Education transformation, Community devastation

I have not met a single person who would not want the best of education for children, Ceredigion Education and Community Services Directorate included!, but as is so often the case there is a lack of cross-cutting innovation and the County Council has taken another step towards dystopia.

Having attended the Council meeting on Wednesday to see whether a plan for a 3-19 school in Llandysul was to be adopted I took some solace that opinions were, at least, exchanged (but not debated!). I would like to thank the 14 councillors that supported our cause to see primary schools retained and secondary education developed in the area. In particular I am grateful to Dafydd Edwards for his stand against the leadership of the Council and to Assembly Members and Members of Parliament that gave us their support. I would also like to thank the 370 members of our Facebook group that have given us courage to pursue our principles. Unfortunately 17 councillors voted for the 3-19 school to be taken forward.

We have never sought to stop a new build scheme and we are in favour of an integrated 3 to 19 network, but with primary schools remaining within the community. Neither are we a single-issue group concerned that we can walk to our local school. The whole being of a community based primary school creates a community cohesion and enables our children to attend other activities and clubs in the area which I do not believe a single out-of-town school will allow. Are the Assembly and the County Council so convinced that a single-site education scheme will deliver all, and that their national average thresholds are fit for solutions in urban as they are in rural areas?

Despite the Council’s vote, we are still a very long way from our primary schools being closed and I urge all parents and community to continue to support our primary schools. I don’t want to see an exodus from our schools whilst they still have good numbers and high quality education. A dystopia may be upon us, but hope for a utopia has not escaped.