A STATEMENT FOR THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION IN WALSALL AND BLOXWICH

        A STATEMENT FOR THE FUTURE OF      EDUCATION IN WALSALL AND BLOXWICH

WALSALL IS ONE — AND OUR CHILDREN COME FIRST

IT IS LITERALLY TIME TO DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND.    

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It is time to stop looking only at what suits us today and start deciding what will work for our communities in the long term.                

The people of Walsall and Bloxwich deserve better when it comes to education.  

Across our communities, families are facing increasing pressure when trying to secure suitable school places for their children.      

Some children are having to travel outside their local areas simply to access a secondary school place, creating difficult journeys for families who should not have to fight this hard for appropriate education.

This is not about one school.
It is about the future of education provision across Walsall.                                              

The situation surrounding Sneyd School, the proposed Windsor Apollo Academy, Reedswood Park and the continuing pressure on SEND and MAINSTREAM provision has highlighted a much bigger issue:

Walsall needs to start looking at the education needs of its communities as a whole, rather than dealing with every issue separately.          

SNEYD SCHOOL — AN OPPORTUNITY THAT MUST NOT BE DISMISSED                                        

Sneyd School remains an important part of this conversation.    

The former school site has significant educational potential. It contains classrooms, sports facilities, a large hall, a former swimming pool, outdoor space and other facilities that could potentially be adapted for modern educational and community purposes.    

The facilities are substantial and offer opportunities that deserve proper investigation rather than simply being dismissed.
The question should not simply be:                          

“Why bring Sneyd back?”    

The question should be:     

“Why would we not seriously investigate every possible option before losing an existing educational site forever?”     

Sneyd is there.
It has history.
It has space.
It has facilities.
And, importantly, it has the potential to become something very different from what it was before.

SNEYD COULD HAVE A NEW PURPOSE  

The future of Sneyd does not necessarily have to mean simply recreating the school that existed before 2011.  
There is an opportunity to consider something much more ambitious.
Sneyd could potentially become a pinnacle SEND and specialist education provision, designed around children who require additional support and facilities that mainstream schools may not always be able to provide.
This could include specialist staff, therapy provision and a dedicated onsite physiotherapy team. 
But there is another possibility that deserves serious consideration:
educational rehabilitation.
Children in mainstream education can sometimes face major surgery, serious injuries or periods of physical rehabilitation that temporarily make it extremely difficult to attend their normal school.     

A child recovering from major surgery, for example, may temporarily require a wheelchair or specialist accessibility arrangements that their existing mainstream school may not be able to provide.    

That should not automatically mean that the child has to remain at home and lose valuable education.

A suitably designed Sneyd provision could potentially provide a temporary educational environment where children can continue their education while receiving the support required during recovery.  

With appropriate NHS and EDUCATIONAL  partnerships, onsite physiotherapy could also potentially reduce unnecessary journeys to hospital for routine rehabilitation sessions.

This would not be about replacing existing schools or NHS services.

It would be about asking whether education and specialist support can work together to fill gaps currently experienced by families.  

LOCAL TRESPASSERS NEED TO STOP.            

Over the last couple of weeks, social media has been flooded with wannabe “urban explorers” entering Sneyd School.
But let’s be clear, what is happening here is not exploration.
Urban exploration, whatever people’s views on trespassing may be, is generally about discovering and documenting abandoned places while treating them with respect.
What is happening at Sneyd is different.      

VANDALISM.
DAMAGE.
DISRESPECT. 

This is a school I am trying to help bring back into use for education and the wider community.
Yet people are treating the site like a playground or public park, causing damage to a place that already needs protecting.  

Security has been put in place to protect the site, yet some people appear to think that security is something to mock or simply ignore.  

HOW CAN ANYONE EXPECT A SCHOOL TO HAVE A FUTURE IF IT IS DAMAGED?  

If you genuinely want to see Sneyd given another chance,  whether that means MAINSTREAM education, SEND provision, community use, or another positive future. Then the first thing we need is respect for the building and the site.
So if these are your children, your friends, or young people you know:  

TELL THEM STRAIGHT.                                                
STAY AWAY FROM SNEYD!                    

Don’t break in.                                                                       Don’t vandalise it.                                                                Don’t damage it.                                                                    Don’t treat it like a park.

SNEYD HAS ALREADY LOST ENOUGH. 
Let’s not allow further damage to become another reason why people say the site cannot be saved.  

IF WE WANT SNEYD TO HAVE A FUTURE, WE HAVE TO PROTECT IT NOW!  

MAINSTREAM AND SEND, BOTH MATTER
Walsall must stop treating MAINSTREAM and SEND education as competing priorities.
Both matter equally.
Children in mainstream education deserve sufficient local school places. And so do SEND students.  

“I refuse to pick one over the other.”

#WestMidlandsEducation #WalsallSchools
#WestMidlandsEducation #BloxwichSchools #SecondaryEducation #WalsallSEND

SEND children deserve specialist facilities designed around their needs. 
I do not agree on placing children with “SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS” to be put in derelict shops, buildings or out of sight out of mind!

These are someone’s child , and deserve the same respect as all!

Families should not have to choose which group receives investment.

The answer must be to look at the whole picture and create sufficient provision for the next generation. 

THE PRESSURE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACES
Walsall, Bloxwich and the surrounding communities need sufficient local secondary school options. 
I’ve spoken to heads of schools, I see!
Where existing schools are operating at or close to capacity, children can end up travelling further away from their communities.

For families, this can mean lengthy journeys, multiple buses and significant walking distances.
Education should not become a postcode lottery where the location of a child's home determines whether they can access an appropriate school without a difficult daily journey.

And take a minute to think of the Teachers , being put in circumstances that is overwhelming. Teachers are human too you know!

The proposed Windsor Apollo Academy is therefore an important part of the wider discussion.

A new secondary school could provide additional capacity and represents a significant investment in Walsall.

That investment should be welcomed.
But it must also be planned alongside the wider needs of the community, including traffic, green space, SEND provision, existing schools and the future demand for places.    

The objective should not be to choose between investment and community concerns. It should be to find a solution that works for Walsall.  

REEDSWOOD PARK AND EDUCATION
The concerns surrounding Reedswood Park and its woodland cannot simply be ignored. #KeepReedswoodGreen
Protecting green space and providing school places should not automatically be treated as opposing causes.
The community needs both.   

The objective should be to find solutions that protect our environment while also giving children the education provision they need.
Difficult decisions can leave communities with wounds that take time to heal.
But education decisions affect children for years to come.
That is why every alternative must be properly investigated before irreversible decisions are made. 

SUPPORTING INVESTMENT IN WALSALL
Walsall should welcome organisations prepared to invest in the borough.
#WindsorAcademyTrust
The proposed Windsor Apollo Academy represents significant investment, and that investment should not be placed at risk unnecessarily.
At the same time, protecting investment does not mean that communities should stop asking difficult questions.
The two positions can exist together:
Support investment.
Protect communities.
Listen to parents.
Protect education.
Find practical solutions.

Anyone who jeopardises genuine educational investment must be challenged.
But so must anyone who believes that a new build automatically solves every educational problem facing Walsall.  

HOUSING CANNOT ALWAYS COME FIRST
Housing is important, don’t get me wrong. First time buys want to get a house start a family… but with house comes families and families need schools!

But if an existing educational site has the potential to provide education, that potential must be properly assessed before the site is permanently lost to another use.   

Once an educational site is demolished and developed, bringing that capacity back becomes considerably more difficult.  

“Once it’s gone! It’s gone!”

The principle should therefore be straightforward:
Children's education must be properly considered before decisions are made that could permanently remove educational opportunities from the community.

STOP ROOMERS AND MISINFORMATION 

The debate surrounding alternative school sites has also demonstrated another problem.
Communities searching desperately for solutions can easily become caught up in rumours, outdated information and assumptions found online.
That does not mean people are deliberately spreading misinformation.
Often, people simply do not have access to the correct information.
Old school names appear online and are placed on lists of potential alternatives without anyone properly investigating whether those sites are actually capable of becoming modern secondary schools.
That needs to change.
Alternative proposals must be based on facts, land availability, facilities, accessibility, planning requirements and the actual needs of modern education.   

MANOR FARM
Manor Farm is regularly mentioned as a potential alternative school site.
But the reality is considerably more complicated.
The former Manor Farm Comprehensive School closed permanently in 2006.
The site was sold in 2017, and was subsequently  repurposed, the former land and the  building becoming a community facility.
That community facility provides valuable services to residents.
It should not simply be expected to disappear so that the site can somehow become a large secondary school again.
Community facilities matter too.
The answer is not to destroy one valuable community resource in order to create another.
The answer is to establish what is actually possible.    

FOREST / HAWBUSH
The former Forest Comprehensive site is another example of why facts matter.
The school closed decades ago and the existing footprint does not simply become suitable for a modern secondary school because the word “school” still appears in historical information online.
A modern secondary school requires appropriate land, buildings, sports provision, safety arrangements, access and traffic management.
Therefore, claims that an old school site can simply be reopened must be properly tested rather than repeated as fact.   

This is not about blaming members of the public for searching for alternatives.
It is about recognising that the public deserves better information.    

THIS IS NOT ABOUT PROTESTS OR PERSONALITIES
This is not about political parties.
It is not about personalities.
It is not about confrontation.
It is not about dividing Walsall against itself.
It is about bringing communities together and putting so-called rivalries aside.
WALSALL IS ONE!
Different communities may have different concerns, but every child deserves access to a good education.
The aim must therefore be to work together rather than constantly fight against one another. 

A TWO-SCHOOL SOLUTION FOR WALSALL AND BLOXWICH
The education crisis requires practical solutions.
One potential approach is a two-school solution for the Walsall/Bloxwich area, combining the benefits of new educational investment with the opportunities presented by existing sites.
The current grant funding for new-build provision should not be opposed.
New schools are necessary.
But additional funding is also required to address the SEND crisis and wider educational pressures currently facing Walsall.
The long-term question should therefore be:
How do we build the education system Walsall will need tomorrow, rather than simply responding to the problems we have today?
Predictions about falling pupil numbers should not automatically end the conversation.
Future planning must consider changing communities, housing, population movement, SEND demand and the actual experiences of parents trying to secure school places.    

SNEYD DOES NOT HAVE TO MEAN “NEVER DEMOLISH”
Protecting Sneyd is what I am known for, but it does not mean refusing to consider every possible future.  

If, ultimately, demolition were ever considered, there would need to be a very clear principle:
Education must be replaced with education.
If Sneyd were to be demolished, it should only be considered alongside a genuine replacement solution that protects educational and community provision.    

One possibility could be a twin-build approach, creating replacement educational provision while maintaining important shared facilities such as sports facilities, the sports hall, the swimming pool and the lake where appropriate.   

The important point is that Walsall should not lose educational capacity without gaining something equal or better in return.    

NOW IS THE TIME FOR A PROPER CONVERSATION
#Walsall
The community does not need another two-minute conversation.
It needs questions.
It needs answers.
It needs evidence.
It needs negotiation.
It needs a plan.     

And it needs decision-makers prepared to sit down with communities properly and work through the problems rather than dealing with them individually.     

Give me the opportunity to have the full conversation, on behalf of the parents. Let me fulfil my WORD I have them.  

Not two minutes.
Not soundbites.
Not assumptions.    

A proper discussion about what Walsall needs.
Allow history’s to be made and treat me as an equal, allow me to address the council chambers. No time limit, just a proper debate that the public wish to see. Someone speaking up for what is needed.      

I will step out, I will speak. But I speak not for Fame, Glory or Self Pity. As this is about Walsall, the Parents , the Students. The mess! Not about me.  
But I will speak up for the right reasons, but I do not Protest! 

PROTECT WHAT WE HAVE — BUILD WHAT WE NEED
The successful campaign to protect Walsall's heritage, including the Leather Museum,
#SaveWalsallLeatherMuseum
Demonstrates what can happen when communities care about their town.
That heritage matters.
The museum matters.
Community facilities matter.
But parents and children matter too.   

Whenever a decision affects education, families can be left in limbo if no alternative provision is properly explained or provided.     

There must be no false choice between heritage and education, between green space and school places, or between mainstream and SEND.
Walsall needs all of them.      

THE MESSAGE IS SIMPLE
There is no single solution to the education pressures facing Walsall, that will cause complications in community's. 
But there are sites, ideas and opportunities that must not be dismissed without proper investigation.
Sneyd is there.
The Apollo investment is there.
The community is here.
The need for SEND provision is here.
The pressure on school places is here.
The opportunity is to bring these issues together and create a long-term strategy.
Not U-turns.
Not short-term decisions.
Not decisions made in isolation.
Instead:
Questions.
Answers.
Evidence.
Working together.
Making a plan.
A long-term education strategy for Walsall and Bloxwich must put children first.     

The community is asking for action, transparency and meaningful engagement.
The answer is not simply to shout out alternatives.
The answer is to research them.
The answer is to establish the facts.
The answer is to stop the rumours and start having serious conversations.      

And the answer is to think about tomorrow, not just today.    

Sneyd is there and waiting. I stand by my School till the end!
The Apollo represents investment in Walsall.
SEND children and MAINSTREAM possibilities…. 

Communities need their voices heard.
And above everything else:  

WALSALL'S NEXT GENERATION DESERVES A PROPER PLAN.      

WALSALL IS ONE!    

Remember that.
Now let's build the education system our children deserve.

Phil Norwood
Campaigner for Sneyd School
2024-Present