By Isle of Wight Observer
When I took on this role, Hampshire County Council had just ended their partnership with us and there were fears we might struggle on our own.
A few months later things are very different. We have a new team which, instead of being spread over two counties, are now focussed exclusively on the Island. This is already having an impact. Instead of nervousness there is a huge sense of optimism for what could now be achieved.
Last summer there was an attempt to launch a school planning process which did not go ahead. I feel we ‘dodged a bullet’. If this process had been running at the same time as the partnership was ending, it would have been a recipe for disaster.
Now the process must go ahead but with a team focussed entirely on the Island and its children. More than that, with the new drive we have, we will now be looking at the entire education system on the Island and creating a strategy to improve the quality of all our educational provision. In turn I hope this will lead to an improvement in standards, however our focus must be wider than that. The aim must be to maximise every child’s potential, rather than a narrow focus on academic standards.
As part of this we must address our Special Educational Needs provision on the Island. We need to ensure all children can be supported, whether in the mainstream or specialist provision. Currently many schools, parents and children suffer as the resources are not there to deliver what is required.
A key part of the process will be engagement. Many conversations with schools have already taken place, but the next stage, to be launched shortly, is a public conversation, lasting six months, to listen to all views from parents, children, schools and the wider public. It is vital we do this before any decisions are made to ensure we make the best decisions possible when that time comes later in the year.
This will be a difficult process for some, but I hope that the optimism and ambition that we now have within the council will be able to spread across the Island as together we all work to achieve the best for our children.
