In my periodic meetings with schools in the constituency some issues recurr for small schools. I invited representatives from these schools to Westminster to meet with the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb MP, to put their concerns directly to him. The meeting took place on Monday 30th April with representatives from Stoke Row, Dorchester, South Stoke, Lewknor, Badgemore, Marsh Baldon, Ewelme, Checkendon and Bishopswood who had taken up my invitation.
The Minister expressed his s...trong support for small rural schools, not least because he does not favour young children having to go to school by bus or taxi. He reminded the meeting that the Government has a 'presumption against closure' meaning that it would be a last resort to see a small rural small closed.
The meeting was an open and wider ranging discussion on issues that the representatives wished to raise. The Minister had brought along key officials from the Department who listened carefully to the discussion to take back comment and suggestions to feed into future decision making. Budget issues were raised including formula funding and others specific issues, for example, providing free school meals without a kitchen and other costs arising from lack of on-site facilities. The meeting also discussed key issues such as performance measures with small cohorts, Ofsted for small schools, Academies and Federation.
In summary the Minister thanked the representatives for raising these issues with him and said that their comments would help inform future decision on the funding formula, the definition of sparsity, collaboration, and ways of presenting data on small schools. He did not promise major change as any change for small schools necessarily had a knock-on effect on other schools. However he did say that things can be 'tweaked' each year and promised to look at the issues raised.
I said :
'I am grateful to the Minister and to all those who came along for giving their time to discuss these issues. Small Schools in Oxfordshire do have some specific issues not least due to their relative proximity to each other and yet the distinctiveness of the individual communities. The Minister was open to learn from their experience and genuinely listened to their comments. It was good to have members of his team present to take away the comments and feed them into their ongoing work. Only by raising these issues can we hope to see change.'
