How Could They?

A double-page spread in the Summer 2007 issue of Primary Review begins, "How could they even think of closing this top school?" The article goes on:

TWO MONTHS after a county council used the wrong figures to propose closing a village infants school, the stunned residents and parents are still asking in bewilderment: How could they think of doing this to one of the top schools in the country?

But it was Combs school that was dropped with the bombshell in May that Derbyshire County Council was considering closing it to save costs.

One parent governor says: “When you read the Ofsted report again, it just knocks you off your chair. You wonder if the county council really understands what it is proposing to do.”

The school for five-to-seven-year-olds has been so successful under headteacher Avis Curry that it is the main reason many newcomers choose to live in the area or only a short drive away. Three-fifths of the pupils travel from other school ‘catchment’ areas. One mother from Chinley says: “This school is perfect for my little girl. I can’t believe the difference it has made to her.”

Mrs Curry, who mentors other schools in the county, was recently chosen as one of eight heads throughout the UK to visit Rwanda in central Africa to mentor schools there for 12 weeks.

A father who brings his daughter from Chapel to Combs says: “It doesn’t make any sense at all to close this particular school. Surely this is the one school in the county that should be kept going as a flagship for others to follow.”

The council’s case, outlined in its ‘discussion document’ in May, said quite simply that in the last financial year the council budgeted £136,000 for the school, a cost of £5,400 per infant against the county average of £2,600. It accepts that rural schools cost more, and the Government provides a special payment for Combs of £49,000. The county says: “A key consideration is that of equity between schools. To fund one school at such significant and high levels must be seen as diverting funds from the good of the many to the benefit of the few.”

The school was given fewer than two months to create its case for staying open – then the county appeared to shoot itself in the foot. Barely a week from the 6th July deadline for a response, the county’s own figures for the last financial year were announced, showing that the school actually cost only £105,000. It had underspent by £31,000, making the average cost per child only £4,000. In addition, Combs had underspent by significant amounts for the last three years – and as each underspend can be carried over to the following year with interest, the total surplus in Combs’ favour is now £69,000. A county letter arriving at the school asked them to explain the 47% underspend.

So would the county relent in face of the new figures?

Says chairman of the governors Nye Rowlands: “We have a brilliant headteacher who is extremely cautious before spending any money at all, and we have entrepreneurial parents who raise fantastic amounts of money. We haven’t spent £69,000 allotted to us and the real unit cost per child is probably the cheapest rural school in the county and probably much cheaper than many schools nationwide. The county needs to have a completely new look at our situation.”

An important factor for the village is that the two-classroom school is held in a building at the centre of village life. Leased from the Methodist Church by the Village Hall Trust, it is also used for Brownies, community meetings, after-school clubs, the village fun day, church services, weddings, baptisms, the sewing circle, children’s parties and as a polling station. If the rent from the county council dries up, there are serious worries for the continued viability of the building.

Parent governor Steve Lyons says: “No one from the county has come to us and said with understanding ‘Look, this is a great school but how can we cut the costs?’ If they had, we would have been more than prepared to seek ways of doing so. They have simply looked at a map of schools and surplus places with no regard for quality.”

Last spring, when Primary Review carried a feature on the wealth of activity available to children in village schools such as Combs, Mrs Curry, who has taught in Africa, Saudi Arabia and the USA, said: “Ofsted requires that a child is educated to be able to prosper economically in the future. Some parents feel that’s the job of secondary schools but I say it starts here. Economic success starts in infant school. In our structure and closer environment, we give them more so they leave with more.”

One thing is sure: Even if the school is granted a reprieve on the basis of its own extraordinary spending restraint, parents and villagers will still be asking for years to come: How could they ever have thought of closing it?

Decision Will Be Delayed

Dee Hill at DCC has just told us that there is a lot of material for her to review and compile into a report to the Cabinet.

There are over 200 letters and e-mails to go through, in addition to the lengthy documents submitted by the school governors and the Village Hall Trust.

So the report won't be ready for review by the Cabinet on 4 September, as previously planned.

The Cabinet meeting will most likely be held in October. We'll let you know when a date is fixed, because we know there are people who plan to attend.

Our Plea

Knowing that it will be a long time before the DCC Cabinet reads the full report on Combs School, we wanted them to have the main points of the argument to think about over the summer.

Nye Rowlands, chair of the school governors, has sent a document entitled "Our Plea" to all the Cabinet members today.

They will have no excuse for not understanding the facts, when it comes to decision time.

Nye's document begins:

The Governors and Parents of Combs Infant School have been extremely concerned about the lack of dialogue between ourselves and the County Council during this informal stage of the consultation process.

There have been many issues and misconceptions to be dealt with but, since the evening of May 22nd 2007, there has been an ominous silence on the part of the County.

Nobody has responded to our invitations to visit us, so we hope you will read this appeal to keep our school open as we summarise the case we have thoroughly prepared.

After summarising the many faults in DCC's case, and the strong evidence that supports the preservation of Combs School, Nye's document ends like this:

• Combs is among the top 3% of all infant schools nationally so why sack the staff in July 2008?
• The dedicated staff ensure that all pupils reach their potential without recourse to enhanced resource bases or extra expenditure. This is a model for all other Derbyshire schools.
• The village of Combs depends on the partnership of School, Village Hall and Church - a partnership which is vital to the survival of this rural community. This plea is supported by all the local councils, residents and the Peak National Park. Closing the school removes the village hall and the focus of the community.
• Unlike Stoney Middleton, Combs is to be denied access to an adjudicator and the parents will be forced to appeal through the potentially expensive process of judicial review — this despite the fact that the decision to propose closure was made before the 2006 Education Act came into force.
• Governors and parents have proved conclusively that Derbyshire has not followed the statutory guidance laid down in that Act nor have they followed their own school reorganisation procedures.
• We believe the true saving per annum of destroying a community and closing an outstanding school providing “outstanding value for money” (OfSTED 2006) is less than £20,000 per annum, if that.

Combs Infant School currently stands as a symbol of the triumph of Derbyshire County Council’s defence of rural communities and a shining example of partnership — promoting cohesion and excellence.

Please ensure its survival by speaking up for local success and voting against a proposal that saves next to nothing, sacks hardworking staff, and lifts mediocrity above the level of real achievement in Derbyshire.

You can download a copy of the full document(101k, PDF format).

The Fight Goes On: School Barbecue and DVD Release

The following press release was issued today:

The two month public consultation period regarding the closure of Combs Infant School may have ended on 6th July but the parents and villagers are keeping up the fight. Just as over 200 people came to the public consultation meeting on 22nd May to show their support for the school and village hall, the school Summer Barbecue was similarly well-attended.

Despite a damp start and threatening rain clouds throughout, parents past present and future, villagers, and friends of the school enjoyed the food, stalls and games and the display of traditional Maypole dancing given by the children. A sense of family prevailed as a former teacher – who also assists with the Brownie Pack - and ex-pupils all helped staff and parents to make the evening a great success. Many of the raffle prizes were contributed by local businesses including Waitrose, Toni & Guy, Morrisons and Simply Beauty in Chapel. Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved and the ever-present community spirit, a total of £631 was raised. Parent-Governor Nick Boden commented, ‘This is a fantastic result, particularly after the upheaval of recent weeks.’

Thanks to another community effort*, a DVD has now been produced entitled ‘Save Combs School’. It encapsulates the nature of the school and village and the reasons why the school should not be closed – namely, the quality of education that it offers and its irreplaceable importance to the history, infrastructure and spirit of the community of Combs. The DVD was sent out this morning to all the County Councillors, including the members of the Cabinet who will be deciding the fate of Combs Infant School at the end of the summer. Copies are available – please contact the school on 01298 813120 for more details.

Meanwhile, the campaign effort continues, with support being pledged from far beyond the immediate village community**.

-- ends --

Further information:
Carah Boden, Save Combs School Campaign
Tel: 01298 813140

* The production of the DVD was kindly organised and sponsored by locally based Plain English Campaign.

** There's still time for you to add your name to the online petition.

Peak District Park AuthorityConcerned by Impact on Community

Jim Dixon, the Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park Authority, has written to DCC to express the Authority's concerns over the proposed closure of Combs School, with the knock-on threat to the Village Hall and Chapel.

Mr. Dixon's letter says, "We feel that the muti-use of one building for a school, village hall and community church at Combs is an excellent example of partnership community use and are concerned that the proposed school closure should not threaten the financial viability of the community facility."

You can view the letter here (PDF format).

At the Mercy of Politicians

The following letter from the Chair of Governors at Combs Infant School appeared in today's Buxton Advertiser.

I think Sue Oliver's letter* to your newspaper last week was correct and the governors of Combs Infant School value the close working relationship and the professionalism of all the schools in this area.

The final date for comment on the initial proposal has now passed and I must pay tribute to the fantastic campaign that has been waged by everybody in the Combs community, from the parents at the school to all those people who value the village hall and the church as a focal point.

We have proved that the village depends on a robust partnership of school and Village Hall Trust, the latter rescuing the school by raising money to repair the church and later to provide excellent classroom and toilet facilities through contributions and a successful bid to the Lottery Fund.

There is no doubt all this will be swept away if the school closes.

We now have the actual figures, proving that the cost of running the school** last year is far lower than the cost put forward by Councillor Alan Charles, down from £5,447 to £4,059. Central Government and local government all agree that it costs more to run a rural school than an urban school but these figures show that Combs Infant School costs a lot less than most rural schools, again thanks to the contributions from the local community.

Nearly all the children come from less than three miles away from the school and parents have carried out a survey proving that there will be at least 37 children of pre-school age in the natural recruiting area in the next four years.

Parents are angry and concerned because they believe they have the right to choose four to seven schools for their children and that is the policy of the present government in Westminster.

Combs Infant School is now at the mercy of the politicians who run the county.

All the local authorities and organisations we know about in the High Peak have pledged support for the school.

It is not a party political issue and all three major parties in the area have asked the County Council to reconsider their proposal.

The statutory guidance published alongside the 2006 Education Act has not been followed so far and the Council seems to have ignored even their own guidelines in school re-organisation, so we move to the decision in the hope that they will realise this when they study the case for Combs in detail and vote overwhelmingly to retain this outstanding school which is in the top three per cent of infant schools nationally.

Nye Rowlands
Chair of Governors
Combs Infant School

* Ms Oliver's letter to the Buxton Advertiser, which appeared in the 5 July edition, can be read here.

** These costs are, of course, cost-per-pupil.

Thank You, Letter Writers!

Just received this message from the school:

"Please put a message on the web site with a thank you from all the staff for the overwhelming support we have had with the letter writing. If DCC read all the comments there is no way they can proceed with this stupid idea!"