Small School Closure in Wales
EMBARGO: 1.00am Wednesday 7 November 2007
New research into the views of those directly involved in the closure
of small primary schools across Pembrokeshire and Powys found the
outcome overwhelmingly beneficial, says a new report Small School
Closure in Wales: New Evidence published by the IWA.
In the nine rural Welsh counties 53 per cent (that is 394 in number)
of primary schools have 90 pupils or less and are categorised by the
Audit Commission as ‘small’ and potentially unsustainable.
Head teachers, teachers, parents, pupils and governors all said
that the quality and standard of education had improved. They also
felt that social factors had benefited and even that use of the
Welsh language had been enhanced as a result of the amalgamations
of a number of small schools into larger ones. Some responses given
to the researchers are shown in the accompanying table:
| |
Pembrokeshire |
Powys |
| Increase in education quality |
95% |
84% |
| Better education standards achieved |
76% |
63% |
| Improvement in social factors |
95% |
68% |
| Enhancement of Welsh language |
61% |
63% |
In each county three case studies were chosen where communities
had been through a small school amalgamation process, resulting in
the creation of larger schools, but still relatively small ones by
overall UK standards.
Professor David Reynolds, of the University of Plymouth who led the
project, said, “It is clear that apocalyptic predictions about
the impact of small school closures on the Welsh language and communities
are not borne out by our sample.
“No parent or child thought the position of the language was
worse after reorganisation. This is an extraordinary finding given
the public debate on this issue.”
On the impact on the community, the great majority of respondents
reported an improvement. “Again, this is an extraordinary finding
given the nature of the public discussion around the issue,”
said Professor Reynolds.
“The performance data we were able to collect on the academic
achievements of the schools join with the questionnaire responses
to suggest that school closure is a positive process,” Professor
Reynolds added. “Overall the experience and results are overwhelmingly
favourable.”
For more information contact:
Professor David Reynolds 07802 309 052
John Osmond, Director IWA, 029 2066 6606
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