LETTERS
From Kevin Barclay-Jay (prospective Labour candidate, Sandown North), Sandown:
WITH reference to your article (
CP, 08-03-13) concerning special measures at Sandown High and the apparent surprise of some parents.
The comments made by the acting head come as a great surprise and she must have some very heavy blinkers.
As a local employer, I come into contact with young people with experience of the school going back over five years.
Bullying has been a major issue, along with experience of drug use, sniffer dogs in the school, violence to teachers and assistants.
The school didn’t just fail on a few technicalities, it failed on all four testing criteria…none of which should have come as any surprise to any sentient parent with children at the school. This school and its re-organisation by the IW Council has made the situation far far worse.
The answer is a permanent head, who believes in discipline, curriculum and staff, who has a plan for dealing with the hundreds of students who will be threatened with exclusion that doesn’t seem like a holiday.
A proper plan to deal with truancy, exclusion from shops etc, more pupil-inclusive activities with staff participation and a new board of governors.
None of this report is a surprise, the surprise is it was allowed to happen.