1 THE ISSUE

1.1 The Council have embarked on a programme of area reviews of primary school provision in order to ensure that the service is delivered in the most effective manner in terms of standards, resources, access to good facilities for children, staff and local communities and promotion of community cohesion through the making of local schools the natural and easy choice for parents and carers. The North & Central Bath area which includes Parkside was reviewed between January and April 2004.

1.2 Formal consultation on the future of Parkside Infant School has now closed. A decision is required as to whether to publish the necessary legal notices for the closure of the school or to take no further action.

2 RECOMMENDATION

The Council Executive is asked to:

2.1 Note the responses to consultation

2.2 Instruct the Education Director to publish the necessary legal notice, in September 2004, for closure of the school on the last day of the academic year 2004/05.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 The costs of publishing the necessary notice can be met from existing resources.

3.2 The revenue savings generated from closure of the school are estimated at approx. £78,000 per annum, with a part year saving of £46,000 in the year of closure. This value cannot be calculated exactly until details of transfer arrangements for pupils are known.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 Between January and March 2004 the Council undertook a review of primary schools in north & central Bath. This area includes Parkside Infant School.

4.2 At its meeting on 7 April 2004 the Executive agreed to undertake formal consultation regarding the future of the school.

4.3 A consultation document was published on 10 May 2004 setting out the reasons that led the Council to consider closure of the school.

4.4 The consultation period ended on 11 June. 103 responses have been received and all responses are attached to this report.

4.5 The key issues raised in consultation responses are summarised in italics below.

4.6 There is no reason to believe that the school receives a disproportionate share of the formula allocation. OFSTED has reported that the school provides satisfactory value for money.

Members are asked to note that the unit cost per head at Parkside is £3438. Other infant schools with nurseries receive funding in the range £2526 to £3017 with a . Primary schools with nurseries receive funding in the range £2028 to £3024. It can be seen that Parkside is the most generously funded school of its type in Bath & North East Somerset. It is also instructive to examine the proportion of the school budget that is delegated on the basis of pupil numbers and compare this with the fixed cost element. At Parkside this proportion reaches almost 75% which is exceptionally high.

Members are also asked to note that OFSTED judgements relating to value for money are not based on any assessment of the funding available to a school or any comparison with the funding available to other schools in the LEA. It is simply a judgement of the effectiveness of the deployment of financial resources. A school that provides satisfactory value for money is defined by OFSTED as a school that is moderately effective at average cost or is effective but achieves its standards at higher than average costs.

4.7 Educational standards at the school are good and this has been acknowledged by OFSTED.

Members are asked to acknowledge that OFSTED stated that the school provided a sound education for its pupils and to consider whether other factors outweigh this statement and, in particular, whether the quality of education provided at likely alternative schools is equal or better than that provided at Parkside. Statutory guidance from DfES emphasises the importance of this point.

It should also be noted that particular care should be taken when assessing the results of very small groups of children as an exceptionally good or exceptionally poor performance by one or two children can have a disproportionate effect on a school's apparent performance.

4.8 The school offers a breakfast club, excellent school meals and afternoon nursery places despite the absence of LEA funding.

Members are asked to note the existence of the breakfast club and to emphasise the importance of extending such provision to all our schools as opportunities arise. Members are asked to commend the quality of the school meals provision and to acknowledge the school's commitment to providing nursery places without additional resources from the LEA.

4.9 Misleading information has been provided regarding the outstanding maintenance costs at the school.

The information provided was based on a structured visit to the school by a building surveyor. Property & Legal Services confirm that £60,000 is regarded as essential work that should be undertaken during this year or next. This was agreed with the Headteacher on 20 April 2004. In reality there is little likelihood of this work being undertaken. Costs per head of the outstanding maintenance are high and it might be argued that, unless absolutely necessary, maintenance expenditure should be directed at schools where the greatest number of pupils will benefit.

4.10 The school provides cross-cultural and inclusive education and children have a diverse range of religious beliefs. Approximately 24% of children over the age of five come from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Officers have assumed that the point regarding religious belief relates to the fact that Parkside is one of only two schools in the north and central Bath that is not a church school (controlled or Aided). Members are invited to note this but also to recognise that all Key Stage 2 places in the area are within church schools and parents / carers seem happy to choose from these schools regardless of religious considerations when children transfer to a junior school.

4.11 Parkside is the natural local choice for children in the area.

Members attention is drawn to the fact that whilst approximately 50% of children on roll live within very easy walking distance of the school there are a significant number of children coming from outside the locality. Stated reasons for this have been the quality of education offered at the school and the convenience and desirability of having children close to places of work in order to allow parents to respond promptly if children are unwell. Work undertaken by the Admissions & Transport Team shows that of the 14 Reception children who joined the school in September 2003 13 lived within half a mile of another school. Of the 17 children due to join Reception in September 2004 14 live within half a mile of another school.

Members will also note that the diagram shows children living as far away as Twerton, Southdown, Weston and Moorfields. All these areas have places available in local schools and parents may choose to transfer children to these schools should Parkside close with the benefits of improving community cohesion, reduction in the number of unfilled places at these other schools and the potential reduction in travel by private car,

4.12 One reason for the Council to consider closure is the `sub-optimal' location of the school at the entrance to a major public car park. The school itself is well fenced, safe and secure in a central location allowing easy access and has excellent all year play facilities.

Members are invited to note the efforts of the school to mitigate some of the problems associated with their location and to develop the outdoor facilities at the school. Members are also asked to note the view of some consultees that the absence, for example, of grassed play areas is outweighed by the proximity of the school to Royal Victoria Park. Members are invited to agree that, however well protected, the location of a school at the entrance to a car park is undesirable.

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

A risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations has been undertaken, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

6 RATIONALE

6.1 Closure of Parkside Infant will ensure a more effective use of financial resources and there is no reason to believe that educational standards cannot be maintained in other schools.

6.2 At January 2004 Parkside Infant has approximately 40% unfilled places. This would indicate that sufficient local demand does not exist for places at the school. It should also be noted that one of the performance indicators against which the Council is judged relates to the number of schools which have 25% or more (and at least 30) unfilled places. Furthermore, DfES require LEAs to report annually the rationale for maintaining such schools.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 The only option other than taking action is to take no action. This would conflict with one aim of the review process which is to ensure that resources are used effectively.

7.2 Maintaining the school pending the development of the Western Riverside has been considered and rejected. The timescale for this development is such that it would mean maintaining very high numbers of surplus places for, in all likelihood, a further five years at least. This is not justifiable.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 100 copies of the consultation document were issued to parents, staff and Governors at the school on May 10 2004. Copies were also sent to local Ward Councillors, trades unions and senior officers of the Council during the course of that week.

Appendix 1

BACKGROUND

All primary schools in Bath & North East Somerset are being reviewed on an area basis between September 2003 and July 2007.

The Council Executive has agreed that the aims of these reviews are:

· To maintain and improve educational standards

· To maximise the use of existing resources (land, buildings and funding)

· To increase access to high quality facilities for children, staff and the community

· To make the choice of a local school the natural and easy choice for parents

Each of these statements has some weight. In particular areas and at particular schools the importance of each statement will differ.

WHY ARE WE PUBLISHING THIS PAPER?

On 7 April 2004 the Council Executive decided that it wished to consult people about the possible closure of Parkside Infant School. This decision was reached after a review of Parkside and ten other schools in north and central Bath. The Area Review involved the Headteachers and Chairs of Governors at all these schools, Councillors who form the Overview & Scrutiny Panel and various Officers from the Education Service.

WHAT ARE WE ASKING?

We are simply asking whether you believe that the school should close. Later in this document we will put forward some of the reasons why the school is being considered for closure. We ask that you read the document, attend (if you can) the public meeting that is being held (see page 4 for details of date, time and place), listen to the arguments for and against closure and contribute if you wish to that discussion.

We ask that you then send us comments. You can use the form at the back of this paper or write to us by letter or e-mail.

WHY IS THE SCHOOL BEING CONSIDERED FOR CLOSURE?

There are several reasons why the Council Executive decided to consult people about the closure of Parkside.

The school is the third smallest infant school in Bath & North East Somerset and the fifth smallest school overall. It is unusual for a school of such a small size to be located in the centre of a city. The school is less than 2/3 full and therefore has a large percentage of empty places. At January 2004 there were 54 full-time pupils on roll and another 23 children attending the nursery on a part-time basis. The numbers of children really matter as some costs at schools are fairly fixed (salaries, maintenance costs, other running costs) and the fewer pupils there are the greater the cost per head. We believe that it is unfair and an inefficient use of resources for one group of children to benefit from additional resources at the expense of another purely on the basis of the size of the school they attend.

In addition, the school is not particularly suitable for modern education and it is missing certain important facilities such as a computer room, a library and a designated space where children with special educational needs can receive the extra support they require. Other areas are also unsuitable. For example, there are no grassed areas for the children to use either for learning or play.

The fact that the school is located at the entrance to a major public car park is a cause for concern. The condition of the building is not exceptionally bad but £65,000 is required to be spent over the next couple of years in order to deal with urgent and essential repairs and maintenance problems.

It is also the case that the school serves two distinct populations. About half the children come from within half a mile of the school. The other half come from a wider, and in some cases, a much wider area of Bath. We have included a diagram to show this pattern. A star represents each child and the diamonds represent schools. The black circle represents a half-mile distance in each direction from the school. The significance of this is that a) it means that available places in the areas where children live are being left empty and b) it means that children are not attending their local school and this has an effect on the cohesiveness of the communities in which these children live.

Each of these issues is significant and taken together, there are good reasons to take the issue of closure of Parkside Infant forward for wider public discussion.

IF PARKSIDE CLOSES WHERE WILL THE CHILDREN GO?

Given that children come from both the immediate area surrounding the school and much wider area children on roll at Parkside will be offered places at the nearest school to their home address providing that this school has places available for children of infant age. Children who cannot be placed elsewhere will transfer to St Saviour's CE Infant School in Larkhall.

Parents/carers who are seeking places for nursery aged children would, if possible, be offered places at other LEA nurseries in the area.

IF PARKSIDE CLOSES, WHEN WILL IT CLOSE?

The Council believes that the school should close at the end of the school year 2004/05. Legally this is August 31 2005 although the children and staff would obviously not be there on that date. This will mean that children currently in Reception and any children who join the school in September 2004 will be the only groups affected as the other children currently at the school will have left or be planning to leave in July 2005 in any case.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE STAFF IF THE SCHOOL CLOSES?

As is the case when a factory or office closes the people working there are at risk of losing their jobs. The Council always does all it can to try and place people in other jobs. This is because we have no wish to lose experienced and talented staff and any redundancy payments are taken from the total education budget which leaves less to be spent on children.

IF THE SCHOOL CLOSES WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE BUILDING?

The building is owned by the Council. It may be sold but this is probably unlikely. Another Council service may express an interest in using the building. The value or possible re-use of the building or the land on which it is located has played no part in the decision of the Council to begin this process.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Once this consultation is over, every form, letter and e-mail will be copied and given to members of the Council Executive. A copy of the minutes of the public meeting will also be passed to the Executive.

The Executive will also receive a report prepared by Officers which summarises and highlights the issues raised during consultation. Officers will ask elected councillors to accept the report and the recommendations of Officers. It is entirely up to the members of the Executive whether they accept these recommendations or whether they want to do something else.

The Executive has to show that, when taking its decision, it has taken account of the views expressed in the consultation. It does not have to agree with those views.

The Executive can decide to publish the legal notice necessary to close a school. It can also decide to do nothing and leave the school open or potentially, it could ask Officers to carry out further consultation or investigation.

If a decision is taken to publish the legal notice to close this would be published in September 2004 and there would be six weeks for people to send representations, including objections to the Council.

If there are objections to the proposals to close the school, then the issue has to go to the School Organisation Committee which is separate and independent from the Council. This Committee makes the final decision.

If there are no objections the Council can take the final decision itself.

IMPORTANT DATES

Consultation begins May 10 2004

Public Meeting Monday May 24 2004 Parkside Infant School, Charlotte Street, Bath at 6.30 p.m.

Consultation closes June 11 2004

Council Executive Tuesday July 5 2004

at the Guildhall, Bath at 10 a.m. Anyone can attend. If you want to speak please contact Jo Morrison on 01225 394358 by Wednesday June 30 at the latest. She will explain the details of the public speaking scheme.

RESPONSE FORM

Name .................................................

Address .................................................

.................................................

.................................................

I am a parent / carer of a child at Parkside Infant School [X]

I am a parent / carer of a pre-school child [X]

I am a member of staff at Parkside Infant School [X]

I am a Governor at Parkside Infant School [X]

I am a local resident [X]

I am

(please specify)...........................................................................

DO YOU AGREE THAT PARKSIDE INFANT SCHOOL SHOULD CLOSE?

YES

NO

I have the following comments

........................................................................................................

........................................................................................................

........................................................................................................

Please continue over the page if necessary or send us a separate letter.

Please return to the postal address printed on the front of this document. ALL RESPONSES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 12 noon ON 11 JUNE 2004

Parkside Infant School - 24^th May 2004

Staff Meeting 3:30pm

(12 attendees)

Present: Tony Parker , Bruce Austen, Headteacher, Teachers, Lorraine Scargill - Minutes

Tony Parker opened the meeting with a brief outline as to why we were holding this consultation.

Responses were then requested from attendees:

Please note:-

Q = Question to Tony Parker and/or Bruce Austen

A = Answer from TP and/or BA

R = Response from audience

Q: Reference to page 2 at the top of the document "The possible closure of Parkside Infant School" - which one of the four bullet points has most weight?

A: There is no easy answer as there are several complex issues. Number of pupils attending, surplus places throughout North and Central Bath. Birth population trend is declining, cost is higher per pupil where surplus places exist, and schools require quality buildings which need upkeep for some considerable time. At Parkside, we need to consider:-

R: It is the parent's choice to send their children here; you are taking that choice away.

A: Some parents may have less choice and some parents have no choice.

Q: Are there enough places if three schools should close?

A Yes, there are a significant number of surplus places in surrounding schools.

Q: How do you propose to get the children to St Saviours?

A: There is a council policy on transport to schools. It would depend on distance.

Q: Has this been counted for in budget to travel from Kingsmead to St Saviours?

A: This review is primarily about surplus places.

Q: Will the rest of the schools be reviewed in three years?

A: Three - four years, all areas will have been reviewed.

R: This is a non-denominational school, some parents request this.

Q: We provide for two populations, one is far a field. If we are providing good local schools why are these pupils coming to us from so far?

A: The other school being considered for closure is a church school. There are a lot of voluntary aided schools in this area and they are usually very full.

Q: Why are more community schools not provided?

A: Aided schools cannot keep places open for church population.

Q: How many surplus places are at St John's?

A: 150, over half the surplus places in the North and Central Bath area. If St John's school moves then 100 places will be removed which leaves 50 surplus places.

Q: What are the pupil numbers in the area, is there a falling birth rate?.

R: Part of this process could be why do parents choose to send their children here, good school or because of work commitments. Parents have own reason for choosing this school.

Q: If non-denominational school is important to parents, how much strength would this point have?

A: We will have to see if this point comes up, could be major factor.

Q: What is the longer term effect, say in three years time if there should be a baby boom?

A: Things do go in cycles, a new school could be provided possibly half a mile from here in Western Riverside in ten years time. Bath is a large city with a falling birth rate and this decline has been going on for long time.

Q: What happens to the staff if three schools close, are there places for the staff to go?

A: This is a hard one to answer because it is your jobs, some may want to take early retirement or redundancy. We will try to employ staff in other schools; we will do all we can because the Council do not want to lose experienced staff. Should two schools close at same time then it will be hard to accommodate but we will try to find alternate places for staff.

Q: If there is no job then are we entitled to redundancy?

A: Yes you are entitled to redundancy.

R: In the document you state £65,000 is required to be spent over next couple of years to the buildings. We will not see any of this money but will have to use devolved capital for any works to the buildings. There is no mention about our plans that we have in place, we have applied for devolved capital for a Library. Our chimney has been mentioned for past number of years and one estimate quoted it would take £6,500 to rectify. We have since had it painted and it looks alright. We have been quoted £2,000 for radiators. This document suggests that £65,000 will be spent on our school.

R: You have talked about replacement, maintenance cost of building. We have had quotes to replace the windows and floors.

A: Devolved Capital is there for such projects.

R: You say we have no grass area but we are close to the Park, and we use this on a regular basis.

A: It is not ideal for schools not to have access to soft play and grass area. No one is suggesting this school should close because of no grass area.

R: All schools will have some problems, building, no grass area etc.

R: When this school was built it was surrounded by allotments, the car park came later due to the Council, and they gave us this problem.

A: The Park is close but you have to watch the children and make sure of adequate supervision. The park is not ideal but this is not the main issue.

Q: The main reason for this consultation is due to large unfilled places, where will you send children that attend this school?

R: You have given false impression to parents that we have no field.

R: We feel our school has to close to pave the way for a new school to be built at Western Riverside.

A: Western Riverside will probably generate enough pupils to fill a school.

R: You want this all done and dusted; you want to close this school.

A: This is a consultation process and all findings and comments will go before the Council Executive on the 5^th July.

R: There must be some plan you are working to.

A: We have the School Organisation Plan which is updated every year.

R: You are getting very excited about new school (at Western Riverside).

A: The new school will or will not come, this process has no influence on that decision.

Governors Meeting 5:00pm

(Approx 16 attendees)

Tony Parker opened the meeting with a brief outline as to why we were holding this consultation.

R: We are talking about the average cost per pupil; we are a little high at £1300 per pupil, quite high. We have 60 pupils at a cost of £80,000 which is not a large sum of money in comparison to a good school. Is it really that expensive to keep the school open, we are not talking about a great deal of money for the unit. What level of choice is there for parents? We should not have limited choice because we have limited funds. Do you want to maintain good value for money, more cost on the council tax. The person who has to make these decisions knows that not very much money will be saved and the parents will have less school choice. The Western Riverside has plans for new school which is just down the road and will be an all through school. Why do you not make the best of what you have? Why is it not Parkside / Riverside? There is a strong case to keep options open as you do not know what is going on in that Western Riverside area.

A: It is not that much money each year but over ten years it could be close to a million pounds saved. There are no plans yet for school at Western Riverside but one school could move into this area.

R: Western Riverside should be included in this review. We had meeting with Alison Delyth some time ago and she indicated that Parkside would move down to Western Riverside.

R: Not all children like large schools, some need small schools.

R: It is the council's job to look at cost.

R: How much weight will be given because this is a non-denominational school, there are only two community schools in the area.

A: This has not been a big issue in other schools but three of you have mentioned this tonight.

A: We will have to see what weight the Executive will give to this. In South and Central Bath all schools bar one are community schools.

R: A lot of our pupils are children of lecturers at university who come here, from various backgrounds and English is their second language but within a few months of being here can speak good English.

Q: How big an issue is the car park?

R: The front has been redeveloped to make it easier for dropping and collecting children from the school.

R: We issue the parents with parking permits to allow them to park for 10 minutes whilst dropping or collecting children from the school. They can either park in the car park or just outside of the school.

A: The birth rate has reduced. The overall national trend is 600,000 less children by end of decade.

R: House prices in Bath very expensive.

R: There are plans for new houses.

A: Western Riverside could have 900 new houses built.

R: Quoted document page 14 (main document) - asked for this to be explained to her on how the figures were attained.

A: Explained free school meals and other measures of social deprivation.

R: I would like to formally criticise the level of deprivation, the children attending this school do not come from these areas. How is this measured?

Q: How are children to get to other schools?

A: It is the parent's responsibility to get their children to school - Children under 8 years old who have to travel more than 2 miles to school are entitled to transport. It would be highly unlikely that there would not be a school available less than 2 miles away.

R: So - it would be quite reasonable for a mum to wheel her child up to 2 miles to school?

R: To travel from here to Larkhall would take an hour to get there and back.

Parents Meeting 6:30pm

(Approx 65 attendees)

Tony Parker opened the meeting with a brief outline as to why we were holding this consultation. Bruce Austen outlined how the consultation process works.

Q: What is the main reason for closing Parkside?

A: At the front of the consultation paper `The possible closure of Parkside Infant School' outlines the reasons and issues for this consultation.

R: You are talking about a document that we have not had. (N.B. Copies of the document were circulated via the school)

Q: Is our opinion going to make any difference to the outcome?

A: Yes, all opinions will go before the Council Executive on the 5^th July for them to make the final decision.

R: No one here wants Parkside to close. Can we have a show of hands.

A: Asked the question, who wants Parkside to stay open?

R Every one in the room agreed to keep Parkside open.

A: Asked the question, who wants Parkside to close?

R No one.

Q: Will transport be laid on for pupils from this school to travel to other schools if this school closes?

A Yes, within council school transport policy

R: Why not close the car park.

Q: Does the LEA want nursery provision?

A: The LEA would like to see nursery provision but this does not have to be provided only by the LEA it could also be run by private groups.

Q: I thought you were closing this school to save money?

A: But we also need to provide nursery places. St Saviours and St Andrews schools both have nursery places.

R: This school is important for the children who live in centre of city.

Q: Is the reason to close this school so that more car park spaces can be gained?

A: If you look at page 4 of the document, it states that we do not know what will happen to the building or land and that this has played no part in the decision to consult on closure.

R: What happened to parent choice, this is a community.

R: When we first arrived here my children could not speak English but after a few months attending this school they could.

R: This school provides good place for children; it is very difficult to place children elsewhere.

A: The North and Central Bath is a large area with 11 schools, there are many unfilled places, and the LEA has to do something about these surplus places.

R: What about what the children want, they are happy here?

R: There are no places available for this September in any of the schools, in this area.

A: In future years it will depend on how close you are to a school as to whether your child will be offered a place.

R: The reason I chose this school for my child is it is not linked to church, non denominational school, therefore children can make up own mind later.

R: Children travel from further a field to attend this school.

R: Community is about where you work.

R: Parents like to be close to children while they are at school, in case the child is unwell, and therefore it is convenient for them to work near to school.

R: Parents like the small size of this school, easier for children to adapt to school.

P: There is good child care here including breakfast club and after school club.

R: There is hot food provided here and the lunch is a well balanced diet.

Q: If this school was full would we still be having this consultation.

A: That is difficult to answer as we would still have surplus places in this area.

Q: If there is another school as good as this one which is only two thirds full, what will make your mind up?

A: This is again a hard one to answer, which is why there are consultations going on.

Q: Will the final decision be made on 3 schools, then 2 then 1?

A: The final decision will be made in total, based on surplus places and opinions but each decision will be taken on its merits.

Q: How many surplus places are there from the 11 schools?

A: In total 364.

Q: What proportion is that in relation to our school?

A: Between 8% and 10%.

Q: Which school has most surplus places?

A: St. John's Catholic.

Q: Why is that school not included in this consultation?

A: The LEA is looking to move St. John's Catholic school and when that happens the school will lose 100 places.

R: This school may not have grass area but we are close to the park.

R: Why is the car park a concern, the traffic is slow moving.

R: The dropping off and picking up of children is easy.

R: This school was here before the car park.

A: This is 2004 and the school is here and so is the car park.

R: We have a community atmosphere here, the school is incredibly resourced and has dedicated staff, we have no green space but still do activities here with what we have and children use it well.

Q: Why can't you alter the standard numbers?

A: You can adjust planned admission numbers but if the building does not change then you can accommodate same amount of people. You cannot adjust capacity artificially. Space must become unavailable to the school.

Q: Why is there a proposal at Western Riverside to build new school if we have surplus places?

A: Western Riverside has come up several times. At Western Riverside the proposal is to build 900 houses at some point which means there will be a need for a 210 place primary school. This will not have a massive impact here.

R: You do not know what you are doing here, this school has been generated over years.

R: The last two censuses have shown areas of deprivation, what provision is given for those who do not have cars for their children to get to school.

A: That will be dealt with at a later date, possible for transport to be provided.

R: The government are going on about children being obese because they travel to school by car, they should be walking.

R: This school should have special dispensation because it is a city school.

R: More that 50% of our children walk to school.

R: If schools were used outside of school hours would this help keep the school open.

A: The school is already used for breakfast club and after school club.

Q: Is the school used outside of term time?

A: We have a nursery until 2pm, the breakfast club, and we are available for hire after the school day and weekends, not holiday time.

R: Pupil numbers may rise over next 10 years.

R Abbey ward birth rate is up and that is just the other side of the fence.

Q: Has the LEA considered financial implication, more expensive to move

R: Teachers here are gifted.

R: When consultations arise you always use concrete evidence to close school down, cynical, do not care about local feeling.

R: We are bringing nursery in to school, have music groups, and is a city school.

R: Have never seen any other city school as good as this one.

R: Why send children to other schools when they are happy here.

R: You must be mad, bonkers to think about shutting this school

R: We have the best children who are well behaved and get on with others.

R: A lot of the children are from parents who come across to this country to go to the University.

R: Some of the children have started to have nightmares about the school closing; this is very upsetting for them.

R: Studies have proven that children do well on small ratio pupil to teacher.

R: This should be dealt as a special case because we are an inner city school.

R: I don't suppose anyone would mind if this school was oversubscribed.

R: We moved house and my child had to change school but I said I would keep her home rather than change school. I say to all you parents - fight.

Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office Crown Copyright License number 100023334

Pupil Locations

Parkside Infant School

September 2003