- Education on the Isle of Wight
Education on the Isle of Wight is provided by 69
Local Education Authority -maintained schools on theIsle of Wight , and two independent schools. As a rural community, many of these schools are small, with average numbers of pupils lower than in many urban areas. It was decided on19 March 2008 , in a Whole Council Meeting, that the three-tier system will change into a two tier system. A report into the report on the re-organisation with proposals as to which schools will close was published in May 2008. There is also a college on the Isle of Wight and other less formal educational venues.chool System
The Isle of Wight does not conform to the general pattern of education in the
United Kingdom in which pupils change schools at age 11 (seeEducation in England ). Instead, the Isle of Wight uses a three-tier system once experimented with in a number of areas, but now retained in parts of only some 17 Local Authorities. In this system pupils change school at ages 9 and 13.Part of the rationale behind this system was that the age of eleven is a period of dramatic physical and emotional change, and also significantly different from the higher age groups in secondary education. Creation of a tier between earlier primary and later secondary education meant that a different character of education suitable to the age group could be developed, taking the child up to age thirteen when they were more ready for high school.
The system has been popular among parents and teachers, but since the introduction of the
National Curriculum criticisms have arisen over the system because the curriculum is based onKey Stage s lasting either two or three years. It has been suggested that changing school at age 13, with two years ofKey Stage 3 spent at a middle school and one year in high school, results in a lack of continuity and problems for high schools whose intake will be from several middle schools.Types of School
Under the current system the following three types of school exist;
*"Primary Schools" – There are 46 primary schools on the island, taking pupils from age four plus to nine [the reception year to year 4] . Nineteen of these primary schools are
Church of England or Catholic aided or controlled. All primary schools have pre-school facilities.
*"Middle Schools" – There are 16 middle schools, taking pupils from age 9 to 13 [years 5 to 8] . Of these, one is the local Catholic school, two areChurch of England controlled and one is voluntary aided by the Church of England. In some other areas of the UK still retaining a three-tier system the middle school ages are 8 to 12 [Years 4 to 7] .
*"High Schools" – There are five high schools, taking pupils from age 13 to 18 (compulsory years 9 to 11 and "(sixth form)" years 12 and 13).
**Carisbrooke (near Newport) - Sports Specialist
**Cowes - Science Specialist
**Medina - Performance Arts Specialist
**Ryde - Language and Arts College
**Sandown - Sports SpecialistThere is no church high school.The current proposed changes would alter this to be in accord with much of the rest of the country, that is:
* Age 4-11 primary schools – There are proposals for 38 schools of this type.
* Age 11-19 secondary schools – There are proposals for 6 schools of this type, located in:
** Sandown (on the Sandown High and Sandham Middle)
** Ryde (on the site of Ryde High and Haylands)
** Newport (on the site of Medina and Downside)
** Newport (on the site of Carisbrooke)
** Newport - a new combined Church of England and Roman Catholic High School, provisionally named 'Christ the King College'
** West Cowes (on the site of Cowes High)* "
Isle of Wight College " – Like many counties, the Isle of Wight has a college offering vocational courses and a sixth form as well as link courses in tertiary and postgraduate education. This college in located on the outskirts of Newport.
*"Independent Schools" There are presently two independent schools. The Priory School, is presently inShanklin . "Ryde School With Upper Chine", founded in 1921, is a co-educational, non-selective HMC school in Ryde. Ryde School owns the old Bembridge School site where its boarding campus is now based. [Kingswood currently shares the site with them.] Upper Chine School amalgamated with Ryde School and so Ryde School became Ryde School With Upper Chine in 1994.tandards & Reforms to the System
In 2004 the Isle of Wight council undertook a consultative process aimed at changing local education structure, to a two tier
school system similar to that existing in the rest of the country. This move was opposed by a lobby, [http://www.yourschoolneedsyou.com Standards not Tiers] , based in UpperVentnor and the Conservatives, who, after they won the local council elections in May 2005 shelved the proposals pending further investigation.The Annual Performance Assessment of the Isle of Wight Council's Education and Children's Social Care Services 2005, carried out by
Office for Standards in Education and theCommission for Social Care Inspection , found low levels of achievements for pupils in schools and a lack of significant and sustained progress over the last five years. Overall, theIsle of Wight Council ’s capacity to improve its services for children and young people was judged to be 'adequate', out of the four ratings 'very good', 'promising', 'adequate' or 'inadequate'.In 2006, the regional
Learning and Skills Council proposed to replace the school sixth forms with central provision at the Isle of Wight College. In January 2007, the authority rejected this proposal, and instead offered its own, which included a reduced number of secondary schools, and the retention of Year 9 pupils in Middle schools, extending their range to form 9-14 schools - a unique arrangement in the United Kingdom - and 14-19 provision at High Schools. [cite news
title =Schools shake-up a step nearer
work = Isle of Wight County Press
date = 2007-01-26
url =http://www.iwcp.co.uk/News/SCHOOLS_SHAKE-UP_A_STEP_NEARER.aspx
accessdate = 2007-01-26 ]In January 2008, more reforms were put forward, which could see the closure of at least half of the Island's primary schools. On
14 January 2008 it was announced that at least 23 primary schools and 1 middle school (likely to be Nodehill Middle School) would be closed by whichever education pathway was chosen in March. [ [http://www.iwcp.co.uk/News/SCHOOLS_CULL_SET_TO_ROCK_ISLAND.aspx School cull set to rock Island] ]Option 1:
Primary/juniorhigh/learning centres, which would leave the Island with 32 primary schools, 10 Junior High Schools and 3 Learning Centres.
Option 2:
Two-tier primary/secondary set-up, which would leave the Island with 24 primary schools, 4 secondary schools and 1 faith college.
Option 3:
A similar two-tier set-up, which would leave the Island with 33 primary schools, 5 secondary schools and 1 faith college.
The schools would be spread out across the Island in Cowes, East Cowes, Ryde, East Wight, South East Wight, South Wight, West Wight and Newport. Trinity Middle School and ABK middle School would join to form the faith college, Christ The King College, serving students from ages 9-19, which would be based on the current Carrisbrooke High School site. [ [http://www.eduwight.iow.gov.uk/schools/reorganisation/ Which way forward for Island education?] ]
Under all the options currently on offer, all the island schools will close, however some will re-open on the existing site, while others will be moved to new sites. The Isle of Wight Council says it could save up to £2 million a year in money that would be spent on small primary schools, that under the new system, wouldn't be needed. The changes will begin to be introduced from September 2010, although some could happen earlier. [ [http://www.iwcp.co.uk/News/PRIMARY_SCHOOLS_FACE_DECIMATION.aspx Primary schools face decimation] ]
There were also calls for a fourth option of extending middle schools to year 9. This would save primary schools across the Island in rural locations and enable middle and high schools to almost continue to function as they are, although this fourth option is unlikely to go ahead.
The 'biggest protest the Island has ever seen' [ [http://www.iwcp.co.uk/News/MASS_PROTEST_STORMS_NEWPORT.aspx Mass protest storms Newport] ] occurred outside County Hall in Newport on Saturday
26 January at 10:00am lasting an hour until 11:00am, lead byIsle of Wight Radio DJ Alex Dyke as a result of the Council's plans for education reforms. Between 1,000 and 1,250 took part in the protest, including parents, teachers and students. The Island MP Andrew Turner, with two other councillors also attended the protest, disagreeing with the plans.More protests later occurred at Sandown, Shanklin and Ryde, with another at Newport. On
19 March 2008 , a two-tier system was voted for by Isle of Wight councillors, bringing the island's school system into line with the rest of the country.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
