Fury at sixth form 'farce' (From Gazette Series)

Fury at sixth form 'farce'

A HEADTEACHER has spoken out against the announcement that his school's sixth form will close, claiming the whole community has been robbed of choice by the decision.

Gloucestershire County Council's cabinet on Friday took the decision to close the sixth form at the Vale of Berkeley College, meaning post-16 education at the Wanswell school will cease in 2007.

But head Michael Hardwick said he was very disappointed with the decision.

"I am angry at the farcical way that this has been pushed through," he added. "The decision did appear to be already made ahead of Friday's cabinet meeting and despite the hard work put in by teachers, parent, pupils and the community we were not listened to."

Three county sixth forms will close as a result of the county council's review of all 28 Gloucestershire sixth forms, which was carried out in partnership with the Learning and Skills Council.

As a result of the review Sir William Romney's, Tetbury, and Cheltenham Kingsmead will also close.

Mr Hardwick said the sixth form at the Vale of Berkeley offers great flexibility for students.

"It is not just current pupils who are going to lose out as a result of this decision,' he said. "The whole area is losing the option of choosing a small sixth form over a big one.

"Other sixth forms do not offer the same provision as we do - our vocational courses are extremely popular with the students and the option of carrying out one day a week work experience helps students make important career choices."

Mr Hardwick said the school had had to fight to stay open in the past, but that it is difficult to say how Friday's decision will affect the future.

"People have been worried about the treat of closure because we are a small school," he added. "The size of the sixth form was a part of that worry. But we have increased our intake for next year and are hopeful this increase will continue to help the school go from strength to strength."

Head of sixth form Lyn Wright echoed Mr Hardwick's anger.

"What I saw at Friday's cabinet meeting was not what I call democracy and I am very angry," she said. "I feel for our students. They chose to come to a small school rather than a large one, but have had that option removed post-16."

Mrs Wright added that the school offers unique choices to students and that many may decide not to take their education further when the sixth form closes.

"We offer our students what they want and tailor our courses to suit that cohort," she explained. "Our pupils will be forced to go on to a variety of establishments and many have indicated they are not prepared to make this transition.

"I worry that at a time in their life when they are already under immense pressure, being an unknown minority in unfamiliar surroundings is a step many will not be prepared to make."

PUPILS from the Vale of Berkeley College are equally as disappointed by the news that the sixth form will close.

Speaking to Gazette reporter Julia Causton, pupils from years 10, 11, 12 and 13 said they were unlikely to have wanted to go anywhere else to pursue their post-16 education.

Year 13 pupil Chris Page, 13, of Frampton-on-Severn, is taking a mixture of vocational and A level courses and is hoping to pursue a career in the information technology field.

"I would not have gone to any other sixth form," said Chris. "I don't like larger schools and knew the teachers in the Vale of Berkeley. If the sixth form had not been here I would have gone into full time work after my GCSEs.

Stuart Byles, 18, is studying A-levels in Maths, Information Technology and English at the Vale Of Berkeley College.

Year 13 student Stuart, who is hoping to go on to university, said he would not have considered going anywhere else.

"I am not confident enough to have gone to one of the bigger schools," he said. "I feel comfortable at the Vale of Berkeley.

"This is an huge loss for the school - the sixth form is a major part of the school and a lot of people will be sorry to see it close."

Year 11 pupil Amie Parkes, 16, of Cam, moved to the Vale of Berkeley College after experiencing problems at her other school.

She will be going into the sixth form in September to study art, design and technology and information technology.

"I would rather stay here," she said. "The sixth form is smaller and it is a friendly environment to study in."

Year 10 pupil Stephanie Loomes, 14, from Qwuedgeley, had feared she would not be able to stay on in her current school as in the original proposal for the closure the sixth form would have closed in 2006.

"I would have been very upset if I had missed out of the Vale of Berkeley sixth form," said Stephanie. "I would not have gone anywhere else."

Ben Brown, 16, lives in Berkeley. He is in year 12 studying for a GNVQ in leisure and tourism.

Ben said in a school like the Vale of Berkeley you know everyone by name.

"You can always talk to someone here if you need to," he said. "I would not have bothered to go to another school where I did not know anyone - I would have probably gone out and got a job."

GLOUCESTERSHIRE County Council has said it will now work with all three schools to establish the arrangements to publish proposals to close the sixth forms. The council says it also wants to provide support so the schools can maximise their strengths as 11-16-schools.

The cabinet has confirmed that Friday's decision was taken as part of a drive to increase collaboration between schools, colleges and work-based learning providers for the benefit of all Gloucestershire pupils over 14.

The council will publish on May 1 statutory proposals to close the sixth form at Vale of Berkeley College. If Gloucestershire's School Organisation Committee, which is independent of the council, approves the closures, the sixth forms would shut in August, 2007. The last intake of pupils would be September, 2005.

Cllr Charmian Sheppard (Lib Dem) is responsible for the education of young people. She said: "There are times when we have to take difficult and unpopular decisions. This is one of them.

"Our aim throughout the review has been to put young people at the heart of all our decision-making. I realise that the staff and pupils associated with these three schools are extremely disappointed.

"But we are confident we can all move forward and work to provide our young people with access to the widest possible range of academic and vocational opportunities.

Cllr Peter Clarke (Lab), the leader of the council, added: "We need to make sure we provide a high quality and balanced curriculum and we believe that collaboration and area-based partnerships are the way forward.

"We very much hope that these three schools will continue to work with partners to share expertise and offer elements of post-16 education. We aren't here to wreck education - we are here to make it better and widen the paths of opportunity."

From around 1pm on Friday around 100 people, including a large number of pupils, demonstrated outside Shire Hall, Gloucester. Most people attending the demonstration were there in support of Sir William Romney's School. Around 60 members of the public attended the cabinet meeting.

STROUD'S Tory prospective Parliamentary candidate has expressed "utter disappointment" that the Labour-led county council is closing three sixth forms, including at the Vale of Berkeley College.

Stated Neil Carmichael: "This decision can only reduce the numbers of pupils deciding to continue in education post-16 and it will also disrupt the planning process for post-16 education across the county.

"These closures will be costly in terms of education provision, people's jobs, the local communities and, ironically, the Labour government's own objectives for education."

WHEN is a closure not a closure? When it relates to a sixth form!

Wotton area county councillor Dr John Cordwell (Lib Dem) said this week: "The term 'closure' is one that we are obliged to use and which has been widely misunderstood.

"Although the schools will not continue to have free-standing sixth forms of their own, it is intended that post-16 education will still take place at these schools in collaboration with other schools, such as Rednock or Katharine Lady Berkeley's in the case of Vale of Berkeley College.

"Indeed the government's proposals for the 14-to-19 curriculum make such collaboration inevitable. This means that sixth form students will have access to a greater number of courses, and also that these schools will no longer find it necessary to top up the funding provided for their small sixth forms by the Learning and Skills Council by diverting money supplied to the school by the local education authority for 11-to-16 education.

Cllr Dr Cordwell also explained that as a governor of Katharine Lady Berkeley's School he declared a prejudicial interest and left the council cabinet meeting for this item.

Proposals agreed included statutory proposals to close the sixth form at the Vale of Berkeley and discussions with the governors on the publication of proposals to close the sixth form at Sir William Romney's School, Tetbury.

The difference relates to the latter being a foundation school. If the governors of Sir William Romney's resist this move it is likely that the Learning and Skills Council will step in and close their sixth for, Cllr Dr Cordwell added.