of North Somerset to provide adequate school places for the number of children in the village. They have now accepted that there is a long term need. There is plenty of space for temporary classrooms in the short term. So why are we still waiting for a solution?”
by Ross Skinner, Long Ashton
Friday, November 21 2008, 1:22PM
“It seems like another dissapointing comment from Blatchford.
However he does acknowledge the fact that five of seven primary year classes are full in Long Ashton. Why this is good news is beyond me.
Next year his soundbite will be that there are places 'if the child is aged 9 or 11'.”
by Hannah Mainstone, Long Ashton
Friday, November 21 2008, 12:56PM
“My son was another of the unlucky ones, allocated a place at our sixth closest school. I don't think anyone can expect to have their child attend their closest school as a right, but when a parent is given three choices and doesn't get allocated any of them (our three closest schools), there is obviously a problem that needs to be urgently remedied.
These children are in their formative years and we should do everything we can to support them.
Incidently, many of the parents offered Council transport have declined because it is totally unaccepable to them. Can you blame them?”
by Ken, Long Ashton
Friday, November 21 2008, 12:33PM
“As far as I can see, the developers of the new housing estates paid most of the cost of a new school to be built just a few years back. This school was too small before it was built.
The council then sold the land the original school was on for yet more residential dwellings and now say there is o land available on which a new school can be built.
So the council got a new school and money from selling the old school site. Surely, when planning a new school, you first research how many places are required? Apparently not, this was only done when people complained they could not get a place for their kids. Party in a brewery anybody?”