Letter to Derbyshire County Councillors from Gordon Rooke

(by Webmaster <info@stoneymiddletonparishcouncil.org.uk> on 22nd February 2007)

I am writing about the proposed closure of Stoney Middleton Primary School. As someone who was a pupil at the school and went on to gain two Masters degrees becoming a school teacher and having worked in a voluntary capacity with the young people of the village for many years, I believe I have a number of important points to make.

Firstly, it seems to have been a short sighted and hasty decision to start the closure process in the first place. There has been a school on the site for over 150 years funded by public subscription. It is opportunistic to try to end this long tradition simply because numbers have taken a sudden dip and no-one can predict future trends. For example, Litton Primary School, whose closure was proposed by the Labour County Council 20 years ago, is now a flourishing school.

Secondly, the parents' wishes are that they want their children educated there and nowhere else. Surely parents have this right and you would be taking it away if the school were to close. Though numbers are small, parents see this as an advantage for their children to have more teacher attention and this is one of the main reasons parents choose private over state education.

Another compelling reason is that the school is the heart of the community and many of its activities continue the cultural traditions of the village. Curbar, which is where the children are supposed to go under these proposals, has no such traditions.

The council has tried to close a number of village schools over the last twenty years which would have had a negative impact on rural communities. It is very disappointing that in this time it has not been proactive in finding alternative solutions such as more sharing of resources and even federation.

The Derbyshire County Council logo is 'improving life for local people'. Can you explain how closing Stoney Middleton School will do this?

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Gordon S. Rooke

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