Meeting documents

STATEMENT FOR CABINET MEETING - Mrs. Viv Cummin

Wednesday 14th May, 2008

Review of Secondary Education

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I wish to speak in connection with the Review of Secondary Education for the City of Bath, with particular reference to proposals regarding the possible closure of Oldfield School. In the interests of transparency, I should state that I undertake part-time duties at the school as an exams invigilator, but my reasons for speaking at this meeting arise from my contact with the school as a parent over the past 11 years.

Firstly, can I stress the fact that I am not opposed to change of itself. My own role in leadership is mainly to do with bringing about change, and I have had some pretty bruising experiences carrying it out. I understand very well that things can't always continue as they are just because that's how they've always been. And I do have considerable sympathy for everyone on the Council involved in this review process.

What concerns me most about the proposals being considered is the radical suggestion that a school as successful as Oldfield has become, could actually be closed rather than developed for the future. Its academic results and achievements, and its status as a High Performing Specialist School, are matters of public record, as is its outstanding Ofsted Report from last November. What I would really like to remind those charged with this review process is, that this kind of achievement doesn't happen without the presence of other factors, most of which do not find a ready niche on balance sheets or league tables.

I've just had an extension built on my house. It looks fantastic, but by far the most impressive bit of it - the bit which posed the biggest challenges and caused the most angst - is now completely invisible, namely its rock solid foundations. An edifice as obviously successful and achieving as Oldfield School, is also built on such foundations. They take years to dig out and construct, and that process happens gradually through growing mutual trust between staff, Governors and parents; a sense of teamwork; a community spirit; a sense of belonging; and an ethos which reaches far beyond the visible walls which they eventually support.

The edifice of change is by nature vulnerable and precarious, and it is most likely to reach successful completion if it is built on firm foundations. I would respectfully suggest that a firm, solid foundation for the development of secondary education in this area of Bath doesn't have to be freshly dug - it already exists in Oldfield School. And I would strongly urge the Council to reconsider very carefully proposals to close it. I fear it may otherwise turn out to be a case of, in the words of Joni Mitchell, `You don't know what you've got `til it's gone.'