"Tearing the Heart Out"

We're watching the shuffling of people in and out of Gordon Brown's* Cabinet with interest. Alan Johnson, previously responsible for schools, has been superseded by Ed Balls, in the post of Schools and Children Secretary.

"It is a great honour and a great responsibility to be the first ever Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. Children and families are the bedrock of our society and for the first time this new department will bring together all aspects of policy affecting children and young people.

"Every parent wants their child to get the best possible start in life and have the best chance to do well in school. Our responsibility will be to support families and ensure that all children and young people are safe and healthy, that they secure the highest standards of achievements, that they enjoy their childhood..."

That sounds like he'll want to support our campaign, doesn't it? We've written to Mr. Balls**, to see whether he'll take more interest in the threat to an excellent rural school than Mr. Johnson did. While we wait to hear back from Mr. Balls, here's something a colleague in the new Cabinet said a while ago.

"Rural schools are often the lifeblood of local communities.

"I know there are difficult decisions which local authorities have to take. But in the case of village schools, we were right to put the village before the planner.

"Between 1983 and the beginning of 1998 there were 450 closures of rural schools - some of them tearing the heart out of local communities and villages. This is not acceptable and that is why we have made it much harder to close down the schools."

Who said that? Answers in the comments, please.

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* We still haven't heard back from Gordon Brown's office. Perhaps he's been busy.
** Ed Balls' contact details are here.

Petition - A Quick Update

So far, 1687 people have signed the paper petition, in opposition to the closure of Combs School, Village Hall and Chapel. 168 people have signed the online petition - they're mostly people outside the area who want to support the campaign but can't sign the paper petition.

We'll submit the signatures we've collected so far, as part of the submission that the school governors will make to DCC before 6 July. But we'll let the petition carry on collecting signatures after that.

The Value of Small Rural Infant Schools

There are plenty of young children in and around Combs who are waiting to take their rightful place in the infant school in the valley where they were born. There are expectant mothers. There are houses for sale which may be filled with families with young children. There are people nearby who seek the nurturing, peaceful, beautiful environment of Combs as the place where their little ones begin their educational life amongst a group of children their own age in a safe, secure environment. It could not be a better start.

Instead of shutting down small rural infant schools like this, Derbyshire County Council – and Councils across Britain – should be actively promoting their continuance. After all, that was what the protection fund for small rural schools was all about in the first place, wasn’t it? And when that school delivers the educational goods while not even spending all of the money it is given, then surely there is something wrong with the system, not the school? Our children should not be paying the price for formula funding that clearly needs to be looked at again.

If there is inequity of provision in the county of Derbyshire the blame lies with the people who devised the formula. Surely it would make more sense to revise this before they go round shutting down small rural schools like Combs whose only sin is to serve their community by providing excellent all-round education and superb value for money. As globalisation comes a cropper and the business world starts to understand that big is not always beautiful, Combs Infant School is a model for the way in which smaller entities can be better managed, better controlled and therefore produce the goods more efficiently and consistently than their larger counterparts.

Combs Infant School is the ONLY infant school in the area – let alone the only small, rural, non-denominational infant school. With children starting school so young in this country compared to our European (and American) brethren, an infant school provides these young children with an environment which does not scare them. There are not hoards of older children to intimidate them. They do not get lost at the back of a large class. They grow, they thrive in this environment. They get the very best start with secure literacy and numeracy skills (a government core objective) and the confidence to move on easily to the next stage of their learning. This is an active choice for many parents.

In a democracy, we should not have that choice so casually taken away. And the Exchequer should be reminded that social and educational failure amongst the young is very expensive…Alistair Darling, are you listening?

'Misjudgment' on Combs School

From this week's Buxton Advertiser, reported by Louise Bellicoso.

HIGH PEAK borough councillors have agreed not to support a county council proposal to close Combs Infant School.

The unanimous decision was made by members of the Social Inclusion and Community committee at their meeting on Monday night after they heard presentations from the county council and representatives of the campaign group fighting to stop the suggested closure.

Dee Hill, Senior Assistant Education Officer for planning in the development team at Derbyshire County council, said: "We appreciate that in proposing a school closure we are proposing something very sensitive and very emotive.

"With the proposal to close Combs Infant School what we are looking at is really the issue of surplus places within the area of Chapel and particularly at Chapel Primary School as well as analysing attendance at local schools from within the normal area."

Parent Governor Nick Boden told the meeting: "Combs is a really remarkable school and the findings of the last Ofsted report bear that out.

"That puts us in the top ten per cent of schools in the country."

Shutting the school to save money would supposedly allow cash to be spent in other areas, but he said: "Small schools and very small schools do get some protective funding and the amount given to Combs is £49,000. We accept that it costs more to run a school in rural circumstances.

"Combs Infant School is actually under threat because of the very funding allocated to look after the interests of a small school."

He added: "We believe that DCC (Derbyshire County Council) has misjudged the strength of community spirit in Combs and the historical significance of the village."

Cllr David Lomax, in proposing that High Peak Borough Council do not support the county council's proposal to close Combs Infant School, said: "It would certainly have an impact on the community in general and clearly it is not as if it would necessarily mean young children who go to school there would move on to Chapel school and help with their problems* (through increased funding).

"I think it is strange that we are here talking about closing one of our successful schools.

"It is at the heart of the village and it would have a bigger impact than just the school itself.

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* Note: Cllr Lomax was referring to the 'problem' of surplus places, as defined by DCC.

Combs – A Community with Spirit

DCC has not covered itself in glory while researching Combs Infant School and village. It is suffering from a lot of misconceptions about the nature of Combs Village and Valley and the strong community spirit that thrives here.

In the mid-sixties, Marguerite Bellhouse, long-term resident of Combs, wrote an in-depth book about the village. Only last winter this book was reprinted by popular demand from a whole new generation of Combs residents. This is the nature of Combs. It has an incredibly strong identity and a tremendous sense of place, neither of which should be underestimated or treated so casually by Derbyshire County Council who insist on believing it is a community of relatively wealthy middle class commuters driving 4x4s and enjoying a village school where the children get the equivalent of a private education at the cost of other children in Derbyshire.

The geology and geography of Combs is one of the key things that gives the village this strong sense of place (and if residents have 4x4's it's usually because they need one to work their land or get to their houses in our harsh winters). Combs takes its name from the horseshoe of gritstone hills that embrace it at the south, east and westerly end of the valley. This ‘glacial hollow’ opens out at the northern end until cut off by the hills of Eccles Pike. The first record of a settlement in this valley was in the 13th century but the history stretches back much further – there is an iron age fort (possibly earlier) at Castle Naze and the Romans undoubltedly passed through here as did the Saxons. ‘Cum’ in Saxon means ‘Curved Ground’ and ‘Cumbas’ means valley – likely derivations for the name of the village and placing it firmly in its geographical setting.

The main industry in Combs, until recent times, has been farming, but there has also been a brewery, a mill, weaving, quarrying and smithies. There have been a number of shops in different buildings around the village over the years, sometimes doubling up as a post office. The last one closed over 10 years ago. The last dairy herd was sold three years ago. There is still a milk round. There is still sheep farming and a small beef herd and one of the farmers has diversified into hanging baskets. The Beehive pub thrives, but increasingly with visitors from all around as it offers good dining. If the school, village hall and chapel were to go, the pub would be the only amenity left in the village. There is a small playground in the corner of a field next to the school courtesy of the Village Hall Trust and the funds raised from the Combs Fun Day every August. The publican donated his old outside tables when he bought new ones for the pub so that parents can sit and watch their children play. This playground is full of the sound of happy children’s voices at the end of school, and would undoubtedly be a quieter, sadder place if the school were to shut.

But this is my point. Combs is a relatively rare commodity these days in a world where the countryside has become the town’s toy and many villages have lost control of their own affairs. Despite the squeeze put on small farmers, despite the loss of a shop and post office, the village still has heart. The community pulls together to keep the spirit alive. The school, village hall and chapel exist because of the will and dedication of the residents of Combs. We intend to keep it that way.

DCC Receives Village Hall Trust's Report

The Trustees of Combs Village Hall Trust have sent their report to DCC. Subtitled "Material adverse effect on the village community caused by the closure of Combs School", their submission tells the story of the support the community has provided over many years. It details the threat posed to the Village Hall by the intended closure of the school.

You can download a full copy of the report (1.2Mb Acrobat file).

Falling School Rolls?

You can prove anything with statistics, or so it's said.

DCC have said that, as school rolls are falling, that puts the continuing need for Combs School in question. Their projection for pupils on the school roll is:

2007: 25
2008: 24
2009: 21
2010: 24
2011: 23

That doesn't look much like a dramatic fall, does it? In any case, it's inaccurate. We've surveyed the area to find out the correct figures.

DCC's comment about the model they use is, "The Pupil Projection Model produces base figures and does not take into account local circumstances that may affect the pupil population at each school."

So there must be some margin of error involved, but it's not stated. Bad statistics?

We'll be giving DCC an account of the local circumstances, so that their projection of the school roll can be corrected.