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From: John Jennings, Dewsbury
Dear Sir,
I write as a Catholic and a resident who lives on the doorstep of Westborough and St John Fisher high schools.
The development of the Westborough High School site to increase student numbers is totally unrealistic. To increase the size of the school would produce a situation worse than the present gridlock that occurs at times. In my jocular moments, which I admit are rare, I refer to my home address as “School Car Park Croft.” The added proposal of major building work over a number of years is unthinkable.
To solve the problems of the increase in movements around the Westborough site, I have two possible solution:
1. Compulsory purchase of all adjacent properties so that adequate infrastructure can be provided for the Academy’s needs.
2. Rethink the whole boctched idea and build the Academy on a greenfield site where proper access and adequate sporting facilities can be provided.
To move on to the proposal to close down the sixth form at St John Fisher Catholic High School - or ‘Lean On the Governors!’
The Catholic community including members of my own family battled for many years to establish a sixth form at the school.
Despite opposition from many sources including Kirklees Council, a very successful sixth form was eventually established.
It has produced excellent ‘A’ level success and in some cases results that were the best in England. My own children were educated there and both are university graduates.
Although St John Fisher School is ‘Faith Based’, it does cater for non-Catholics. Many non-Catholics in the area try to enroll their children, including councillors, because of the quality of education, the philosophy of the teachers and governors and the discipline that seems to be lacking in so many schools.
The school admits children of all attributes and social classes. I do not think that I need to expand on the sporting successes that the school has enjoyed during its brief history, most notably in rugby league.
Proposing the closure of St John Fisher’s sixth form is in my opinion religious bigotry on the part of Kirklees Council.
A friend suggested that had the same standards been achieved by any other Faith or Non Faith School, no such proposal would have been made.
I have looked at the consultation events venues published by Kirklees Council.
Out of 31 venues, not one of the feeder schools for St John Fishers is mentioned - St Paulinus Dewsbury, St. Mary’s Batley, St Joseph’s Batley Carr and St Patricks Birstall. Is this the way to silence a large number of parents and children who are looking forward to a complete school education in a Catholic school?
I urge the Catholic community to oppose the proposals with as much vim and vigour as possible. Sign petitions, vote in the local elections, attend and protest at every meeting.
I understand the problems facing our local councillors, they can always be voted down by the larger number of councillors in the whole council.
In view of this situation, I would suggest that the diocese of Leeds contact all the parishes in the Kirklees Council area so that Catholics everywhere can bring pressure to bear on the full Council members.
From: Hazel M. Byard, Mirfield
Dear Sir,
The postman has just delivered our free copy of Kirklees Council’s magazine ‘Together’.
To those of you too busy to open it, it’s just teeming with the doings of our Conservative council and their plans for us.
Ooh goody! On page three ‘A Model Town.’ We can go to the Civic Centre in Huddersfield and see a brand new illuminated model of the new Huddersfield town centre.
I flick through the pages to see if there are any plans, illuminated or not, for Dewsbury town centre, parts of which seem to be falling about our ears. Oh dear! Nothing at all.
Never mind. Just look at the plans on pages 11 to14 for our children’s ‘Brighter Futures.’
What a shame! It doesn’t look so bright for the children of Mirfield and not even a mention of the closure of Castle Hall. Now, if I had a suspicious and cynical nature, I would be thinking that Kirklees Conservative councillors, who have dished up this dog’s dinner of reorganisation with little educational value, were hoping to sneak it past us.
Or, do they have such contempt and disregard for Dewsbury and Mirfield’s wishes and needs that they really don’t realise what they’re doing? I think my copy of ‘Together’ will end up on one of the ‘Bonfires’ (page 6).
From: Lynda Robertson, Mirfield
Dear Sir,
As the parent of a daughter currently in year 10 at Castle Hall, I am outraged at the proposal to close such a good school.
My daughter has recently achieved some excellent SATS results, not least because of the excellent staff who have helped and encouraged her the last three years.
She has had some wonderful opportunities, including trips abroad and more recently a large range of after-school activities has been introduced.
The school’s status as a Specialist Language College should not be overlooked, nor should the higher than average proportion of pupils gaining five GCSEs at grades A*-C (currently 68%, including English and Maths, I believe).
Think again, Kirklees – how can it make sense to close this successful school and expect the other successful school in Mirfield (MFG) to absorb all those extra pupils without adversely affecting its own identity?
From: Name and address supplied
Dear Sir,
From the moment our children are born we want to be able to give them the best start in life. So when we chose a secondary school for our son two years ago we wanted the BRIGHTEST FUTURE for him.
After visiting both MFG and Castle Hall we made the decision to send him to Castle Hall.
Both schools were excellent in their own special ways but Castle Hall ticked every box for own own individual educational needs. After completing his first year we knew it was the right choice for our son and he had a truly BRIGHT FUTURE. Two weeks into the start of the new year Kirklees told us how they were going to make his FUTURE even BRIGHTER – By proposing to CLOSE Castle Hall School and make MFG the only choice for secondary education in Mirfield.
The new MFG will have over 2,000 students. How will this give our children better futures?
Everyone knows that smaller schools get better results and have higher standards of behaviour.
Kirklees cannot be allowed to take our right to choose which school is best for our children.
I urge parents with children currently in year 6 to visit both schools and exercise your right to choose now, rather than focusing on what might happen five years down the line.
From: Melody Hirst (and Lewis year 6, Sally year 3)
Dear Sir,
There is strong feeling throughout Mirfield towards the proposed closure and subsequent changes, however I feel it necessary to alert parents of younger children that should these ‘proposals’ happen, it will affect their children massively.
I detect a little apathy amongst some parents of younger children. I appreciate their child may not be at high school now, or year 6 and making big decisions now (as my family are), but this does affect their future, this could be where your child will go – an ‘Academy’ of 1,500 children 11-16 and then another 500+ 16-18!
I urge all parents with children of all ages to please look at the ‘Brighter Future’ brochure and fill in the questionaire.
From: Marie Morris, Mirfield
Dear Sir,
This is an abridged copy of an e-mail I sent to Education Secretary Ed Balls.
Dear Mr Balls,
I am writing to you in the hope that you my somehow intervene in an issue that has been put forward by Kirklees Metropolitan Council.
Parents of school aged children were advised that Caste Hall secondary school will be closing in five years time. The reasons we have been given are vague and sketchy and when we have tried to obtain the rationale behind the decision we have been up against a wall of silence.
Kirklees are saying it is a consultation; however local residents have their doubts. The final decision will be made by the council in December which doesn’t give us much time to oppose their ‘carefully considered” proposal.
There are currently two secondary schools in Mirfield: Mirfield free Grammar (MFG) and Castle Hall Specialist Language School both of which have very respectable results. Out of the two schools Castle Hall has been ranked as the highest performing secondary school in North Kirklees for 2007 and 2008. It seems bizarre that this school should be targeted in such a way.
We have started a parent action group called REACH. The head teachers at both schools do not want this proposal to be implemented and neither do the thousands of local residents. The opposition to these plans is immense and we have some very talented experienced individuals ready to challenge Kirklees at every stage. Shahid Malik has gone on record as saying the proposals are deeply flawed and we really appreciate this.
From a redevelopment perspective, Castle Hall sits on the most valuable sought after land. Perhaps this was one of those “carefully considered” options? I would appreciate any advice or guidance you are able to offer.
From: Marina Poppa, Mirfield
Dear Sir,
Our daughter had been at Castle Hall only a few weeks when a shiny brochure arrived, announcing a ‘Brighter Future’ in which Castle Hall, the best performing school in North Kirklees based on GCSE results, would be shut down! This fancy document offers barely any rationale for the demise of Castle Hall, let alone a properly reasoned argument.
Parents, pupils, staff and governers are horrified at the proposals. Quite apart from the unnecessary disruption all this will cause in both schools, research on school size indicates that medium sized schools (such as Castle Hall) do better academically, and that discipline problems tend to increase in very large schools.
Did the Council even consider these issues?
Common sense suggests that these proposals will blight rather than brighten the prospects for our children’s future education.
From: D. Roberts, Mirfield
Dear Sir,
Kirklees council insist that their main motivation for educational change in North Kirklees is centred around ‘Brighter futures – for our children and young people’.
If this is the case, could they please tell us how many schools they visited, how many children they consulted and how many teachers they interviewed prior to making their proposals.
The key people in all this process must be the children and the teachers. Prove to us that there are children out there who wish to attend a 2000-plus sized school. Imagine if the premises have to be evacuated due to an emergency!
As far as teachers are concerned, I have worked in an 800 student sized school where I knew every child and member of staff and behaviour was not an issue. That same school now has 1,100 students.
I am responsible for the pastoral care of 275 students. Due to the size of the school there are students I don’t have time to speak to or even know their names. My time is focussed on dealing with the hard-core of 30 or 40 students who cause issues in classes of 32 and 34 students. I am also ashamed to say that with over 100 staff, there are some I don’t get a chance to speak to and the environment is very impersonal.
Pumping money into the school doesn’t make teaching or behaviour issues go away. Smaller numbers do.
Anything approaching above or beyond 1,000 students is too big. Castle Hall therefore must remain open as an 11-16 school, especially as under new government and Ofsted guidelines, whereby a school’s progress is monitored on its five A*-C grades including English and Maths, Castle Hall is the most successful school in North Kirklees.
If the cabinet responsible for the final decision actually visited Castle Hall on a normal working day, they would see students working positively in a calm, friendly and well-organised manner.
A school like this is what every parent wants for their child and must be kept open.
From: Una Robinson, Thornhill Edge Post Office
Dear Sir,
Following the tremendous news from Post Office Ltd that Thornhill Edge Post Office is to escape closure, I would like to thank everyone who has given their support.
It would take too long to name them all but I would especially like to mention Coun Khizar Iqbal and the members of the Action Group for their tireless endeavours and also Shahid Malik and his team at Daisy Hill.
May I also pay tribute to all my loyal customers who continue to use the post office and who have sent letters and e-mails to Post Office Ltd. I have been told that the response to the closure decision by Thornhill residents was overwhelming and this has obviously had a huge impact on their change of heart.
Finally, a big thank you for all the personal support shown to Frank and myself in what has been a very stressful period. We can now look forward to many more happy years at Thornhill Edge Post Office.
From: Ann Jeffery, Thornhill
Dear Sir,
Whilst I would like to congratulate Mr Malik and the people of Thornhill on saving Thornhill Edge Post Office, I am not happy about my taxes paying for Mr Malik’s post.
As a Thornhill resident, I, and how many others, received a letter posted 1st class on House of Commons stationery, to inform me of his saving the Post Office. I would like to suggest that next time he has anything to tell us, he rings The Press, The Reporter and the Yorkshire Evening Post where they could publicise his information. No wonder he has the highest expenses of all MPs.
Again, good news on the Post Office here being saved.
From: Samantha Lloyd-Jeffries
Dear Sir,
I write again about the proposed closure of Castle Hall. The support from the Mirfield people against the proposals has been fantastic as you will have seen from the sucessful SOS that we held on Saturday.
It is fantastic that we had Calendar News, Debbie Lindley, MP Shahid Malik and the local press there to support us. Both Debbie and Shahid Malik gave an excellent speech as well as Karen Rowling who has been an amazing leader of the REACH group.
Shahid hit the nail on the head when he said that closing the school would be like tearing the heart out of our community. The REACH group have worked really hard and have definitely brought Mirfield together even more as a community and we hope to continue to go from strength to strength to REACH our goal to Retain Education At Castle Hall.
From: Colin Fretwell, Royal Air Forces Association (Mirfield)
Dear Sir,
I wish to thank Mirfield residents for their generous donations to our annual “Battle of Britain” collections.
I was able to send to our central office, for our welfare work, a cheque amounting to a very impressive £1,500.
Special thanks must go to Mirfield Co-op and Lidl for allowing us to collect in their stores, all the local pubs and clubs who allowed us to collect on our annual ‘’Pub Crawl’ and also to Tim at the Old Colonial who always gives special help for the Wings appeal.
None of this would have been possible without the time and efforts so willingly given by the Cadets of the Mirfield ATC 868 Squadron. These uniformed youngsters presented an image of dedication to this special cause in a spirit of great enthusiasm and purpose.
Once again, my thanks to everyone for a most successful ‘Battle of Britain’’ appeal.
From: Name and address supplied
Dear Sir,
As many Kirklees residents will now be aware, we are being dragged into the scourge of the United Kingdom - a new recycling service.
In spite of the nationwide failures and weaknesses in such a system, Kirklees has decided to further visit this abomination on more of us.
It advises us in the recently received, ill conceived publication, that there are materials that can be collected, on a fortnightly rotating cycle, but, alternatively, there are materials which cannot be collected.
We are told that those items considered unsuitable for processing should be taken to one of the recycling skip areas, presumably by bus, wheelbarrow or shopping trolley, invalid trike or, if you are still young or affluent enough, by car - at your cost. Remember, we already pay for this.
You can reduce this inconvenient, time consuming and costly burden, by eating and using the right kind of goods and materials. For example, only foods which you can be sure of eating totally (no food waste at all), bury your garden waste, avoid foil, wear your clothes/textiles until they totally disintegrate, make your own beer - don’t go buying any bottled stuff - they won’t take bottles you see.
Give up yoghurts, even though they are good for you, and don’t buy anything that comes on a plastic tray or in polystyrene.
Next, if you know what a Tetra pack is, don’t use it, take a jug with you and get them to fill it for you, and as for nappies, few people would ever have time to wash them and chances are no one would know how to fasten one.
Rumours are that because Kirklees will not take plastic carriers or similar away, they’re going to provide every house with three strong indestructible carriers, made in Germany, where your wheely bins come from. Yes, that’s right, where many of the councillors of Kirklees have been for their business and hospitality trips!
From: Gordon Senior, Scout Hill
Dear Sir,
I write following your story regarding Kirklees Council’s litter crackdown.
Which part of ‘Never Never Land’ does this Coun David Hall, Cabinet member for the environment, come from?
There is not ONE area of Dewsbury where I walk, and I do mean WALK, not zip past in a car, that has greenery of some kind growing on it.
Thornhill Lees, Ravensthorpe, Thornhill, Chickenley, Mirfield, you name it, plants of some description are growing there. It’s a disgrace.
Unless of course Coun Hall’s environment brief means GREEN and then it’s all right.
I fully approve of more wardens giving out fines for litter but what about educating immigrants in this area (in the new academies maybe?) that driving with seatbelts on is compulsory, not optional, especially when there are as many as five children in the back (only three seat belts)?
What about educating them on parking on double yellow lines or in bus stops to unload?
It is about time these wardens not only fined a driver for using a phone while driving but took the phone away as well.
Scout Hill, where I live, could do with cleaning every day. That’s what they should be doing.
From: Stuart McArdle, Batley
Dear Sir,
The letter from the mysterious “Gordon Garnett” questioning the work of MP Mike Wood is very interesting. The fact that the name is a play on the name of a former Labour councillor means it has all the hallmarks of a politically motivated pantomime. But it’s not just the source that is bogus.
If the mysterious “Gordon Garnett” did exist and did live in Batley then he wouldn’t need to ask such a daft question. He would know that local people do make demands of their MP and get a quality service in return. They know he’s at the forefront of the campaign to keep Fox’s Biscuits in the town, led the fight to protect local post offices, works closely with local businesses, the local police and other agencies, takes a keen interest in the way Kirklees’s decision impact on local people. Add the work he does for any individual who approaches him and I think it’s fair to say he earns his corn, as the “Gordon Garnett” puts it.
One could ask why he has not seen all this in the local papers, which he claims to read so thoroughly. Oh yes, it’s because imaginary people can’t read. I suppose the real question should be: who is so desperate to attack Mike Wood that they have to stoop to such pathetic tactics? |
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