Tom Levitt, "Critical Friend"

Tom Levitt MP sent the following letter to several constituents at the beginning of July, giving his assessment of the 'state of play'.

(Click on the image for a larger view)

In the letter, Mr. Levitt says:

I committed myself from the beginning to helping make sure that this process was conducted in a manner which was transparent, open and fair to all concerned. To that end I have:

• Visited the school and met children, staff and (on several occasions) parents


• Worked closely with the Chair of Governors and other campaigners


• Contacted DCC on several occasions, not least to challenge claims made by the authority, and made my findings available to the campaign


• Tabled a Parliamentary Question on the criteria for closing rural schools, which produced a reply which was helpful to the campaign


• Advised campaigners on which elements of your campaign to concentrate upon and which to refine; and on tactics


• Highlighted your campaign on my web site and invited the public to comment


• Contributed to a debate at a High Peak Constituency Labour Party meeting which voted to support your campaign.

What I have not done is behave in a way which raises your expectations unduly, hijacks your campaign to my own ends or supports claims which are not relevant or cannot be substantiated.

Meanwhile, you have generated an excellent campaign web site, several powerful documents about the school and its role in the village and significant support from third parties such as High Peak Borough Council.

It is clear that the impact on surplus places and the capitation levels of other schools, were Combs to close, would be minimal. What will not be clear for some time yet is whether these arguments are sufficient to win the day.

In an earlier letter to a constituent, defending himself against a charge of being 'limp and pathetically non-committal', Mr. Levitt wrote:

I do not have a say in the final outcome. I am not part of the decision-making process but I do want to see justice be done. The best way to achieve this is not by screaming opposition to the County Council but rather by helping the campaigners mount a strong, credible and well-argued case.

He laid out the steps he has taken so far (similar to the letter above), and went on:

I have also said that I understand the position of the County Council in needing to reduce the number of 'surplus places' in the school system. Quite frankly, any school that spends over £5,000 per year on each child would be able to produce 'excellent' results and it is difficult to justify maintaining the existence of a small school to serve a small community when most children do not live in the immediate environs of that school.

So I think that I have been 'a critical friend' to both sides in this argument and I believe the campaigners have a strong chance of saving the school.

I should also tell you that I have had several letters of concern from parents of children in other schools, asking in strong terms why it is that children at Combs merit having 50% more cash spent on them than their children do at other schools.

Mr. Levitt has been made aware of the following by the campaign:

• Cost per pupil is not £5,000 at Combs: it's significantly lower. This has been acknowledged by DCC's finance department.


• There is no evidence of a simple correlation between amount of money spent and the results that a school produces. There are more expensive schools than Combs which achieve lower ratings. Results are determined by how well resources are used.


• Most of the students attending Combs School do live in the valley. That's also true for the projected intake in the next few years.


• Larger schools tend to have a lower cost-per-pupil because of economies of scale.

Mr. Levitt was asked at the beginning of August if he will correct misleading information on his web site (relating to per-pupil costs, school roll numbers, and location of students) which is a restatement of inaccurate information supplied by DCC. He has not replied.

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What do you think? Could Tom Levitt do more? Should he?

Have your say in the comments, or e-mail Tom Levitt.

"All The Things We Do Are Fun"

These letters were sent to Cllr. Alan Charles by two seven year olds at Combs Infant School.


"Please don't shut this school because all things we do are fun and all the friends that we have made we would have to split up. Little brothers and sisters that would like to come will not be able to do all the exciting things that we have done. We learn about exciting artists. We have lots of fun activities that we do with our fun teacher. There are no bullies in this school and if there is we sort it out straight away. When we learn things we learn them really quickly."


"Please do not close our school because it has no bullying and we learn a lot in our topics. We have fun when we play games. I really like my friends when they play with me. If you close our school I will have to go to a school far away. I don't want to do that because I live in Combs."

Trying to Destroy a Jewel

With Combs Fun Day behind us, let's return to the serious business of keeping Combs School, Village Hall and Chapel open, with another excerpt from a letter sent to DCC. This time it's from a concerned grandparent, who is also a long-time governor at another school.

I write in support of maintaining Combs Infant School as a valuable cog in DCC's educational wheel.

There are many arguments in favour, not least the need to continue to attract younger families to the village, thus ensuring that the community remains viable and well balanced in socio-economic terms. The school, and its associations with the chapel and the village hall as a homogenous unit and focal point for village life, is vital to the well-being of Combs.

Starting full-time school is no hurdle for very young children if they feel part of an extended family in familiar local surroundings. Throw them in at the deep end of a large county primary and they can founder and some will drown. Educationally, Combs is not about drowning (see the most recent Ofsted report) although DCC is currently proposing to push this successful school's head under water.

The decision to consider the closure of a successful and much-acclaimed village school further demonstrates that in the drive for bureaucratic correctness and budgetary 'efficiency', the human factor is very low on your list of priorities. I do urge you to think long and hard before destroying what ought to be one of the jewels in the crown of the Derbyshire Education Authority.

If you haven't already made your feelings known to DCC, find out who to write to.

Combs Fun Day 2007

We had rain for much of Fun Day, but that didn't stop everything going ahead. The Village Hall was the centre of activity from early in the morning until late in the evening.

	The childrens sports were held in the field behind the Village Hall, as was the tug-of-war.
	The fell race started and finished at the Village Hall, and the participants - with a few less adults than in previous years but a good number of young runners - made very good time, considering the slippery conditions.
	The entries for the cookery section of the Produce Show were exhibited in the Village Hall, but the two marquees now owned by the village - as a result of what has been raised at previous Fun Days - were erected in the playground, so that the rest of the Produce and Craft show could be set out for everyone to see, in the dry.
	The tombola did brisk business, and the childrens tea was obviously much enjoyed.

A big thank you to everyone who had something to do with the organisation of the day.

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These photo collections are available:
> Fun Day - General
> Fell Race
> Scarecrow Festival

Have you got any photos to add? Send them to the webmaster.

Abraham Clegg Cup

One of the letters sent to DCC described the role that Combs Fun Day plays in the life of the village each summer, and what a valuable asset the Village Hall is, at the centre of all the activity.

This isn't a money-making venture, it's held to bring all of the village together to enjoy themselves. The day involves a produce and craft show, a pet show, childrens' games, competitions, entertainment followed by a childrens' tea, a fell race, and evening entertainment. That's not to mention a bouncy castle, face painting, tombola, and the Miss Combs competition - which isn't the usual beauty pageant, but an opportunity for the village menfolk to dress in their finery!

We're a relatively new Combs family, having been here five years. It's the only home our daughter has known, and we hope that she will start at Combs School in 2009.

Each year we've entered various Fun Day competitions, and in 2006 we took home the Abraham Clegg Memorial Challenge Cup, narrowly beating the previous 2005 winners, who'd also won in 1999, 2002 and 2003.

The cup is a valuable part of the history of the village. It is 90 years old this year, and in its early years it was awarded to the winner of the Combs Agricultural Society Show. Abraham Clegg founded the Society in 1917.

Combs Fun Day has evolved over the years - I don't think bouncy castles were around in 1917 - and now it's about families and friends getting together to organise and enjoy the day.

What has remained consistent is the community spirit, and the venue - the Village Hall. It would be devastating if this hub of our community was closed, and our family's name was the last to be engraved on the cup.

Please remember that by considering the closure of Combs Infant School you hold the future of this dynamic and amazing community in your hands. I wonder what Abraham Clegg would have to say about that.

Combs Fun Day is on 18 August. See photos from past years at http://combs.fotopic.net/.

Scarecrows

Combs Fun Day is next Saturday, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we don't get a repeat of last year's torrential rain. In any case, there's a full day of events planned, centred on the Village Hall.


This week, scarecrows are starting to appear around the village, as our first Scarecrow Festival gets under way. The theme is "Village Life".

UPDATE 18 Aug 07: Photos of the scarecrows are in this gallery.

Are They Bothered?

If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that we've invited the DCC Cabinet to come and visit Combs, more than once. We want them to understand, first-hand, the true import of the decision they want to make. After all, if they're going to close down something that's been running with community support since 1865, they're not going to do it without an intimate knowledge of the consequences, are they?

No-one from DCC has accepted our invitations. (We're obviously not counting Alan Charles' uncomfortable appearance at his 'consultation' meeting back in May)

Maybe we're a long way away. Maybe it would be terribly inconvenient.


Well, actually, no Cabinet member lives much more than an hour away. Presumably, to represent the whole county, they're in our area fairly frequently anyway. Aren't they?

A couple of hours to understand what they're dealing with, first-hand. No more than we'd expect from our Councillors, eh?