THREE C of E primary schools on the Isle of Wight have been marked for closure under proposals to tackle a surplus of almost 1900 school places.
The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, has expressed concern that the “vital and distinctive” offering of such schools could “easily be lost” in the reorganisation.
A press released by the Isle of Wight Council last week announced “major plans to transform Island education to ensure a brighter future for all children and young people”. The surplus of places in primary schools — 1898 school places were unfilled in October 2023 — was set to rise to 3056 by September 2027.
The Council has calculated that, for every empty seat, schools lose more than £4500, affecting resources, opportunities, and the quality of education that children receive. “Surplus places mean schools struggle to maintain a broad and high-quality curriculum,” it said. “Falling rolls also make planning and staffing decisions difficult, with schools potentially having to make year on year redundancies or having to restructure.” Data indicated that the school system on the island “consistently underperforms compared to national trends”.
Among the six schools earmarked for closure — chosen according to criteria that include quality of provision, children’s locations, and financial viability — are three C of E schools. Arreton St George’s and Oakfield schools have both been rated as “requires improvement” by Ofsted, while Brading is rated “good”.
The Council has calculated that hundreds of new specialist places are needed for children with special educational needs and has proposed that five of the six schools’ sites be “repurposed” accordingly.
“I can understand the rationale behind the proposals, but I believe Church of England schools offer something vital and distinctive that could easily be lost,” Bishop Frost said this week. “Our position is clear: if a local authority proposes the closure of a C of E school, we will argue that parents should be offered an alternative C of E school that is easily accessible. . . I am asking clergy across the whole island to walk alongside and support those affected by this uncertainty and stress.”
Councillor Jonathan Bacon said: “None of this is due to any fault of our schools, their leadership teams or staff. The problem stems from the national decline in the birth rate.” By 2027, just 876 children are expected to start reception, down from 1404 in 2018. A report by the Education Policy Institute this year said that, by 2028/29, the Isle of Wight was set to experience the second largest fall in primary school pupils in the country at 23.7 per cent, after Lambeth in London.
The Cabinet was due to yesterday vote on whether or not to begin a consultation on the proposals, with changes not due to take until September next year.