Northwood school expansion
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, 10th July 2009, 15:28
I saw the notice on the school gate this morning, and in the County Press. Proposal to go to 7 years of 30 children instead of 5 years of 42 children. Both add up to 210 children, but what happens over the next few years? Up to 270 children? The traffic in Oxford Street is bad enough at the moment. Will they pull more hedge up for new temporary classrooms/halls etc. and car parking?
27 Responses to “Northwood school expansion”
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Well Mr Cotterill its not a surprise that the “be nice” to all voters period has ended now the votes are in for another term. I agree its not very friendly to smack hands of those that have a valid but different point of view and it proves once again elected power can give the feeling to some, of righteousness, and unless I am wrong this the only “Planet” we can live on and so we all have a right to a point of view how it should be managed.
A Tax Payer.
You said
This success does not and did not just happen by accident. It is due to a dedicated team of teaching and ancillary staff, led by a succession of Headteachers and Management Teams of high calibre, supported by a dedicated team of Governors (of which I am proud to be one).
VERY TRUE
but make no mistake the ‘fabric’ of Northwood School has ‘nothing’ to do with its success. Its a ramshackle maize of Victorian small rooms and corridors…………..as I mentioned earlier ‘A firemans nightmare’. Thought should be put to ‘levelling’ the site and starting again with a purpose designed 21st century school.
W Skinner
Reference to the post from Cllr. Roger Mazillius
It really does take the biscuit when the Cllr asks of the constituents he represents ‘What Planet are you on?’ The whole concept of discussions through forums and indeed any sort of debate is that people are entitled to have differing views, they see things from a different perspective.
It ill becomes elected representatives to question their stances in the manner he does.
The statement What Planet are you on? is set alone on a single line and clearly intended to act as a smack across the knuckles figuratively speaking.
If one reads the whole thread it is patently clear all the concerns highlighted by the Cllr have been recognised some where in the thread. No one has knocked Northwood School in any fashion as far as I can see.
What I can see is a Cllr. getting his hackles raised because some one has dared to question policy decisions that may affect the community that live adjacent to the school, and have been on the receiving end of disturbances and obstructions when children attend and break up at the school.
The opening sentence regarding the change of emphasis in the thread is no more no less what happens in debates of this kind when people attempt to win the debate by the well tried and trusted smoking mirrors routine.
Cllr is to be congratulated on his forthright defence of the school were he serves with his usual distinctive style.
Constituents deserve to put their point across even if you don’t like what they say, it will be a poor day for democracy when elected representatives respond to views in such a disparaging manner.
G R Cotterill Northwood.
What started off as a concern that the school would become too big and cause increasing traffic and parking problems has somehow developed into a fact that the school will become too small and unviable and will close only to be developed as a small housing estate.
What planet are you really on?
This school was identified from it’s excellent success record, catchment area and popularity as a Primary School absolutely right and fit for expansion to take pupils for a further two years under the proposed move from a three tier to a two tier education system.
It has been recognised as a Beacon School (one of only a handful on the Island) and consistently gets high Ofsted Inspection Reports.
It is a school that will I am sure continue to deliver outstanding education to local and other Island children whose parents will continue to make Northwood their school of choice.
This success does not and did not just happen by accident. It is due to a dedicated team of teaching and ancillary staff, led by a succession of Headteachers and Management Teams of high calibre, supported by a dedicated team of Governors (of which I am proud to be one).
This high standard has been maintained for decades. May I dare to say that those “doom and gloom” merchants probably don’t really know the school or indeed the case for its expansion. May I suggest they ask the School’s Teaching Staff and PTA members plus say the Governors for their informed views.
The answer to the query regarding the flashing 20mph signs is that they are to be installed between 22nd and 24th September.
Best wishes, Cllr. Roger Mazillius
Jackhenry I thought the quote was slightly different :- “never have so many done so little that costs tax payers so much”
A Tax Payer.
Reading the posts to this thread leave me sadly disillusioned with the whole level of politics at both local and national level.
On an issue as serious as future children’s education there is so much dissatisfaction regarding the proposals for Northwood School it is impossible to see what is in store.
None of the figures stack up, its as if they were plucked out of the sky?
What will it take to extract from our representatives a plan that would enable one of the best schools of its type on the Island from ending up closed and the site declared ‘Brown Field’ thus enabling some developer building another small estate. The irony is the people coming to live in those homes would probably need a school locally for their children.
The word despair comes to mind, to quote (very badly) from a war time leader; ‘Never have so few caused so much heartache too so many’….Change is what we need…but there is very little to choose from as far as I can see?
jackhenry …a man for the people.
Its called “smoke and mirrors” by some “positive forward Thinking” by others. Its just Politics to me and we all know what that means, you whistle the tune and I will make up the song as we go along.
A Tax Payer.
The proposal is that Northwood reduces intake from 42 to 30 each year, but expands to take older children. This may make Northwood more sustainable.
The other Cowes schools are to change too. Gurnard 60, Cowes 60, Love Ln 60. This equals 210 places.
Uptake has been about 40 Northwood, 30 Gurnard, 60 Cowes, 20 Love Ln. This equals 150 children.
?
Confused of Northwood.
In response to the post from ‘A Tax Payer’ I like you am concerned what all this will mean to Northwood School in the medium to long term.
My guess is the children needed to keep the school viable will fall. The only course of action left to the IOW Council will be closure, and the children left will be allocated elsewhere.
Drive round the area, have a good look at all the streets and closes, where are the children of stage 1 school age? There are small pockets where there are signs of children, but generally properties are occupied by people outside child bearing age and beyond.
In my own area there is a whole street where there is not a single family with young children. As homes become vacant they are without exception bought by more mature people. So this will go on over the years.
Look at the Local Parish Development Plan, are there any area’s that have been set aside for large scale building? Even the recent proposal for a few houses at top of Cockleton Lane raised a few hackles to say the least. The proposal for land adjacent Three Gates Road junc of Cowes Road caused a stir from those living reasonably close by.
People don’t want large housing estates in Northwood, but it is these that will produce the families that will produce children to keep Northwood School levels up. House owners are resorting to selling their properties with Planning Permission attached. We end up with ribbon housing the whole structure of Northwood is spoilt. Pressure will be on the green belt area’s unless action is taken to prevent this.
Where does that leave us?
The Local Parish Council seems lacking any form of drive, where are responses from them on local issues, especially the important school debate? IOW Council are too busy trying to please their political masters, which ever agenda is in vogue.
jackhenry…a man of Northwood.
Just noticed some 20 mph signs. Haven’t spotted the flashing ones yet, or road markings.
Not very prominent. When will the job be finished?
Jackhenry you have hit the nail smack on the head. “people just do not trust politicians of any persuasion”. The two main parties are so similar in what they do and say its difficult to tell who has made what statement if you remove the party name before reading it. This could be seen by some as a good thing, all singing from the same hymn sheet at last. No,the truth is neither main party has the answer to the huge Global problems we face, its easy to say the latest solution is wrong but when asked, what would you do, we just get a load of waffle and thats the same for both main parties and the rest are just nonstarters, and Im sorry but I never did understand the political position of, be nice to all Independents, it is politics after all, so lets not pretend any different.
Before I get told what has this to do with Northood school just remember what started this big Island school shake up and how the Party policies changed over an election promise. Its all to do with trust again Jackhenry, or mistrust may be more appropriate.
A Tax Payer.
Re: “What has happened at local level to cause electors to use words such as. ‘Benefit political egos’?”
2005 – Political party pursues 2-tier, and subsequent loss of council education boss, with direct consequential loss to Northwood Primary.
Need we go on?
Northwood School is a maize of victorian rooms and added on corridors. A firemans nightmare. Perhaps we should knock it down and start again ?
Skinner
I think the real answer lies in the comments contained in the post beginning:
‘How is that judged’?
People just do not trust politicians of any persuasion; this seems quite clear when analysing the large majority of responses to these forums, and in other media.
What has happened at local level to cause electors to use words such as. ‘Benefit political egos’? Are there divisions locally, splits of some sort have obviously grown to such an extent that I believe the electorate deserve clear statements as to where this is all going.
Interesting times ahead.
jackhenry…a man of the people.
And there lies the question:
- “if a larger school will benefit the community”
How is that judged?
- Benefit all the community?
- Benifit future children at the expense of current ones?
- Benefit the average child, but not safegaurd the weaker ones?
- Benefit the rural community more than the semi-rural community?
- Benefit political egos?
- …
Well Jackhenry we could close it and use the Brown field site that remains for low cost housing, a very much needed resource as our councilors have just told us from there recent extensive survey.
The alternative is to make it bigger and bus in kids from a wider catchment area, as our young population in Northwood doesn’t seem to be growing at an alarming rate to fill a bigger school all on our own. Funny thing is though we have several large primaries nearby that when this master plan takes off in a couple of years are going to have more space than they need so why spend money on enlargement at Northwood? still I suppose they know what they are doing and its only our money.
A Tax Payer.
Excuse me but what is it people want for their school system? If they are closed there is uproar from all quarters, if they are enlarged, as in this case, there is still uproar.
Do the local residents, especially those adjacent to the school, want the school to remain or close?
I really cannot understand the whole issue.
People are being disingenuous on many fronts, if a larger school will benefit the community…Build It. Stop all the battles with weasel words.
jackhenry…a man for the people.
But you do have a “Bus Stop” thats more than many villages have on this wonderful eco-friendly Island.
Oh, and you get a free bus pass at 60, you will be expecting buses next!
You couldn’t make this up!!!
http://eduwight.iow.gov.uk/the_lea/policies_plans/school_travel_plan/maps/STONorthwood.pdf
A council published map of school travel options to Northwood, with a ‘Public Tansport’ option stating “The nearest bus stops to the school, shown as blue dots on the map, are in Oxford Street.”
Remind me, when are the first and last buses?
JB
I fairly frequently drop my grand child up to school for my daughter. But I am in my 60′s with some walking difficulties and like to park as close as possible. I try to avoid driveways, but a lot don’t I’ve noticed. I think the increase in cars is due to parents seeking to ensure their kids are safe and the indiscrimanant parking is the younger mums who probably have jobs as well.
Deadline for school feedback tomorrow evening.
SWF
Thank you councillor for recognising the problems.
I suspect that the overall congestion at the school will actually diminish in the long term when the number of pupils drops to a steady 210, due to the older children walking on their own, and fewer places per cohort (30 instead of 42) reducing the number of out-of-catchment pupils. As pointed out by the third contributor above, this is a good number of years away however.
With respect to inconsiderate parking in the vicinity of the school, it is disappointing that a minority of parents/carers consider it acceptable to compromise children’s safety by stopping on the zig-zag lines, or wholly/partially obstructing driveways, the former causing more congestion by the zebra crossing, thereby reducing visibility, and the latter obscuring visibility for residents going into, or coming out of, their driveways. (There was an incident reported in the school newsletter a few months ago of such an incident in Oxford Street.)
I appreciate that not all residents read this forum, and that many residents live away from the school and have no children there, but has anyone else observed problems? Without personally identifying potential offenders, are there any useful suggestions we could give to the committed councillor?
I certainly look forward to hearing how he anticipates improving pedestrian safety in addition to doing all he can to ‘minimise any inconvenience to residents who live in roads adjacent to or near to the school’:-)
The fact that pupil numbers have dropped by over 10% in recent years seems surprising. Parking standards seem to have declined over that period. Can anyone offer any ideas why?
Regards,
Dave
Further to my last posting, I hope readers will be interested in the following additional information.
The school finalised it’s travel plan in 2006. By 2009 year it achieved an 18% reduction in car use to the school (comparing 2006 data with 2009).
This was mostly due to parents car-sharing (increased by 14%) and cycling/scootering (an 8% increase. The use of the Horsehoe car park for the “Park and Stride” initiative has also contributed to the overall reduction.
We will be further updating the travel plan in the next school year specifically to mitigate any traffic impact by the 9 to 11 year old pupils continuing their education at the school.
There will be a focus on these older pupils being encouraged to walk to school with additional pedestrian awareness being delivered by our Road Safety Unit. All of this will be done in consultation between Parents,Governors and the Headteacher and her staff. In addition we are being advised by the Council’s School Travel Officer who plays a key roll in the drawing up and approval of individual school travel plans.
I do repeat my request for input on this topic from residents whether parents or not. Your views/suggestions would be much appreciated.
Finally, the new 20mph speed reactive signs and the flashing 20mph signs should be installed for the new school year.
Best wishes to all, Cllr. Roger Mazillius
I am sorry a few(I assume)residents are concerned about this matter.
210 pupils were on the roll of Northwood Primary only 4-5 years ago. The numbers have declined to todays approx 185 due to the decline in birthrate. So we do not anticipate real difficulties re-accomodating this type of increase in pupil numbers starting in September 2010.
I did however last month ask for a meeting between the school and highways inc. the Council’s Safe Routes to School Officer early next term to discuss traffic issues,obviously including parking.
Living near to any school can raise issues for residents and on behalf of the community I represent and also as a school governor, I can assure residents that we shall do all we can to minimise any inconvenience to residents who live in roads adjacent to or near to the school.
I will report back in due course. In the meantime any resident with a specific complaint should communicate this to me in the next few weeks.
Best wishes, Cllr. Roger Mazillius
Good point, well made.
Here’s how to make if effectively:
“Within six weeks from the date of publication of this proposal (by 6.00pm on 21 August 2009), any person may object to or make comments on the proposal by sending them to Alex Moffat, School Reorganisation Project Manager, County Hall, High Street, NEWPORT, Isle of Wight, PO30 1UD or by email to: primary.notices@iow.gov.uk .”
(http://www.eduwight.iow.gov.uk/schools/reorganisation/statNotices/primary/Northwood%20Published%20Notice.doc)
There is also to be £560000 worth of works to be carried out, so that should prevent the school holidays seeming quiet or traffic-free.
(http://www.eduwight.iow.gov.uk/schools/reorganisation/statNotices/primary/Northwood%20Full%20Notice.pdf)
HTH
I like the way you think an 8 year problem is not a long period! Its only “not a problem”, for those that dont have to suffer the constant daily traffic. Northwood school is in a location that was never intended to take such a large amount of children that it is now forced to take, and more to the point with the problems that are presented by the transport. For those that dont realise we have no pavements near the school and very few places for mums to park.
Its not easy now and with a much larger intake will be proportional worse, or am I wrong.
If the last big intake is this September, they will finish by 2017, so it won’t be a problem for long. They’ll probably squeeze them in or could use half the playgroup?