Building false hopes about primary schools in Freshbrook

by Paul Iles, parent and Chair of Governors, Freshbrook Primary School. 10.2005

Wrong for Windmill Hill School Parents
Moving forward with just one single-form entry school on the Freshbrook sites just doesn't provide enough places for the Freshbrook and Grange Park community. The LEAs analysis [note 1] shows that of the children accepted into Windmill Hill in September 2005 just 1/3rd would have been successful if they were competing for places in a single school.

Even being an existing parent at Windmill Hill wouldn't guarantee a place. If you live outside the catchment area and you already have a child at the school you would lose out to a child inside the catchment area. There would be a sharp increase in the number of parents not getting their children into the school of their choice.

Wrong for Freshbrook School children and parents
In the same way that Saltway parents are now being faced with longer school journeys this would be forced on Freshbrook School parents and children. Freshbrook School draws its children from a small area, many children walk to school. Parents without access to a car would be severely disadvantaged, some would inevitably find it difficult to cope with the longer school run and would have to give up work, increasing financial hardship.

Chris Davison also fails to make any sort of proposal for Freshbrook Schools' highly regarded Specialist Learning Centre which provides mainstream schooling for children from across the district with complex learning difficulties.

Wrong for West Swindon
Not providing enough primary school places in the area that they are needed will increase the level of appeals, increase disappointment and stress levels. House prices will be impacted.

Note 1 ­ Source "Improving educational provision in West Swindon, proposals for pre-statutory consultation for Toothill Primary School, Windmill Hill Primary School and Freshbrook Primary School" ­ Group Director of Children's Services, Swindon LEA ­ 5th October 2005

Where is the consideration of the environmental impact of increasing the length of school runs forcing more parents to use cars every day? Do we need more cars trying to get past Oliver Tomkins school every morning?

There is an alternative
Everyone accepts that there needs to be change, no-one is asking the LEA to maintain excess school places. Everyone will be impacted as I have already tried to pointed. I believe we need to look forward, not just two or three years but to the next 10 or 20 years.

Many people have taken the relative silence of Freshbrook School and its parents to mean that they don't care about the future of their school, they do, every bit as passionately as the parents from Windmill Hill, Toothill, and Saltway. They have a very clear view about what they want for the future.

A bright new school, with places for all the children from Windmill Hill and Freshbrook in new, state of the art buildings led by a new, young, enthusiastic school leadership. We have a golden opportunity to build a new school that can serve Freshbrook and Grange Park for the next twenty five years. We're not talking about the Freshbrook School of 15 years ago that had over 100 children a year starting. We're talking about a modern school facility that can accommodate the 50 to 60 children a year that need school places in our community. New enthusiastic leadership can stimulate a school, at Freshbrook School we saw the impact a new Head Teacher had on our school three years ago, I'm sure it's the same enthusiasm that a young David Messenger brought to Windmill Hill in the 80's.

I find it very sad to see parents filling their children with fear of the future, pictures in the press of scared children holding placards shouldn't be necessary. Freshbrook School children are genuinely excited about the prospect of having a new school and having their playmates (remember they live and play in the same streets) join them there.

This isn't going to be easy but everyone at Freshbrook School is ready to work alongside their friends, neighbours and colleagues to make this a success. It has to be, for our childrens' sake.