We did the same shake-up with OUR schools

IT WOULD have been a miracle of epic proportions if Bradford's schools shake-up had run without a hitch.

The project to get rid of middle schools and bring the district's education system into the 21st Century was the biggest ever undertaken by the authority.

And the sheer scale of it: closing 74 schools and disrupting the education of 84,000 children at a cost of £170 million was always going to cause heartache.

But in March, 1999 when Education Secretary David Blunkett gave his seal of approval, the problems were only just beginning.

By September, confusion over contracts meant that insufficient numbers of temporary classrooms were delivered to first schools growing into primary schools.

When the classrooms did arrive, few had running water or toilets, some were badly kitted out or inappropriate for lessons.

At Denholme Primary, Haworth Primary, Ingrove Primary and St Phillips Primary, head teachers were told to block off fire exits which were up to five feet off the ground outside until steps had arrived.

This year, the council revealed that many primary and secondary schools would be forced to house pupils in more temporary classrooms as work to extend or improve schools would not be finished.

The problems with bricks and mortar aside, human resources are still not sorted.

There are an estimated 226 teachers, 150 caretakers, cleaners and administrative staff plus support assistants who have not yet been placed in new jobs.

Finance has been an ongoing headache with the Council admitting in December that it was £47 million short of the total needed to execute the reorganisation.

Earlier this month, the Government agreed a finance package to bail it out and bridge the gap.

But, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The final part of the reorganisation will swing into effect in September when the last group of pupils at middle schools will take up their desks at secondary schools.

Bradford will then officially have a two-tier system of schools for children aged four to 11 and for those aged 11-18.

By 2002, parents and schools have been promised that every last brick will have been laid in the massive capital building programme. Elsewhere in the country the message is the same - that although change is not always comfortable, it is usually necessary.

In Surrey, the first lot of children who entered secondary schools at the age of 11 under the county's shake-up have just sat their GCSEs.

Steve Clarke, the architect of the reorganisation claims it paid off with better exam results, less children being sent to school outside the district and more parental satisfaction with schools.

About 40 schools were closed for good, leaving 425 remaining. In Bradford, 76 are due to close, including those such as Bowling Community College, which will be taken over by the church.

Mr Clarke said that there were many protests about the closure of individual school and the scheme was not without problems. "More than once, County Hall was besieged by angry parents, although in the end most people grudgingly admit that we did the right thing," he said.

However, Steve Palmer, the chairman of governors at Barnwood Primary in Guildford, painted a less rosy picture.

His school is due for closure because the council got its sums wrong in calculating admission numbers.

The situation mirrors what is happening in Baildon where Ferniehurst Primary is to be closed because officers had overestimated how many places would be needed.

"The most important thing is for the authority to be very careful and to get its numbers right. It must have a long term vision and stick to it," said Mr Palmer.

Surrey

The stress and hassle of schools reorganisation is worth it in the end, according to the architect of a large-scale shake-up in the south of England.

Surrey County Council has spent the last decade re-shaping its education system to the same two-tier model as Bradford.

Steve Clarke, the officer who led the reorganisation, said all the hard work had paid off.

"Our experience is that it was worth it," said Mr Clarke, the Deputy Director of Education Surrey.

"It gave us the opportunity to invest in schools. We have seen an increase in standards and there has been a big improvement in the confidence parents have in the education system.

"We have stopped the export of children to schools in neighbouring boroughs and improved the viability of many schools.

"Before we had many schools that were under-subscribed and now most are oversubscribed."

Surrey began talking about dispensing with its middle schools in 1989. After years of consultation, the plan was finally approved by the Government in 1994.

The shake-up cost just £31 million - a fraction of the £170 million estimated to complete Bradford's.

It is a difference Mr Clarke attributes to inflation and the fact that Surrey has many newer school buildings than Bradford, which were easier to adapt.

He estimates that the shake-up has enabled the council to save £2 million a year.

None of the 7,000 teachers involved in the shake-up was subject to compulsory redundancy, said Mr Clarke.

"It is a proud boast that we didn't have to make one teacher redundant," he added.

Mr Clarke feels the real beneficiaries are the students. In the last few years GCSE and A-level results have rocketed.

Oxford

Last month the fate of ten middle schools in the city of Oxford was sealed.

Oxfordshire County Council decided to move ahead and reorganise the only portion of the county where the three-tier system remained.

If Education Secretary David Blunkett gives his stamp of approval, the face of education in Oxford will have changed by 2003.

The plan is to reduce the number of upper schools from six to five, close ten middle schools and reduce the number of primary schools by one from 29.

About 14,400 children will be affected by the sweeping change which will bring Oxford into line with the rest of the county.

John Mitchell, assistant chief education officer at the council, said the move was driven by a number of factors.

"We felt that schools in the city were not achieving as well as schools in the rest of the county where there is a two-tier system."

A three-tier system of first, middle and upper was, like in Bradford, felt not to fit in with the National Curriculum. Middle schools had also experienced problems recruiting teachers.

A year ago, the county council invested in an independent report to investigate the correlation between performance and structure.

"The results were not clear cut," explained Mr Mitchell. "There was nothing conclusive, but the members felt that to bring the city into line with the rest of the county was desirable, so the matter was put out to public consultation."

It was not all plain sailing and Mr Mitchell admitted that parents and governors at middle schools had fought a high-profile campaign against closure.

A poll of parents conducted by MORI revealed ambivalent feelings.

The reorganisation is still in its early stages and final costs have not yet been worked out. Oxfordshire County Council is next to publish formal notices and then, after a period of further consultation, the whole matter will be referred to Mr Blunkett for his approval.

Tyneside

A completely different approach to the schools shake-up has been taken in the north-east.

In North Tyneside, part of Tyne and Wear, middle schools are being gradually edged out rather than closed in one fell swoop.

The borough has been split into nine sets of pyramids - schools with a strong bond clustered around a distinct geographical area.

The council has decided to look at each area individually and assess whether a two-tier system would work there. As each area is analysed and given the go-ahead, primary and secondary schools are established and middle schools closed. The review then moves on to a different area.

"Above all we wanted continuity and stability," said a spokesman for North Tyneside Council. "The aim was for everyone to know what was happening and to cause as little disruption for the children as possible."

So far, only three middle schools have been axed. A number of years ago, a pilot scheme set the ball rolling and in May 1998, the council announced that it would pursuing the same model for the rest of the district.

Consultation was the by-word for the shake-up. "We have sent out questionnaires to parents, held meetings with staff and governors and established focus groups."

Uniquely, the council appointed an independent commission to examine the pros and cons of reorganisation. The ongoing commission is chaired by a former Government education advisor.

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