Meeting documents

Statement - Robert Lewis

In my experience the best way to have a short conversation with your children is to ask one question, that being how are things at school? Until my two daughters, Jessica and Naomi Lewis joined Oldfield school their answers were much the same such as "OK" or "Yeah, it's alright" but now when faced with the same question their response is a somewhat more detailed and even passionate answer.

Regular topics such as Science, English and Mathematics are discussed with them and many times I find myself sneaking off to the internet to brush up as my memory is not what it used to be. It is not just these topics that are discussed but the extra curricular sports and arts activities that go on at Oldfield also. Both girls partake in dancing, gymnastics, music and much more and this has seen a significant rise in their maturity and confidence levels. Naomi for instance has captained the hockey team to the local school finals and Jessica is now taking Piano exams at grade 4 level and I link this success directly to the encouragement they receive from Oldfield school and its entire staff.

Any parent worries about the standard of education their child will receive and their Mother Nicola and I were no exception to this rule. We visited schools across both Bristol and Bath with our two girls and all of us came to the decision that Oldfield was by far the better choice which is surprising as all the girls friends chose to attend Wellsway, an equally outstanding school. But it was the specialisation in Sports and Arts combined with its academic results that made the decision for us and since then, not only have Jessica and Naomi excelled in these fields, but we are also very proud of their academic grades and class reports.

In November 2007, Andrew Harrett from ofsted not only found the overall effectiveness of the school "Outstanding" but also wrote in his inspection summary of Oldfield "The personal development and well being of the students is excellent. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural education permeates the life and work of the school."

As a Bathonian I share the cabinets desire to improve education and invest in Bath's secondary school infrastructure but I would ask that this is not done at the expense of centres of excellence such as Oldfield School. If the proposal to close Oldfield and re open it as an Anglican School is sanctioned, then I believe Oldfield will lose the culture, ethos and outstanding results that the staff and pupils have worked so hard to achieve. If Banes wishes to increase standards then I would ask the cabinet to find ways to build on these strengths instead of diluting them.

Mr. Anthony Parker, divisional director for strategic planning at Banes was quoted in the press saying "Children only have one opportunity to go to secondary school and we want them to have the best."

That being so, then do not close the only school in Bath to be classed as "Outstanding" by ofsted, Oldfield School.

Thank you