Good quality teachers are key to the educational success of our children. All staff should be given the opportunity to give their opinions and share their knowledge. This professional comment should be viewed with significant weight in the consultation process, in fact it should be weighted higher than "theoretical" observations from selected experts as these people have "local knowledge". They should have the opportunity to answer the following key questions (to an independent body or anonymously - essentially without feeling any duress - either real or percieved):
1) Are you for or against the proposed school combination and split-site proposal?
2) What do you see as the advantages of the proposal?
3) What do you see as the disadvantages of the proposal?
4) Are there any other alternative solutions that you feel should be considered other than the current proposal?
5) If the takeover goes ahead how do you see your employment?
a) I doubt I'll have a job.
b) I would love the new setup.
c) I would be concerned but will wait and see.
d) I cannot see me wanting to work in such a setup.
6) What could be done to mitigate any negative feelings you have to the proposed merger / split-site?
7) What problems do you see that have not been addressed?
(please note that I have tried to be balanced and even handed as an attempt to show SurreyCC what a consultation should look like)
Parents were notified of the proposal for Tomlinscote to take over Kings in a letter from SCC dated 16th March 2011, yet over 10 weeks later the professionals "at ground zero" with perhaps the best perspective as to "educational outcomes" still haven't been asked their views. It would be interesting to know how teachers would respond to these questions.
Without the teaching body of staff, Tomlinscote or Kings, will not exist either in an "old" or "new" form and standards will go down. Retaining good quality teachers is key, yet there are no plans within the proposal to address how this will be done. The uncertainty of this proposal may well have damaged both schools even if the status quo is maintained.
CAM is concerned that there will be a heavy fall out of teachers if this proposal goes ahead. CAM feels that attracting teachers to teach in a split site operation over such a distance will appeal to a much more limited teaching market and will restrict the calibre of teachers recruited when vacancies occur. There is evidence that turnovers of staff increase in these situations and there are grave concerns about continuity as a consequence. Key to SurreyCC's argument is that Kings students will benefit from joining Tomlinscote but it is far from clear that Tomlinscote will be Tomlinscote with a new head and no plan to ensure staff or SLT continuity. We need to ensure that high calibre teachers and SLT are retained and do not leave. This issue alone should be sufficient to say NO to the split site proposal.
There is also no indication of how the split site Tomlinscote would be staffed but given that the proposal states in option 2 page 12 'It would probably require a number of staff moving regularly between the two sites' one can assume there would be the need for staff to move between the sites. Transportation of teachers from one site to another, with delays on route, time to park, time setting up a different classroom at the next site and moving between locations for meetings is a waste of time and tax payers money. It could amount to a lot of hours over a week that is wasted. If only 5 staff moved in a day and the time spent on these activities was 1 hour that would be 25 hours per week wasted. This could be a conservative estimate on the amount of time wasted given the numbers of teaching staff employed between the two schools. That time would be better spent in the classroom teaching our children and raising standards. It is a concern that there would be pressure for this time to come from time used for preparation and marking. This is of big concern when teachers are already finding this time under threat due to economic pressures reducing the ability of SLT to pay for cover.
SB
some previous blogs
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/03/spare-thought-for-teachers.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/05/educational-and-emotional-disruption.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/04/split-site-disadvantages.html
http://tomlinscote-kings.blogspot.com/2011/04/split-sites-discussion-tes.html
And what parents are saying.....
"Kings is a wonderful, unique and vibrant school. The passion and attitude of all staff, students and teachers was plain to see which, for me, outshone the experience I had at other schools. "
"...who attends Tomlinscote is having her best academic year thanks to the high quality of teachers at Tomlinscote and the structured support that they provide."
"The stress of a merger will cause teachers many concerns which can only be detrimental to themselves and the education they provide. Teachers should not be expected to travel to different sites throughout their day. Evidence on split site schools clearly shows that is does not work. I am deeply concerned, that Tomlinscote will lose many excellent teachers if this was to go ahead."
"I’m really worried that the merger will mean that Tomlinscote will lose some good teachers who don’t want to work across 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."
"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."
"The many staff changes that will inevitably take place over the next year is going to have a huge impact on all the pupils at both schools. Teachers although dedicated all have their future careers to consider, how many lessons will end up being covered by supply teachers?"
"There was a high turnaround of Maths teachers. This has severely impacted children on their attitude towards the subject. It is hard enough to recruit and retain teachers for one site."
"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. We feel already that some teachers are choosing to take jobs elsewhere and the level of subs supervising our children has already increased over the last few months."
"This Government believes that teachers and head-teachers, not politicians and bureaucrats, should control schools and have more power over how they are run." (source education.gov.uk) .
"Secondly, we have concerns about retention and recruitment of good quality teachers at a merged school. There is a real danger of current teachers leaving in droves which always happens when an organisation faces uncertainty. We have excellent teachers who work hard, let's not lose them to other schools. Good teachers are highly sought after and find it easy to get new jobs, so can be selective where they go. Good teachers will be reluctant to join a school which is undergoing huge changes through amalgamation."
"Lastly we have always chosen schools for our children where we get to know the teachers and the teachers get to know the pupils and their parents. This sense of community will be lost in a super size school based at two sites. The children will feel like numbers in two different schools rather than individuals at one school."
"The teachers are some of the best teachers I have ever come across and they have every individual child's needs in their hearts and minds. Why should they lose their jobs? On the day that the children were informed of the proposed merger the teachers also found out they would lose their jobs. The children were more concerned for their teachers than them selves and there were a lot of tears! This just shows of the love and care within Kings."
On Friday CAM met with Major Tikendra Dal Dewan, Chairman of the British Gurkha Welfare Society, and experienced school governor.
