National Association for Small Schools

The NASS (National Association for Small Schools) wrote this letter to support the parents and concerned community members in Billinghay.

What do you think about what they have to say? Is is as clear cut as the governors and authorities have made it out to be?
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Though the Association largely deals with primary schools we find ourselves increasingly involved with secondary school cases such as Billinghay Lafford. We despair when governors accept the often flawed arguments about future prospects and educational viability (Explanation: This is based on all the reports that the Governors decided to close the school. No other reports have been received. This is the only evidence that exists so far.) Just now birth-rate is rising and back where it started to fall. DEFRA and the Commission for Rural Communities predict a significant migration from town to country which we see already happening in Cornwall, Cumbria and Somerset. Meanwhile surplus space can be very productively used or, as the Government has suggested, mothballed. The test of any school of any size is its performance. We believe Lincolnshire generally well-served by its rural secondaries, not least where selection still creams off higher ability pupils. Fairfield Community School in Herefordshire serves a very rural area and has an average roll a little over 300. It has twice won glowing praise from OFSTED and the last time, in 2007, was told it was “outstanding in everything it does.” That includes providing a broad and balanced curriculum. Currently it is the second best secondary school in the country in maths and English attainment and Value Added. US and Australian evidence argues that smaller schools are better for pupils, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, and that as school becomes larger the gap between rich and poor widens. The Scottish Government in 2006 reported that pupils in its smallest primary schools (far from being havens of privilege) had a 25% higher chance of entering higher education while children in those schools from disadvantaged backgrounds actually make progress where their urban counterparts remain under-performing and disaffected, often expensively. Rural poverty is again a headline today. Small schools are the answer, especially when children are young. Parents in Morayshire rejected the LEA plan to close two small secondary schools and build a new super-school. The Council accepted their wishes. NASS knows parents can have confidence in small-scale education. A good small school knows its parents well and exploits their interest and loyalty creatively and effectively. The impact on students can be highly positive.

The potential for a professionally well-managed small school to succeed is high. Finance is often a factor behind closure, not least of small primary schools. However, the LEA should be worried at the significant escalation in transport costs in recent years. Scottish Councils agree £1500 per pupil per year per five-mile journey. One of our Shropshire members confirms this figure as they argue against closure. That figure is rising rapidly, predicted to increase 30% just in 2008. The cost of heating, lighting, cleaning and repair of a small village school building is now on average less than the cost of a bus to take them elsewhere and the cost of a newly-qualified teacher. Long journeys for 250 pupils for six years will be prohibitively expensive. We need more creative vision and financing from local authorities and more respect from the profession for the humanity of scale that small size offers. Why is the Gulbenkian Federation funding £3m of research into making secondary schools smaller in scale? Why are US authorities so rapidly trying to make their elementary and high schools smaller? Fairfield succeeds through very flexible approaches to the way teaching and learning are organised. Selected science lessons are in classes of 60-75 pupils and praised by OFSTED. Smaller schools are often very good at flexibility. The impact of closure on primary schools and pupils is important. Local jobs and other important economic factors remain central to rural sustainability. The test for Billinghay will be the assessment as parents, pupils and governors of the professional qualities currently represented and reflected in future planning. Only if on that assessment do all see no hope should closure be contemplated. Otherwise the school better serves its own distinctive communities and needs by remaining open and taking its own work forward perhaps extended where appropriate through local collaboration with other smaller rural schools.

Mervyn Benford
Information Officer
National Association for Small Schools

Let us know what you think, please, and join the meeting on Thursday 6th March at 6.00pm.