Tamworth Save Our Schools Campaign

Tamworth Herald Save Our Schools Campaign Download the petition from here, get as many signatures as you can and post back to Stratique by the 30th September. Alternatively call 0845 226 3095 and we can collect them from you. Stratique Supports Save Our Schools Campaign Stratique Marketing and PR, based in Amington is urging all local businesses to show their support for the Tamworth Herald’s Save Our Schools campaign. £100 million in funding has been withdrawn by the Government leaving our children with inadequate facilities. It is important that we do not underestimate the effect that this will have on local enterprise. These children will be our workforce and new business owners. Without the facilities necessary for a proper education, we are denying our children the opportunity to realise their full potential. Andrew Wilson, Managing Director, Stratique Marketing and PR said “As a parent and a business owner in Tamworth we are calling on all businesses in the area to help support the Herald in its campaign to save our Tamworth schools. It is so important that we make sure our children have the best possible start in life. After all these are the future employees of Tamworth businesses and potentially our future entrepreneurs. The parents, teachers and school heads have all been lobbying to secure the funding our children need to fulfil their potential and we all owe it to them to show our support. All you need to do is download the petition and get as many signatures as you can and post it to us in Amington. Alternatively call us to arrange collection and we will ensure it gets presented to our MP for representation. Stratique have all been busy canvassing local businesses to sign the petition. It is not too late for your business to get involved. As an extra incentive, we are offering the businesses who gain the most signatures a free Marketing and PR workshop worth £480. Simply send your completed petitions to Save Our Schools, Stratique Marketing and PR, 9 Amber Business Village, Amington, Tamworth, B77 4RP by Thursday 30^th September. Stratique will be presenting the completed petitions to Christopher Pincher MP at 2.30pm Friday 1^st October outside the Town Hall. Why we have launched the Save Our Schools campaign? The Save Our School campaign has been launched by the Herald, in partnership with Tamworth’s high school leaders and Staffordshire County Council, in response to the collapse of the Building Schools for the Future programme. The scheme was set to bring £100 million of investment into the borough. The vital cash injection would have radically transformed secondary education. Plans for the town, under BSF, included transforming Woodhouse High School into a privately-run academy and the creation of a post-16 centre to serve the entire town, both to be housed in new buildings. Existing single-school sixth forms would be phased out. Wilnecote, QEMS, Rawlett and Belgrave high schools were also due to undergo massive redevelopment. But the Government’s decision to axe the BSF programme means only the £65 million post-16 centre and academy – both to be managed by the Landau Forte Charitable Trust – will continue as scheduled The critical cash boost that was expected at Rawlett, QEMS, Belgrave and Wilnecote has been withdrawn. This leaves us with a two-tier education system, where some pupils enjoy the benefits of a brand-new school, while others put up with unacceptable conditions. That is why the headteachers of Tamworth’s secondary, primary, junior and infant schools have joined our Save Our Schools campaign. The campaign is not about politics behind the decisions which that have left Tamworth’s schools in this shocking situation. We simply want to put it right. There is funding available. And we are calling on the Government to review the Tamworth case and give our schools the £42million they desperately need – an amount which is considerably less than was promised. We have only a matter of weeks to make our voices heard. And we need your help! Petitions have gone out to parents across the town. Secondary students will be manning stands in and around the town calling for support from residents and local businesses. We are asking you to sign their petitions or the form printed here. If you can, collect signatures. The petition will be presented by Tamworth MP Christopher Pincher to Education Minister Michael Gove at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham next month. The more names we can add to our petition, the harder it will be to ignore. What each school needs… The vision for Wilnecote High School.... “As a school Wilnecote is always looking to improve the quality of its provision,” said Wilnecote head Stuart Tonks. “We want to promote and encourage creative and varied learning in an exciting 21st century learning environment. “For this we need well designed, bigger and more versatile classrooms and facilities. “At the moment we simply do not have this. “If we are given the BSF funding we deserve we can ensure that the young people and wider learning community of Wilnecote are able to benefit from high quality learning in high quality facilities.” How the BSF funding would have been used to improve Rawlett’s facilities... “The design of Rawlett limits internal structural change and expansion,” headteacher Tim Bassett said. “The fabric of our building is reasonable but the BSF plans would have significantly increased flexible use of the space. “The dining room at Rawlett is extremely small and provides challenges every day. “We hoped to spread dining facilities around the school to allow students to eat in a more civilised environment. “We also planned to utilise the two outside quads to enable us to extend learning spaces beyond the classrooms. “With BSF in mind we have started to develop our three-year curriculum plans to support the transformational agenda and ensure long-term efficiency of the education system. With no investment these radical plans need to be reviewed and new time frames established. “This will undoubtedly have an effect on the planned changes to teaching and will compromise outcomes for our students. “Importantly, BSF would have upgraded our ICT infrastructure and equipment to support learning and enable all Tamworth students a competitive start in life. “We currently have a rolling programme of replacement but I doubt we will ever be in a position to provide equipment and resources to a standard equivalent to that the BSF programme would have provided. The crisis at QEMS.... “QEMS has sacrificed most to let this project run – it now finds itself in a unique and potentially vulnerable position,” explained school head Mike York. “Key to the Local Authority (Staffordshire County Council) plan, is the building of the Landau Forte Academy and sixth form college. “QEMS agreed, advised by the Local Authority, to allow the demolition of existing facilities – the school gymnasium, tennis courts and changing rooms have been demolished and a major access road and car-parking spaces removed. “Although there has been some compensation in the short-term, it does not make up for the promise of replacement facilities in a new school. “Students and teachers are working on a campus which has been turned into a building site as this sixth form centre project progresses.” BSF and Belgrave High School... “While the news had not come as a surprise, it was nonetheless a ‘hammer blow’ to the school,” said Simon Turney. “My greatest concern is the inequality that would exist in Tamworth given that the new academy is being be built, providing 21st century facilities for some but leaving the vast majority without such advantages. “This is be particularly damaging in the area of ICT, although Belgrave has, fortunately, invested heavily in this area over recent years. “It’s my desire that the BSF programme review for Tamworth should be given special consideration and that it delivers value for money, tackle disadvantage and improve opportunities.” The plans for Kettlebrook Short Stay School included: - A dedicated space for student counselling; one-to-one work with the student and their families; a meeting point for external agencies to work in partnership in a planned coordinated way to ensure each student and their families get the most appropriate help and support in a caring and encouraging dedicated area. - An IT infrastructure where each student had access to current IT applications which would shape their economic futures. - A multi-gym space giving each student the opportunity to actively participate in healthy lifestyle options. - The redesign of some existing classrooms, corridors and new learning environments to support one to one learning. - A larger food technology space for students to learn life skills and facilities for young mums-to-be to learn by actively looking after electronically programmed babies. Schools supporting the campaign… Tamworth headteachers supporting the Save Our Schools campaign are: Secondary Leaders Belgrave High School – Simon Turney Kettlebrook Short Stay School – Kirsty Rogers QEMS – Mike York Rawlett High School – Tim Bassett Two Rivers High School – Vicky Vernon Wilnecote High School – Stuart Tonks Primary, Junior and Infant Leaders Amington Heath Primary – Oliver Fordham Ankermoor Primary – Norah Rowley Ashcroft Infants – Marylin Demain Birds Bush Primary – Sharon Barnes Coton Green Primary – Jane Hollis Three Peaks Primary – Wendy Lees Dosthill Primary – Tony Hand Flax Hill Junior – Richard Lane Florendine Primary – Tom Lloyd Greenacres Primary – Andy Goodeve Glascote Heath Primary – Nicky Poore Hanbury’s Farm Primary – Peter Hollis Heathfields Infants – Mandy Wilkinson Howard Primary – Carol Eyley Lakeside Primary – Tess Vigus Millfield Primary – Paul Moon Moorgate Primary – Gina McKay Oakhill Primary – Ian Melloy St Andrew’s CE Primary – Jule Bullous St Gabriel’s RC Primary – John Hayes St Leonard’s CE Primary – Viv Wild. Stoneydelph Primary – Jenny Wallbank Thomas Barnes Primary – Jonathan Baker Two Gates – Nest Llewelyn-Cook Two Rivers Primary School – Vicky Vernon William MacGregor Primary – Gary Staddon Wilnecote Junior – Jonathan Keay Woodlands Primary – Mike Dagnan Headteachers at all schools in Tamworth borough were approached by the Herald.