Perhaps the Councils propaganda magazine BH Life should be renamed Pravda.

The BH magazine is not fit to have chips rapped in it!! With the Smug Grin of Cllr McCloughlin on the first page,it heads straight for the bin.Its not even informative.

This is another ploy on behalf of the Council to make everyone feel, in particular those who represent the school that it is no good to continue to fight for the non closure of Townsend School.
If anyone wants to read the real report, and the proper words of the report, then look at this link:

http://www.ofsted.go
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KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN, CLOSE THE COUNCIL

In addition to the above, how can Cllr Malcolm Davies, state that it is with regret when we close a school down, but the decision is all for the right reasons.

To provide the best possible education is to allow the children to go to their school built for them, employed for them. Give them the support you talk about, rather than send them off to anywhere that will (WILL) affect them and their education.

It is OK for you all to sit in your Cabinet and give out this sort of answer, but you are voted in to help the people of Bournemouth and that includes the children also.

Parents of Townsend children should take over the school themselves, bring in Home Education to teach. Show these (we do not care people) that it can become a school of learning. Let them have the right to be educated on their own turf, not in some far off seat of learning across the town. They are only children for god sakes.

KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN, CLOSE THE COUNCIL CABINET

I Object to the Proposed Closure of Townsend School

One of the reasons why the council proposed to close the school was because the school had been seen as failing.

Townsend is now out of Special Measures and is improving.

Townsend is a recognised area of social deprivation and disadvantaged families. Closing the local school will further disadvantage these families.

The proposed alternative schools are too far away.

When council met to consider the options of alternative schools for children of the Townsend area they were given false information on which to make their decisions e.g. walking times to alternative schools were grossly under estimated: twenty minutes to get to Malmesbury Park School when in reality it takes an hour! (Walking as an adult, a childÂ’s pace would be slower.)

Parents were told to stop complaining and use their cars.

I object to this advice for four reasons: firstly, it is environmentally wrong to be encouraging an increase in traffic on the roads: secondly, not all parents have cars; thirdly, fuel costs are already escalating and many parents will not be able to afford an increase in transport costs; fourthly, all other schools already have problems with a lack of parking places near to the school.

Parents that are already at Queens Park Infant School admit that they find the journey exhausting and rely on their cars, but fear that the rising petrol costs may prevent them from using them in the future.

ChildrenÂ’s health will be put at risk.

The majority of children who go to Townsend school, currently walk to school. If they are forced to go to other schools and they are then driven, they will miss out on the exercise that they would gain by walking. If they have to walk to alternative schools, they will be forced to walk along very busy roads and be forced to breathe in exhaust fumes, which will increase the already high number of children needing inhalers due to asthma.

Castle Lane thirty one years ago was not as busy as Castle Lane is now!

When Townsend School was first opened it was stated at the time that the school had been built so that no child would be forced to cross the very busy Castle Lane to go to school.

It is a very frightening thought that there are some parents who will allow their children to travel to school unattended. Before making any decision on the schoolÂ’s future all councillors should walk the proposed route for themselves to fully comprehend what they are expecting small children to accomplish. The traffic light nightmare at Castlepoint for example, where car drivers daily ignore or jump the lights.

The risk of just one death on the roads due to children being forced to attend other schools is too high.

Why should council tax payers have to fund £70,000+ annually to transport Townsend children to alternative schools?

Parents need to be able to travel with their children to school. The idea that four year olds will be expected to travel to school on a bus or taxi without their parents is totally unacceptable. Funding for parents to accompany their children will only be available to the parents of reception children for their first term.

What thought has been given to future truancy levels?

I know of one parent who for personal reasons currently has her child attending Malmesbury Park School. It takes her well over an hour to walk there. I asked her what happens if she is ill, as she is a single parent. The answer is that her child does not go to school. If there is more than one child in the family it seems logical to assume that there will be occasions when because of sickness with one child, all the children in the family will be unable to attend school.

It is quite a different matter to ask a neighbour if they could either take your child to the local school ten minutes away, or sit with the other siblings for twenty minutes, than it would be to say, “Could you stay here with my sick child for a couple of hours while I walk to the school and back?” This journey would also have to be repeated at the end of the school day.

There are many children who currently arrive at school late in the mornings, if Townsend School closes and they are late they will miss the bus and probably miss school for that day too.

I believe that the decision to close Townsend School has more to do with covering up the extra school places that the LEA has allowed to happen than genuine concern for the children of Townsend.

Why when Tim Watts left as headmaster was his deputy left as acting head for two years? A position which gave him no real control over the school, as he was not allowed to make any real changes?

Why was action then not taken sooner to remove the head teacher, that the LEA admits provided poor leadership, for over two years? (This head teacher then went on to teach in a reception class in Poole!)

There were exceptional circumstances at the school for which there should be allowances made.

Seven teachers took maternity leave, which obviously had a knock on effect to the childrenÂ’s learning as they were unsettled by the continuous changes to their environment and teaching.

There are no guarantees that the childrenÂ’s education will improve at other schools.

The opposite could quite likely be true as the arrival of large numbers to other schools may very well cause problems to those schools. Parents have also begun to remove their children from schools that Townsend children will be going to.

There is a very real need for a school in this area. Why do you think that the future catchment area for Townsend does not include Muscliffe or Epiphany Schools?

They do not have the space to take our children, which rather proves the need for Townsend School to remain.

The Regional Assembly is demanding future development of housing to our area.

More housing will of course lead to more families and the need for more school places. A lot of couples are delaying starting a family and I think the next generation of children has yet to arrive in this area. Many families who arrived in this area 30 years ago, are seeing their children only now starting their families.

I wonder if a lot of the problems with children in schools today have any connection with the LEA lowering the admission age to school.

The Government at the time recognised the importance of pre-school education for young children and issued vouchers to all parents to make pre-schools accessible to all. That decision led to the LEA lowering the school admission age to enable them to receive the Government vouchers. This had not been the GovernmentÂ’s intention: young children need to learn through play, not formal education.

PLEASE KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN.

PLEASE SEND YOUR OBJECTIONS NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

How many more times do we have to hear the tired old arguments from Andrew Ricketts and his supporters?

Ofsted have said the school isn't fit for purpose.

Local parents deserted it in droves even before closure was considered.

There are too many places in Bournemouth's primary schools already.

Why should our council tax keep funding a school that's less than half full and that no one wants to attend?

Would you rather one of your local schools closed? One with a much higher attendance and better educational record?

With class levels as small as those at Townsend the school should be streets ahead, not just coming out of special measures.

Isn't all this just common sense?

Something you do not appear to have Ben of Bournemouth.

I support Jan above in all she has said, and support the stay of Townsend School.

Not only do we have to think of the children of Townsend School, but the effect that it will have on the children from the schools that have been selected for the children. These children will have been use to the class size they have now, and some if not all will be effected by the increase.

Other schools have had not so good inspection reports, including one school which has been given as an alternative.

An estate the size of Townsend needs its own school, particularly at Primary level. If others took an interest in the school like Andrew Ricketts and his supporters, then the picture might be different.

I do not even live on the Townsend estate, but I do know how important a school is to a community.

If you are that good Ben, ask the council why the other Primary schools on the north side of Castle Lane were not offered. Ask why parents of existing pupils are taking their children out of the 3 schools offered as an alternative. Nothing to do with the intake of Townsend children has some have suggested, but because those schools will become over crowded. At one of those schools, there was already discussion about over crowded classrooms. This will make it worse. As I said it is not just Townsend School, but also the knock on affect to others.

KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN.

Fiona that was your prerogative, and your right to do so. Some do not have the ability to accept the alternatives.

If others keep putting Townsend down because it does not suit them, then there can be no hope for the school. What is needed is the support of everyone to ensure that the children of Townsend are supported in keeping their school open and to support them in ensuring that they can rise out of the Ofsted report and even better themselves more.

The Ofsted report proves that the children have bettered themselves, therefore it is only right to ensure that they can continue to do this, but within their own school.

Some talk of, why should my Council Tax pay for a failure. I could arguably say why should my council tax pay for transportation to another school when they have a good school, or the makings of one on their doorsteps.

Who is going to convey the parents who do not have transport of their own, to and from the schools in the morning and afternoons, and moreso at lunchtime in the case of the Reception years first few months. None of this has been thought out by our illustrious council, but has been by the parents, the school, the staff and the governors, those who care about Townsend School.

KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN

I would say a Public Governor of the Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, a Trustee of the Dorset Mencap, and a Director of Dorset Mind.

This probably has a bearing on why she chose another school for her children, and has the ability to make her own way there with the aid of a vehicle.

In your position Fiona I thought you would have more support for Townsend knowing how this is going to affect the minds of the children with possible mental disturbances from the pending move if it comes to fruition.

KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN

I would say a Public Governor of the Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, a Trustee of the Dorset Mencap, and a Director of Dorset Mind.

This probably has a bearing on why she chose another school for her children, and has the ability to make her own way there with the aid of a vehicle.

In your position Fiona I thought you would have more support for Townsend knowing how this is going to affect the minds of the children with possible mental disturbances from the pending move if it comes to fruition.

KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN

Precisely Fiona,

Keep Townsend School open!

Keep it up Jan. At least Fiona agrees on the main part of a child's life.

KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN

Townsend is an area of social deprivation; because of this they will have an above average number of local children who need additional help at school. Closing the school and moving these children elsewhere will not change this fact – they will still fail and likely cause their new school to fail as well (maybe this is reason why our Council does not want the people of Bournemouth know the names of future failing schools). The answer would appear to keep Townsend School open and pump extra resources in to raise standards. If Bournemouth has spare capacity in its schools then take a few desks out and reduce class size. As for the cost of this our Councils appear to be flush with money to waste - I hear that Bournemouth and Poole intend to invest £90M reorganising schools across the conurbation. Two new non-teaching posts have recently been advertised with a combined total salary in excess of £100K PA, if pension, National Insurance, Private Medical Insurance, secretarial and office costs are added then the total cost will be double this. To make matters worse if these people come from outside the area they will not have any local knowledge of our local schools! It seems typical that our dysfunctional Local Authorities are quite happy to spend millions reorganising schools and employing Jobsworths but refuse to spend money on reducing class size and improving education by employing more Teachers. They certainly do not put the interests of our children first.

I moved my daughter away from this failing school 10 years ago! At age 7 she could not read or write her maths was very poor and she was far behind the rest of her class at her new school. With hard work on her part she caught up well passed several exams and is now settled in college. Not all of the children being failed now will fail in the future fedupwithjobswoths!

So you would not see it as a threat if someone made a decision about your life,the very foundation of your childs life , in the early years, when its so important for them to have stability and familiarity ,the security that you have spent years building up,to actually send them to school,Now its going to be ripped away,so you have to start over again.There's still over 100 children there ,their parents havnt taken them out.( obviously) the school was failing (NOW) its improving. Why not keep it open .What id like to know is (why) it was left to be run down and mismanaged in the first place.???

I am not a parent of a Townsend Child or School Child, mine have grown up and fled the nest. I am a concerned member of the town who has supported the Townsend issue from the outset basically.

For someone who is involved with Mental Health, I find it hard that you can say that we and others are using the mental state of the children as a form of exaggeration. Any change at this age to a child who has gone through this, and is then expected to trudge to another school miles from home. Unlike yourself, a number will have to walk, or have the trauma of riding on a bus on their own. To be put into an already overfilled class, thus upsetting more children who are already established within their own environment.

I just wish people would look beyond what the council are saying, they know nothing more than everyone else does. We have read the same Ofsted report, yet we read it as it is said. Once again the council have got themselves into a position but just like their national counterparts they do not know how to do a U Turn.

All it needs is someone from the Cabinet of Education to just say, OK, we will give it another go, give it 3 years. I would like to place a bet that Townsend School would fulfill its goal, and become a Satisfactory school at its next and subsequent Ofsted Inspections.

Instead of putting the school down, and the people of the school who are trying to secure what is rightfully theirs, support them, give them your lead arm, help them.

If we give in now, how many more schools will close because they have had a failed Ofsted Inspection. Look at the Ofsted site, and you will see other schools are very close.

£90 million pound Bournemouth and Poole have to help with schools, mostly on the Secondary and College levels, where these children will be in time to come. So the council give a little of this to save this school, and help it on its way.

KEEP TOWNSEND SCHOOL OPEN

Why oh why oh why did people vote for this disgraceful Tory council????

It just goes to show what happens when you let these people back in. I just hope people don't make the same mistake when it comes to the next general election!

Posted by: Dorset Red, Dorset on 8:51pm today

Quote Why oh why oh why did people vote for this disgraceful Tory council????

Reply People hardly ever learn from past experiences do they?

There is a deliberate attempt to destroy the Basic Infrastructures of the British communities.

This is NOT just the Tories this must be coming as a central Government Directive.

This is not just an attack on schools .

The Post Offices are be drastically reduced to a fraction of what they were. So as to CUT YOUR ability to communicate .

Bus Services are being reduced .

Your E-mail's, Your Telephone Calls are all being monitored .

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