Part 139. A sorry tale.

Some years ago I was a governor at my local Church of England Aided Infant School and also held a governorship at the Church of England Controlled Junior School.  The then vicar more or less insisted he should chair both governing bodies.  The junior school had problems and a proposed merger failed when the infant school governors refused to countenance such a step.

Roll forward a few years. The schools merged but problems persisted. Then the governors, including the new vicar, resigned en bloc stating they were unable to implement county council directives. Thus important links between church, school and community were damaged.

The county council and diocese imposed governors of their choosing. This month an OFSTED inspection report downgraded the school from 'good' to 'needs improvement'.

Many parents in my locality prefer their children to attend any primary school so long as it is not the local one. The recent OFSTED report will have stiffened parental opposition to sending children to the school. I fear for the future of the school, particularly as the county council is proposing to close the Surestart provision based on the school site.

It is a sad tale and an example of the church withdrawing from the community. The church has its own financial problems to contend with and it can ill afford to withdraw from its responsibilities to the school and community.