Parents plan school sit-in
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 24th June 1999.
PARENTS whose children attend a special school are planning a sit-in protest over its threatened closure.
Rosemary Andrews, a mother-of-eight, of Bute Court, Haverhill, is among those opposing the planned closure of Oakwood School at Stowmarket. She says other pupils from the Haverhill area also attend the school.
Her son Mark, 14, has attended the residential school for pupils with emotional and behavioural problems for the past two years.
She says he has made great progress at the school and would be in the middle of his GCSEs, if the closure went ahead as planned next July.
Mark has suffered behavioural problems since he was a baby and Mrs Andrews said staff at St Felix Primary School, in Haverhill, tried their hardest to help him but he could not cope with mainstream schooling.
He went on to Hamden House School, at Sudbury, for two years, then tried a mainstream school at Parkway Middle in Haverhill. Since he started at Oakwood, Mark had made great progress, said Mrs Andrews, and she feared this would be lost if he had to leave.
"Mark has got a lot of problems, that is why he went there. He has really come along there and done really well," she said.
"He has come home with awards and certificates for good behaviour, which he would never have done in an ordinary school. There are people there giving him the time that he needs and could not get in a mainstream school.
"I am very angry about it, Mark is happy there. He has friends and he is doing well. They are having a parents’ meeting, but it is not much use to people like me who cannot get there."
Mrs Andrews said a parents’ action group had been formed and she and other members were now planning to hold a sit-in at the school to protest. Frances James, special education manager for Suffolk County Council, said the closure was not definite. It was a proposal that was being considered.
Consultations with parents, teachers, unions, schools around Suffolk and other groups would be reported back to the council’s Executive Committee in October before a decision was made.
Mrs James said the proposal was to close Oakwood, which recently had an unfavourable Ofsted report, and open a new school which would have day, as well as just residential, provision.
The aim was to offer provision close to pupils’ homes and give support so most could live at home. A second public meeting will be held at Stowmarket High School on July 15.
Rosemary Andrews, a mother-of-eight, of Bute Court, Haverhill, is among those opposing the planned closure of Oakwood School at Stowmarket. She says other pupils from the Haverhill area also attend the school.
Her son Mark, 14, has attended the residential school for pupils with emotional and behavioural problems for the past two years.
She says he has made great progress at the school and would be in the middle of his GCSEs, if the closure went ahead as planned next July.
Mark has suffered behavioural problems since he was a baby and Mrs Andrews said staff at St Felix Primary School, in Haverhill, tried their hardest to help him but he could not cope with mainstream schooling.
He went on to Hamden House School, at Sudbury, for two years, then tried a mainstream school at Parkway Middle in Haverhill. Since he started at Oakwood, Mark had made great progress, said Mrs Andrews, and she feared this would be lost if he had to leave.
"Mark has got a lot of problems, that is why he went there. He has really come along there and done really well," she said.
"He has come home with awards and certificates for good behaviour, which he would never have done in an ordinary school. There are people there giving him the time that he needs and could not get in a mainstream school.
"I am very angry about it, Mark is happy there. He has friends and he is doing well. They are having a parents’ meeting, but it is not much use to people like me who cannot get there."
Mrs Andrews said a parents’ action group had been formed and she and other members were now planning to hold a sit-in at the school to protest. Frances James, special education manager for Suffolk County Council, said the closure was not definite. It was a proposal that was being considered.
Consultations with parents, teachers, unions, schools around Suffolk and other groups would be reported back to the council’s Executive Committee in October before a decision was made.
Mrs James said the proposal was to close Oakwood, which recently had an unfavourable Ofsted report, and open a new school which would have day, as well as just residential, provision.
The aim was to offer provision close to pupils’ homes and give support so most could live at home. A second public meeting will be held at Stowmarket High School on July 15.
Comment on this story
[board listing] [login] [register]
You must be logged in to post messages. (login now)