The Welney WebsiteProposed closure of William Marshall VC Primary Schoolpage created 29th Apr 2015; last updated Monday, 13 July 2015 |
The Welney WebsiteProposed closure of William Marshall VC Primary Schoolpage created 29th Apr 2015; last updated Monday, 13 July 2015 |
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IntroductionFor several years people have wondered how much longer our local primary school would be able to remain open in view of the small number of pupils. The parish of Welney is not earmarked as a growth area unlike some nearby villages across the County border; indeed at present there are a number of vacant "social" houses in Chestnut Avenue which it is rumoured may be demolished, reducing the chance of increasing the number of potential pupils. It has been suggested that that is due to the policy of our Borough Council - Kings Lynn and West Norfolk.Now, in the Spring of 2015, the various bodies connected with running the school have decided to formally seek views about its future. Below are documents and letters for and against closure. Readers are welcome to send me their comments and these will be posted here; but it is important that those comments should be made known to Norfolk County Council, who will make the ultimate decision, either online (links at bottom of consulation notice) or via meetings locally (see right). I have attempted to make a comphehensive report by gathering together on this one page views of as many affected parties as possible. By contrast, you will not find a single reference (as at 5th May) to the closure on the Parish Council website, nor the official website of the school. And the Parish Council were apparently surprised at the announcement, despite the Chairman of the school governors being a Parish Councillor! Governors letter |
Acknowledgements:
Sources as noted.
Text & design: Peter Cox © 2015 Welney Website. If you wish to add, correct or disagree with anything, please e-mail and you comments will be added.
Public Meetings
23rd Apr, at Parish Hall
19th May, 6pm, at School |
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Consultation NoticeThis is a slightly abridged version of an undated Norfolk County County document.
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Parents Committee viewsPhoto from a Lynn News report, 30th April 2015 A protest meeting organised by parents in the Parish Hall on 22nd April was attended by more than 40 people. The closure proposal has been reported in several local papers. One parent, Brendan Morgan said: “We will be fighting tooth and nail as we want to keep our school open. The school is the heart of the village. It is so important to the whole community."The following statement was received on 5th May from Christie Webb on behalf of the Parents Group:
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Welney Parish Council letter to NCCThe Clerk to Welney Parish Council, Mrs Pat Copeman, has kindly provided this website with a copy of the letter sent on behalf of the Parish Council to Norfolk County Council in response to the NCC consultation document:
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Marshall's CharityThe Charity owns the school building and provides it free of charge to the education authority, Norfolk County Council. The Clerk to the Charity, Mrs Clarke-Jones has kindly obtained the following statement (dated 5th May 2015) for this website from the Chairman of the Charity's Trustees, Mr C.J. Gilbert:
The building is shown on the Charity accounts as a fixed asset with a valuation by the Trustee's of £500,000. |
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Comments by ResidentsIf you would like your views or comments included on this page, please email me, as link at bottom right. |
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Ofsted reports.Several documents above make reference to the latest report, June 2013. The link on the right will display that report in full (10 pages) in a new window or tab in PDF format. |
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Acknowledgements:
Sources as noted.
Text, design and layout: Peter Cox © 2015 Welney Website |
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