C.A.M. Meets Michael Gove MP Secretary Of State For Education

On Thursday May 26th three members of CAM met with Michael Gove at his local surgery in Windlesham.  Louise Nicholas Chair of CAM a Tomlinscote parent went with Mark Reynolds a Kings parent, Belinda Tam a local resident and parent of children at Ravenscote and Prior Heath schools to represent the three sections of Surrey Heath on whose behalf CAM are campaigning by "working together to remain separate". Michael listened to our concerns about the leading nature of the consultation document and the content that had been provided. We discussed the lack of emphasis on continued educational outcomes or educational information in general, the lack of full commitment regarding financial information and travel plans. We raised our worries about the speed with which this proposal is being rushed through and the huge impact this split site mega school would have on the children of Surrey Heaths education moving forwards. We talked about the teachers at both schools who deliver the excellent education that our children receive and our concerns that they are not being able to voice their opinions openly. The capability issues of both SCC and the Governing Body of Tomlinscote in overseeing this expansion were discussed. Mark spoke in depth about the excellent work that Kings has done for his child and how the new proposed school could potentially damage all the progress that they have made.  As an employee of Frimley Park Hospital he raised his views about the increase in traffic the expansion would cause which is going against the hospitals plans to find innovative ways to reduce traffic around the hospital site. Mark feels passionately that Kings now needs to be given a fresh start under an Academy provider as Surrey County Council do not seem to want the school to succeed. Belinda raised issues from  residents perspective and as a feeder school parent regarding choice being diminished and her concerns about the size of the new school, the split site and educational outcomes. 

Michael asked us what we would consider as alternatives. The two preferred options would be to have an Academy provider who believes in the viability of Kings and wants to build the school from the grass roots and encompass the community or to retain and build on the soft federation with Tomlinscote which has seen such dramatic improvements during the past year. We discussed the fact that Collingwood and Gordon’s Schools were becoming Academies leaving only the newly expanded Tomlinscote under full SCC control and the potential impact this could have on the school. We also talked about the letter sent out from the Collingwood Governing Body and the inappropriate timing of this as feeder school parents of year 6 children who had accepted places at both schools had not been informed of the consultation until May 20th after this letter was circulated and that the Governing Body of Tomlinscote had not spoken to its parents yet and will not be doing so until June 7th. Michael listened carefully to our concerns and agreed that the right decision educationally and not just financially should be made for Surrey Heath. As Michael is unable due to a conflict of interests to give his opinion he advised us that Lord Hill would be assessing the situation and that he had been speaking with Peter Martin the cabinet decision maker for Children and Learning at SCC.
Michael then attended the first public meeting at Lakeside for feeder school parents and listened to the SCC proposal and then spoke with various parents and listened to their views. CAM felt that Michael Gove was genuinely concerned about the issues we face and we would like to thank him for attending the public meeting and meeting CAM at his surgery.

Louise Nicholas Chair CAM

Governors to meet with parents

Governors letter (to Kings) can be read here
and to Tomlinscote here.

there is a Frequently Asked Questions document from the Governors here.

Comments I'm getting have pointed out.

1) Kings parents get two 2 hour sessions - Tomlinscote ONE 2 hour session.
     (This is wrong see the update below with the dates for the two schools)
2) The timing of the announcement vis a vis half term combined with the deadline is likely to ensure the least response.
3) Primary school and other stakeholders are not invited.
    (I believe but don't know that the Governors are moving to rectify this)

There are two letters one for Kings and one for Tomlinscote. (Thanks for someone putting me right on this) the dates are different.  Other than the letters being personalised they are the same.

Tomlinscote

Kings

It is hard to comprehend how the behaviour of the Executive Headmaster, Chair of the Board of Governors at Tomlinscote and Surrey County Council can be seen as anything other than conforming to the bare legal minimum required to satisfy that they had performed a "consultation".  The three parties have not even bothered to put in enough effort to make it "look good" which frankly staggers me.  It almost feels like someone is thumbing their nose at us.  A lack of involvement would be bad enough, given the direction David Cameron and his party are headed with "The big society", but the vast majority of parents do not see the process as "lack of involvement".   Rightly or wrongly they view it as deliberate and cynical manipulation.   No argument that has been advanced so far for the merger has stood up to the mildest of questioning, and no satisfactory answers or justifications have been forthcoming.  The climate of mistrust, bred by the manner in which the "consultation" has been prosecuted, and aggravated by a vacuum of information has caused conspiracy theory to abound.  People are naturally looking around for logical explanations for the events that have unfolded and their (albeit speculative) conclusions are ugly.

This is a taint that cannot easily be shrugged off and dumped on the conveniently departing Executive Principal and the remote, aloof and shambolic "Acting Head of Schools and Learning".  Sadly the climate of mistrust is likely to damage the school(s) regardless of what happens for some time to come. Governors, SLT even the new head will all be under a cloud of suspicion that they were complicit in some sort of intrigue.  Many of the players almost certainly have not, or have been doing their level best in difficult circumstances, but are unable or unwilling to state their opinion and thus clear their names.  For us to have any sort of healing after this process (regardless of outcome) I think we need to know how this all happened.

It is difficult to reconcile what is going on here with a free open and honest democratic society - for me the atmosphere feels more like some of the regimes we as a democracy claim the moral high-ground against.  David Camerons ideas about "The big society" are dead and buried in the leafy conservative stronghold of Surrey Heath - the "safe seat" of his Education Secretary no less!  What hope his admirable ideals will take root if we cannot manage the already supposedly established concepts of "free speech" and "freedom of information" in David Camerons own back yard?  Here we have people unable to join a debate because they are scared for their jobs, working as they do for the school and or Surrey County Council.  Other people who have depressingly concluded it is a done deal.  Followed by the inability to get any meaningful discourse or information from public bodies.  At the moment my depressingly cynical feeling is that the "The Big Society" is not that "Big" at all, in fact it can probably gather around the bar in the local golf club!

Everyone is welcome to their opinion, I'd like to have seen a free fair and open debate on the issues surrounding the merger but the experience so far has been unimpressive.  For anyone who feels like me that we have not had a fair hearing I encourage you to contribute to CAMs legal fund.  For many of you the increased travel costs could add up to £1000's over the period your children are in school, maybe you will consider placing your children elsewhere.  Some have suggested moving out of the area altogether so scared are they by the potential damage to their childrens education. It HAS therefore to be worth at least a modest contribution to CAMs legal fund.

CAM takes legal advice

or by sending cheques made payable to 

"Campaign Against Merger" 

to:

CAM, 22, Glenmount Road, Mytchett GU16 6AY

This is the letter to Kings parents.

Michael Gove joins parents at Tomlinscote/Kings consultation meeting

Over on the Surrey Residents site there is an excellent article:-

"Michael Gove joins parents at Tomlinscote/Kings consultation meeting".

Parents against school merger meet Education Secretary - Eagle

Eagle News Article

CAM takes legal advice

We have engaged a legal firm with extensive experience in Public and Education Law to support our campaign.

They will :

●     Provide a full response to the consultation document which will enable us to communicate our views in the most effective manner whilst at the same time focussing on legal aspects of the consultation process.

●     Enable CAM to properly understand and engage with the whole process, not just the current consultation exercise but also with subsequent phases such as Statutory Notices and so on.

●     Enable CAM to engage with the consultation in the most effective way by knowing our rights and claiming them. For example the Right to CAM representation at Consultation meetings.

●     Provide general legal advice and guidance on issues that arise during the consultation.

This will:

●     Provide the best possible response to the consultation document improving our ability to inform and influence the Governors of Tomlinscote School who are key decision makers as well as County Councillors and other interested parties.

●     Optimize CAM’s effectiveness

●     Provide a view of SCC compliance with the legal requirement of the consultation process, providing a basis, if one is required, for further legal action.

To do this we need your help...

Please donate to the CAM campaign via the Pay Pal button on the blog site here or on the right sidebar.

or by sending cheques made payable to Campaign Against Merger to:

CAM, 22, Glenmount Road, Mytchett GU16 6AY

WHAT IS YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATION WORTH?

If 400 people give £10.00 we will have £4000.

Surely your child’s education is worth at least this investment.

PLEASE HELP US TO HELP YOU - SUPPORT OUR FUNDRAISING.

We can assure you that any funds left over at the end of this process will be disposed of by you deciding where they should be directed e.g. schools, NSPCC etc.

Thank you
Louise Nicholas- Chair of CAM

Bus Clarification - Surrey promise is not much.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the promise of bus travel.
Many people seem to think they will get a bus - to see what Surrey promised see here:
Consultation = No Buses - Travel may be worst for ...

Or play the Bus game.

If you do not qualify and choose to drive

2 miles there and 2 miles back = £1.20

twice a day that is £2.40

190 school days per year = 

£456 per year.

Residents Network launches new email lists for Heatherside & Lightwater

Cllr Paul Deach who runs the Surrey Heath Residents Blog and is tirelessly active in bringing together the community in and around the area, has run a successful community mailing list for quite some time.  He is hoping to extend on this success and establish mailing lists in Heatherside and other areas.  It is a great way of building community in our new "interweb" enabled society.  Have a browse over here to find out more.

Educational and Emotional disruption - Parents to Governors

Parents concerns from the letters I've seen worry that the disruption of the merger, the split site and the potential for staff leaving will cause their childrens education to be damaged.  Even more worryingly a lot of parents feel that their children will be subjected to psychological trauma.  Children need stability and this is certainly not the way to ensure it.

Sadly some of the most compelling letters expressing concerns about the impact on the mental health of children are just to personal for me to post on a public site.  They make me realise that while I am against this on the basis that I feel it is not a good thing for MY childrens education there are other people with significantly more to lose than me.  Perhaps I'm just a "sensitive little flower" but I felt fairly emotional reading some of the letters from Kings and Tomlinscote parents.  Stability is the cornerstone of healthy child psychology and development of well adjusted adults.  Even the instability of the "proposal" of the merger is damaging to the children - in actuality it is going to be much worse.  I hope the governors read these letters and understand the depth of the problems that proceeding with the merger may create.

---

"How will the two groups of children be integrated at a crucial time for their education with out to much disruption. At the meeting the main speaker, a man referred to by his colleagues as “PJ” made the comment that they would “Experiment”"

"....it would cause problems to both our childrens education and current confidence in school."

"This year’s Year 7 students will have one year in Tomlinscote and will then have to move over to new premises and have to get used to new year groups— the psychological effect of constant changes will have a significant impact on their academic performance."

"I think this will cause considerable disruption to both sets of children and have a huge impact on their most important years of schooling."

"They have a difficult time just maturing and growing up and an unstable school environment makes the entire growing up process nearly unbearable. Teachers need extra patience when handling behaviour and if teachers are being asked to rush around between two separate school sites, they are not going to have the time or energy to pay attention to the students."

"...will be just starting her GCSE’s in the midst of all this uncertainty. It is a very critical time in their life to cope with such change"

"I am deeply concerned about how this will have an adverse effect on their education."

"It is a huge move for students moving to a secondary school from a junior school. They will then be expected to move to the Kings site for one year and then back to the Tomlinscote site again."

"Disruption to my children’s secondary education"

"Then, in the most important time of his education, in year 10, he will be expected to move back to Tomlinscote, settle into a new environment again! meet new teachers, and begin his GCSE'S. And, this will also the case for the many other new students of Tomliscote and Kings. How can this not be detrimental to the mental, physical and psychological wellbeing of these students?"

"Year 7 is fundamentally about setting into a new school environment and routine. For a large number of children this takes time but ultimately builds confidence in the early years. We believe that having to move to an entirely different school to begin the GCSE courses, involving new staff and new routes and new surroundings, would be totally detrimental and disruptive for all children."

"A change in head teacher alone can cause a level of anxiety within the children, the discussion about a possible merger and major change to the school environment where they have both settled well and are happy and developing well is causing major stress and anxiety to both my children. They now realise they would have to travel to separate sites and would not have each other’s support at school as they do now"

"As well as the effect this ‘proposed merger’ is going to have on the mental health of my children"

"He will be in the first year that is expected to use the system for the first time. The school will still be settling down from the re-organisation and again, having been through that when I was at school, I know what issues this can cause. I do not want his first experience of high school to be one of uncertainty, unhappy teachers and children with unhappy families who feel they have been forced into a situation they wouldn't have chosen."

"It has taken my child a year to adapt to the school surrounding and the thought of them once again struggling to adapt to new school surroundings, if the merger is completed, is extraordinarily frustrating."

CAM in CAMberley People

Article in Camberley People on CAM activities.

CAM Critique of the SurreyCC consultation document.

CAM have issued their views on the "consultation" document issued by SurreyCC.

CAM Critique of the SurreyCC consultation document.

Your comments are welcome.

Don't miss the consultation evening - Tonight!

Tuesday 24th May, Kings International College 


5pm – 6:45pm (Parents of Kings International students in Years 7-9)


7pm – 8:45pm (Parents of Kings International students in Years 10-13)

Kids Roads and Travel - parents inform Governors of Concerns

Further to a number of blog posts - parents give their views to the Governors.  If I have not quoted from your letter its because they are coming in day by day - keep it up!

http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/05/thank-you-to-everyone-who-joined-us.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/05/travel-may-be-worst-for-kings-ks4s.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/04/surrey-cc-against-its-own-travel-policy.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/03/travel-chaos.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/04/merger-traffic-would-go-through-air.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/04/travel-plans-for-schools.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/04/travel-planning-in-surrey-heath.html

---

"I am also worried about how my child would get to the Tomlinscote site. We live 5 minutes from Kings and currently my child can walk to school. If the merger went ahead I would probably have to drive them as there is currently no direct bus route. This would involve me having to fight my way through the traffic every morning and having to hurry back to get my younger child to a local school. I feel a 40 minute walk to school every morning is too much."

"The roads in our area are already dangerously overcrowded at exactly the times the children need to make there way to the new school. Do we make this situation worse by adding to the congestion by driving him to the old Kings site or do we let him walk. He would need to cross the extremely busy Portsmouth Road which is going to be very dangerous as there is no crossing near to where we live. Presently he can walk to Tomlinscote and so his carbon footprint is low and this also saves us money on petrol."

"I have read the comments from Surrey CC regarding a bus service but like many others on Heatherside will not qualify for this bus service."

"In my case the only reason for sending my children to Tomlinscote was in order for them to be able to walk to school"

"I see from the Surrey CC consultation document that we will also NOT be eligible for the free bus"

"....and I don't feel happy for them to walk such a distance on such busy roads. Therefore I will need to now drive from my house to Kings as will a large number of Heatherside residents where currently their children all walk to school."

"I am a working parent and will be unable to collect my child from Kings in the middle of the afternoon. A 12/13 year old cannot surely be expected to walk 2.8 miles home by which time in the winter it will almost certainly be completely dark."

"....would have to leave the house at around 7.45 in order to get a bus into Camberley and then walk the remaining distance. Again in winter this would be dark."

"Whilst walking this 35-40 minute journey, he will be carrying several bags twice a day. Has anybody thought about back injuries to these young children carrying heavy loads. Would YOU carry a laptop bag twice a day for this length of time? And what about during bad weather?"

"..... chose Tomlinscote School, so that my children could walk to and from school safely. After taking part in the ‘walk’ to King’s International today, it was very apparent that there is absolutely no way my child would be able to do walk the 2.8 miles to King’s with all their bags and equipment."

"....instead of a 5 minute walk to school would have to walk for 35 minutes each way with her school bag, packed lunch, laptop bag and on some days PE kit........."

"The walk is along extremely dangerous and treacherous roads which are extremely busy during the peak times, which is when my child would be walking. Today I undertook the walk taking the exact route they would take and it took over an hour each way! This is totally unacceptable as at present it takes 3 minutes from my front door to Tomlinscote back gate! "

"I know that it would take him approx 45 mins to do this and back again at the end of the day. This is not a good use of his time and will leave him tired (too tired for homework?) each day. It doesn't bode well for after school activities either."

"Inability for children to attend after school clubs due to the walk home in the dark in winter months and the close proximity of rush hour traffic."

"Another reason I selected Tomlinscote for both my children is because we can walk to school."

"increased traffic will greatly add to, the already, congested roads in the Camberley area. The road infrastructure does not need this extra unnecessary traffic."

"I was also under the impression that both our Government and the G12 are currently all working to try and reduce carbon omissions, yet this proposed merger will force up to an estimated 1,000 more vehicles onto Frimley’s already congested roads, thereby sending the carbon footprint for the area off the scale! I am sure David Cameron would like to see the predicted carbon omission figures if this goes ahead. As Governors you are aware of the very large percentage of children attending Tomlinscote School who walk to and from school each day and for whom this proposal is going to prevent from happening in future, forcing everyone into cars in order to get to school and back."

"For the children coming from Frimley, it would mean that their way to school will go along a busy four lane road. The proposal is unnecessarily putting children’s lives at risk."

"The two schools are 1.8 miles from each other with only one vehicle route between them. This route passes the UK headquarters of the large international company Siemens, Frimley Park Hospital and a large business park near the Frimley roundabout. Some of this route is along the most heavily congested roads in the borough."

"When we make our choice for a school we take into account our ability to get our children to the site in a timely and safe manner. With this in mind I chose a school my son could walk to so that I can get all 3 of my children to school on time - I now do not know how I will manage this."

"For a child to walk the distance to Kings carrying all their bags, laptops etc is just too much to ask of them. "

"The result will be everyone jumping into their cars for the school run, the impact of which will be disastrous on our already overburdened road system, especially at the front of the hospital. The area is going to grind to a halt if we aren't careful - surely these wider issues should be given serious thought when deciding on the future of the school."

".....would now have to walk 1.5 miles to the Kings site crossing major roads which have very heavy traffic, past sites which have a very heavy flow of traffic in the morning (Siemens, Frimley Roundabout) and back past sites which have heavy traffic in the afternoon (Frimley Park Hospital)."

Petition Progress in Camberley - on KeepKings.org

Petition Progress in Camberley - on KeepKings.org

Governors are presented with split site worries.

Thanks so much for contacting the governors - keep up the good work.  I have been very interested to read your letters, all of which are passionate and do a great job of getting your feelings across.  I am taking the liberty of publishing a few snippets from your letters as an easy way for governors and others to see what people feel on different subjects.

First split-sites

http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/04/split-site-disadvantages.html

http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/04/split-sites-discussion-tes.html

---

"We have seen many Ofsted reports that raise concerns about split site schools"

"We are anxious that you recognise that running a school on split sites would cause major operational problems on a day to day basis. Anything from the teaching cover, timetables, options, lockers, travel for both teachers and students between sites, lack of peer support and sixth form involvement with the lower years would be affected. We will have children based on two separate sites with the problems that brings of how to get both of them to school and home at the same time. Everything would be much more complicated and have a much greater risk of failing. No one involved with this proposal seems to have had experience of merging a school, let alone running a large school over two separate sites at least 2 miles apart."

"We are concerned that teachers will choose to leave Tomlinscote rather than have to cope with the stress of a merger and the day to day problems of having to move across sites. "

"At the meeting the main speaker, a man referred to by his colleagues as “PJ” made the comment that they would “Experiment”. Not what I wanted to hear and added to my concerns that they really have not thought this through. You do not experiment with children’s futures!"

"I also have concerns about the competence of the council officials to manage the changes, at the meeting they made so many mistakes in the presentation and used examples to support their argument that are not relevant - at one point they used another local school as an example of when a split site can work but did not seem to realise that it was a private school and so totally irrelevant to us."

"Disruption to my children’s secondary education and a fear that standards will fall during the transition phase, which I suspect will take many years. I think a split site school does not foster community spirit within the student body"

"The stress of travelling or teaching in two sites 2 miles apart is bound to take a toll on the staff"

"I cannot even begin to comprehend the effect this merger is also going to have on the education of my and everyone else’s children. The research has proven that ‘Split Site School’s’ do not work and have a detrirmental effect on educational standards. To date the effect this uncertainty is having on both the teaching staff and students is evident and is not good and very worrying as this can only get worse."

"The lack of balance of student ages at each school site. By this I mean that the younger students will not have the older student example to look up to and the older students will lose the fantastic opportunity to take on additional responsibilities"

"Difficulty for teaching staff of working over a split site."

"I am concerned that teachers will need to travel between sites. I was taught on a split school myself and remember most of our lessons being shorter than the planned curriculum to allow for teachers to travel between sites. The teachers were also frazzled by the travel and this didn't encourage the best professional behaviour as they struggled to teach all of the curriculum to classes who were already bored by waiting in corridors for lessons to start. Being on one site is the best situation for a teacher who can then ensure all of their work/preparation/lunch(!) is where they need it to be for every class or break."

"My primary objection is that split site schools have a track record of not working. The issues involved here are as follows; transportation/traffic issues, staff communication,pupil/staff communication and a sense of community,belonging and pride."

"Evidence suggests that educational standards can fall at split site schools and this becomes more likely if the schools are further than 1 mile apart."

"I am concerned that teacher retention could be a problem during the 2011 / 12 academic year as teachers will not want to stay to work on two sites."

"We do not want our children at different sites, for all manner of practical and social reasons. The sites are too far apart and in effect you will be creating a middle and upper school which are totally separate."

"Year 7 is fundamentally about setting into a new school environment and routine. For a large number of children this takes time but ultimately builds confidence in the early years. We believe that having to move to an entirely different school to begin the GCSE courses, involving new staff and new routes and new surroundings, would be totally detrimental and disruptive for all children."

"Research seems to indicate also that is highly likely their education will suffer too as it appears teachers do not like to work in split site schools, they are rarely as smooth-running as single site schools, and if the solution were adopted I think it very likely that Tomlinscote could lose a significant number of very good teaching staff and those remaining would inevitably more less efficient."

SurreyCC Lakeside Consultation Meetings

Tuesday 24th May, Kings International College 
5pm – 6:45pm (Parents of Kings International students in Years 7-9)
7pm – 8:45pm (Parents of Kings International students in Years 10-13)

Wednesday 25th May, Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, GU16 6PT 
5pm – 6:45pm (Parents of Tomlinscote School students in Years 7-9)
7pm – 9pm (Parents of Tomlinscote School students in Years 10-13)

Thursday 26th May, Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, GU16 6PT 
5pm – 6:45pm (Prospective Parents of both schools)
7pm – 9pm (Other stakeholders and the wider community)