The head teacher and chair of governors have been aske to attend a meeting on 21 September, of the SORP, Powys CC's review panel charged with recommending changes to education. However in typical Powys fashion they are now pretending that the original decision to close Gwernyfed (24 March) was in fact a plan to review the circumstances that might lead to that decision. So the meeting on 21 March is described by the Leader of the Council as being part of Stage 2 of a LA Schools Transformational Policy passed at the end of 2014. There is one problem with that statement no one has implemented Stage 1. They have simply tried to change tack in the hope of heading off the judicial review. I have written to the Leader of the Council (again) [ponting this out in some detail and reminding him that if he continues to breach their statutory obligations the original judicial review can be reactivated with a number of others. If you would like to read that letter it is set out below (rather long I am afraid). Lastly, there is to be a public meeting at Gwernyfed on Tuesday 22 September at 7.30pm to receive feed back from the head and chair of governors about the meeting on 21st.Its difficult to know how the authority plans to proceed but we may be reaching a stage where to succeed further legal action may be required and or direct action. Please come and support the school. John Fitzgerald Letter to Cllr Barry Thomas, Powys CC Council Leader 17 Sepember 2015 Dear Cllr Thomas Schools Transformation Policy. I am sure by now you will have been told that I called your office early last week in the hope of speaking to someone about this policy in the light of your letter to me of 21 August. I hoped that it might be possible to address what were obvious concerns in your reference to Stage 2 of this policy, in a way that might be constructive. Clearly the person I spoke to took fright at the mere mention of my name and said they would have to ask someone else, subsequently confirmed in an email. However, I am still waiting and have had again to resort to writing to you with a genuine desire to be helpful but mixed with considerable irritation. Let me go through the key points in this policy and why your letter to me was misleading (although no doubt the words would have been provide by someone else). 1) Page 16 – “The Authority will establish an annual school review process, to ensure that the Authority’s schools provision is reviewed regularly. This will be an open and inclusive process……” Whatever, the authority thinks the process has been, it has not been “open and inclusive” and as such is a breach of a) Schools Organisation Code, and b) of the authority’s own “Transformational” policy not to mention a dreadful ignoring of the concept of natural justice. 2) Page 17. Sets out the criteria for a school to be reviewed and is predominantly based on negative issues which do not apply to Gwernyfed whose academic results match those at Crickhowell and Newtown, despite being smaller. It runs a budget surplus (and has done so for many years) and does not have a need for spending on the fabric of the building at a level required at Brecon. 3) Page 19. - Stages of the School Review Process Stage 1 – Initial Assessment of Schools i) The SORP will receive and consider data and supporting information for all schools that have met the agreed criteria. ii) The SORP will then agree the schools it considers to be in need of a detailed review. 4) Stage 1 has never been implemented in connection with Gwernyfed, the paper submitted to the cabinet on 24 March did not come from the SORP as no consideration of a review of the school occurred, just a rushed decision put together by officers and education portfolio holder to close the school in 2017 in order to salvage the plan for Brecon HS. What is clear is that Powys CC has switched from making a decision to close Gwernyfed, (March 24th without any consultation) to “Transformational” process without notifying Gwernyfed that they are now under review so that a pretence can be established that this was the intention all along. Apart from being pretty awful management practice, however one views what has happened there has been a breach of a) Schools Organisation Code, and b) of the authority’s own “Transformational” policy not to mention a dreadful ignoring of the concept of natural justice 5) Data collection has been carried out by PWC, one of the three big international auditors that failed to notice the illegality of major bank activity worldwide causing the melt down of the UK economy amongst others. Much of the basic statistical collection is flawed, e.g., assuming a declining birth rate when in fact it is increasing, assuming that numbers of admissions to primary school are declining when they are increasing, failing to note census statistics showing families with children moving into the area and assuming as stated in the last SOC that “there will be a loss of a few pupils across the border into England “ when the calculation assumes a minimum of 230+ pa in seven years’ time, 25% of the combined Brecon /Gwernyfed total at present. 6) Neither has any account been taken of the blight on a school by the local authority repeatedly trying to close a very good school whilst Brecon, Ystradgynlais, and two schools in the North of the County meet the negative criteria to cause a review (although they may not agree) Gwernyfed most definitely does not particularly given the flawed statistics being used. The announcement in March of the intention to close Gwernyfed was the third attempt to achieve this in eight years and after the two previous aborted decisions, school admissions, which had been on the rise, immediately went into decline because parents did not want their children to face future uncertainty. Prior to the 24 March decision admission numbers had been rising again, we already know of parents considering not sending their children to Gwernyfed whilst the uncertainty remains all of which demonstrates that it is the irresponsible behaviour in local authority behaviour that is the cause of any decline in numbers. 7) Stage 2 - Dialogue. iii) If a school faces a review, the local member, the headteacher and the chair of governors will be notified. The Diocesan Authorities will also be notified for reviews of denominational schools. The data and supporting information will be shared with the local member, the headteacher, the staff and the governing body (and the Diocesan Authorities for reviews of denominational schools). iv) The headteacher, the governing body and the local member will be invited to meet with the SORP. The Diocesan Authorities will also be invited to this meeting for reviews of denominational schools. This meeting will focus on factors outlined in the School Organisation Code and Federation Regulations which include, but are not limited, to those listed in Appendix B. v) Following this meeting, the SORP will discuss each school individually, before making draft recommendations about its future. vi) The governing body of each school under review will be invited to attend a feedback meeting in order to consider the draft recommendations of the SORP NB: I have not corrected the spelling errors in your policy document. 8) Given the fact that Gwernyfed HS has never been informed that it is subject to review as required under this policy, the statement in your letter of 21 August that the meeting with school is part of Stage 2 of this policy is completely inaccurate and a breach of a) Schools Organisation Code, and b) of the authority’s own “Transformational” policy not to mention a dreadful ignoring of the concept of natural justice. 9) I note that all the secondary schools in the South of the County are going through this process in one form or another when they did not know they were under review either. This attempt to portray what is happening as the same as the process being carried out in the North of the County is foolish because in the North the schools were informed in advance that a review was being carried out whereas in the South the authority has attempted in an extremely clumsy way, to get itself off a very “painful hook” and thus head off a judicial review, by pretending it has been carrying out a review all along when the cabinet paper dated 24 March makes it clear that no such process was even being considered. The trouble is those responsible for the sudden and unexplained change of direction are out of their depth and using actions that can only lead to a reactivation of the judicial review and is stacking up potential further legal action. 10) Lastly, I have been told by a number of my contacts across the authority that papers to be sent to Gwernyfed HS prior to the SORP meeting on 21 September will include ‘a draft impact assessment’. If whoever is drawing up this document took the trouble to read the Statutory (note not discretionary) Schools Organisation Code they would find clear guidance on how to carry out that task. It includes prior to writing the statement that all students who are to be effected are consulted in advance as should parents, staff, community groups involved with the school (of which there are 34 at Gwernyfed), community councils and local businesses. Has the writer of this document taken account of a survey of students to be the first to transferred to Brecon which found 100% of respondents would not be willing to make that change (information known to your senior officers)? None of these people have been contacted by the local authority and so any document produced this week is both meaningless and in breach of the code and therefore could be considered unlawful. The only way out of this mess is for the local authority to stop this sham of a process and start again by facing those effected by the authorities plans so that all statutory obligations can be fulfilled but more importantly that an attempt can be made to repair the badly damaged relationship between Powys County Council and our communities which might then lead to a sensible outcome. The alternative, as things stand at present, is the reactivation of the judicial review process and a risk of further legal action, which given the costs, as a council tax payer I find offensive at a time when the authority is trying to make huge budget cuts year on year. I would have much preferred a discussion of these issues, Best wishes/ Cofion Gorau Yours sincerely JOHN FITZGERALD