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Isle of Wight: Standards Not Tiers cautious welcome to schools plan

Schools option welcomed

By County Press Reporter - Thursday, November 20, 2008
STANDARDS Not Tiers (SNT) has given a cautious welcome to the Isle of Wight Council’s option three for Ventnor schools.
The group is urging people to e-mail or write to Cllr Alan Wells, cabinet member for education, and council leader Cllr David Pugh in advance of the cabinet decision on Monday to ask them to recommend this option to the cabinet.
The SNT executive met yesterday (Wednesday) to discuss the cabinet paper and its appendices.
Members of the executive voted unanimously to support option three, which would allow Ventnor to have a community school on the St Margaret’s site while allowing St Boniface and St Wilfred’s to amalgamate as a joint faith voluntary aided school in lower Ventnor.
SNT spokesman Steve Stubbings said: "It’s entirely appropriate for a town the size of Ventnor to offer choice in educational provision at primary level. Contact with like-minded parents leads me to believe Niton and Wroxall would struggle to accommodate the exodus resulting from a single voluntary aided option. I applaud the inclusion of option three and urge councillors Wells and Pugh to recommend it for adoption by the cabinet."
Chairman of SNT and Ventnor town councillor Chris Welsford added: "In the recent Ventnor Town Council by-election there was a clear dissatisfaction at the proposal for a single school option. This is a chance for the council to show they really are listening."