THERE’S been further upset for parents of pupils at St Mary’s Primary School in Broughton Gifford, with news that the number of classes at the school are to be cut.
Parents have been told by the White Horse Federation – the multi-academy trust that manages eight of Melksham’s schools – that because of a “steady decline” in pupil numbers, the number of classes at St Mary’s is to drop from four to three.
The class restructure follows news that the school is to share one headteacher with two other schools in the area – St George’s Primary School in Semington and Seend Primary School – which has sparked a campaign by parents who are demanding “dedicated management” for the school.
News of the class cuts has left parents concerned that teachers will be overstretched, having to teach pupils from multiple year groups in one class.
And parents believe that the cuts will impact work that has been done to improve the school after it was rated as ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted in 2017.
They have also dismissed claims by the White Horse Federation that the cuts are necessary because of the decline in pupil numbers, explaining that they feel the figures are “inaccurate”, and “at worst deliberately exaggerated”.
And despite calls for clarity on the plans, the White Horse Federation has told parents that it is unable to confirm what the new class structure will look like until the next school term.
One parent told Melksham News, “The planned restructure of the school from four classes to three can only be detrimental to pupils’ education and academic achievement, and I believe risks reversing the progress made over the past 4 years.
“I do not believe a single teacher in a single classroom can effectively educate pupils spanning in age from, for example, 4 to 7 years.
“The school was previously rated as ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted, in part as the ‘progress of the most able pupils was too slow’ and because ‘teachers do not plan activities that match the learning needs of different groups of pupils well enough.’
“I fail to see how increasing the range of learning needs a teacher is required to manage in a single classroom can do anything other than exacerbate the issues highlighted by Ofsted in 2017.”
And resistance to the changes is building with both St Mary’s governors and St Mary’s Church announcing their support for the parents’ campaign.
The church has said that it is “seriously concerned” by the changes and that with new housing on the horizon for the Melksham area, they say now is the time to invest, not “wind down the school”.
In a letter to parents, the school’s governors have said that are “unanimously opposed” to the changes and have “battled” to keep the four class structure and the school’s headteacher.
“We are led to believe this is a financial move and we continue to oppose it,” said St Mary’s governors.
“Our concerns are, we have never been made aware of any financial issues in school and have not seen any documents or correspondence to support this.
“We have been kept out of the decision making process and like yourselves we have been told these are the changes, there is nothing you can do about it.”
In response to the concerns, a spokesperson from The White Horse Federation told Melksham News, “Unfortunately, it is a sad reality that pupil numbers have been on a steady decline with just eight out of fifteen available Reception class places now expected to be taken up.
“This is a trend we expect to see continue based on current local authority birth rate figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As a result, from September 2021, the school expects to only have 83 pupils on the roll against a capacity of 105. In light of this, we have had to make the difficult decision to move from a class structure of four to three.
“As communicated to all parents last week (w/c 10th May), we are not in a position to confirm what this structure will look like until next term, as is the norm for most UK schools planning for the next academic year.
“That being said, we remain committed to ongoing communications with our parents and will endeavour to provide further updates as and when we are able to do so. We remain focused on supporting our children to reach their full potential and continuing to deliver on our school improvement plan.
“We strongly believe that the changes we are making, which will be led by Candida Hutchinson and her leadership team, will allow the school to remain open for many years to come.”
The petition to reverse the decision to make the current headteacher at St Mary’s redundant, has so far been supported by over 360 people. To view the petition, visit the website: http:// chng.it/yw7YyX9dbw
