Paddocks County Primary School, Newmarket, Suffolk

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Save Paddocks Now! TV

As part of the Schools Organisation Review Suffolk County Council proposed to close Paddocks Primary School to create a massive new school for 420 pupils + a pre-school on Houldsworth Valley’s Rowley Drive site.

We believed that the proposal to close such a strong and successful school as Paddocks in an attempt to deal with uncertainty in pupil rolls at other schools is not justified and would present a very high risk that standards of education would fall. The proposal would also result in further traffic, congestion and safety problems in the Rowley Drive area.

THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION HAS ENDED

Decision day 5^th Feb 2009

WE HAVE SAVED PADDOCKS PRIMARY SCHOOL !!!

ACTION The consultation period has ended BUT THE FIGHT GOES ON UNTIL 5^th FEB Let’s get "Save Paddocks Primary" to number 1. DOWNLOAD our single "Let’s Make A Noise" from iTunes for 79p today…! Click picture for link to iTunes store		NEWS 12/02/09 – Rosalind Turner – Director for Children and Young Peoples Services at Suffolk County Council has resigned and will be moving to Kent County Council……….could this be because of the proposed changes to the structure of local councils and the uncertainty this has created????…….a bit like scrapping the middle schools, but she has assured people that teachers will not leave….!!!!! 05/02/09 Suffolk County Council approved their recommendations for schools in stage 2 of the SOR. Jeremy Pembroke, leader of the council, stated that he was never convinced about the merger…… We wrote, we e-mailed, we compiled our own survey, we attended meetings, we sang, we marched, we made a "big letter", we said "Don’t Eat Your Words!", we did not relent and we SAVED PADDOCKS PRIMARY SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!! – Well done everyone!! 28/01/09 – It is looking very likely that the Cabinet will approve the recommendation to keep Paddocks open at the Cabinet meeting on 5^th February. The East Anglian Daily times has today quoted Patricia O’Brien, portfolio holder for Children and Young People’s Services (and Cabinet member with a casting vote) as saying that "It is important for us to listen to genuine objections……..it is not recommended that the merger is pursued". It’s Good News, But Has The Message Really Got Through???? The published papers which appeared on the Suffolk County Council website yesterday wash over some of our concerns. Their analysis contains vast swathes of letters and e-mails arguing that the merger would result in a fall in standards and limit parental choice BUT the only real objection that Suffolk County Council have acknowledged in their recommendation is the fact that there was no support for the "merged" school to be on the Houldsworth Valley site. Read our letters again Suffolk County Council………….we want Paddocks as it is, where it is, not "merged" now, not "merged" in the future. 27/01/09 – Council advisors have recommended that the Cabinet reject the proposal to close and merge Paddocks Primary School. The Cabinet papers were published today and they state: 4. The preferred option of amalgamating Paddocks and Houldsworth Valley school to offer pupils the benefit of a larger school, with a different set of governance arrangements which would attract more capital investment, received very little support from parents, staff and governors of Paddocks school, although the governing body of Houldsworth Valley school did support the proposal. 5. Arguments against the amalgamation included a reduction in parental preference, concerns over the size of the proposed new school, traffic implications of more children accessing the Houldsworth Valley site, and the practicalities of amalgamating the schools. 6. It is important for cabinet to listen to genuine objections to proposals for change, and to test these against the County Council's agreed principles for school organisation as Cabinet did for Lowestoft and Haverhill. The major factor against the amalgamation, tested by these principles, would seem to be the siting of the proposed new school on the current Houldsworth Valley site. Consequently, it is not recommended to go ahead with the amalgamation at this stage, and that the alternative of extending both schools to form separate one form entry (30 places per year group) primary schools is agreed by cabinet. Schools of this size and age range are consistent with the school organisation principles. It is very unlikely that the Cabinet will vote against this recommendation so it looks very likely that we have saved Paddocks Primary School – Well done to everyone!!!!!! Hurrah!!!!!!! 25/01/09 – Keep your eye on Suffolk County Council’s website (see links above) this week. The analysis of the consultation and the recommendations which will be put to the cabinet vote on 5^th Feb should be published this week………we will find out if they have been listening! 23/01/09 – Newmarket Town Council will be holding a meeting on Thursday 29^th January at the memorial hall at 6.30 pm. Representatives from Suffolk County Council will be present and the public are invited to discuss current Suffolk County Council disasters in Newmarket ..i.e the School Organisation Review, Clock Tower, Waitrose Junction etc. This will probably be the last opportunity to directly address the council before they make their decisions on 5^th Feb……….please attend if you can.. 13/01/09 – Representatives from Save Paddocks Now received a warm welcome at Endeavour House in Ipswich and handed eight boxes of plates and messages and a cake over to Jane Storey the Deputy Leader of the Council. When told by a three year old "Don’t close our school" Jane answered "We are not going to" and also stated that they were not going to close any primary schools. The consultation booklet states that: "Amalgamation could be achieved through the closure of both Paddocks and Houldsworth Valley Primary Schools and a competition to establish a new school." We can take it then that the merger will not be going ahead……? 11/01/09 – The Don’t Eat Your Words paper plate appeal went well. The East Anglian Daily Times, The Journal and the Cambridge Evening News took photographs. 08/01/09 – The deputy leader of Suffolk County Council Jane Storey has agreed to meet us at 5 pm on Tuesday 13^th January at Endeavour House in Ipswich. This means that we can pick up from school and arrive in time…..for directions to Endeavour House click here 08/01/09 – Don’t Eat Your Words – Monday 12^th January at 3.15 pm in the hall. Please come along…children will be colouring plates and parents can sign campaign postcards. They will be taken to Endeavour House by us on Tuesday 13^th January and handed to the Deputy Leader of the Council…….On Monday PLEASE DO NOT GO THROUGH RECEPTION – use side doors….Thank You J 08/01/09 – Although the Journal today stated that the SOR presentation to Cabinet is on 4^th Feb, We can confirm that the public meeting where the decision will be made will be on Thursday 5^th February at 1.30 pm at Endeavour House in Ipswich. 07/01/09 – Event to tell the Cabinet "Don’t Eat Your Words on 5^th Feb" planned at Paddocks for Monday 12^th Jan (TBC). The children will be colouring in paper plates and there will be pre-printed postcards for parents to sign. A member of the Cabinet has agreed to take receipt of the plates and postcards from us at Suffolk County Council HQ in Ipswich on 13^th January………..more details to follow…it will probably be straight after school on Monday……… 06/01/09 – Jeremy Pembroke, Suffolk County Council leader has stated in an e-mail that No decision has been made about Paddocks and that the decision will be based on responses from the consultation. 28/12/08 – Council steam roller proposals to force pupils from Clare to attend secondary Schools in Haverhill despite the fact that a proposal to create a community college in Clare similar to those in Cambridgeshire was backed by local schools, councils and 1,200 families who sent letters supporting the project. Read the story here : http://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/news/Clare-college-fight-goes-to.4818702.jp Conclusion – The council are not listening to views expressed during public consultation. WE HAVE GOT TO KEEP THE PRESSURE ON – CONTACT THE CABINET. 16/12/08 Two year 4 pupils will have their report on the recording of our campaign CD published on the CBBC Newsround website…..well done to them! 16/12/08 The public "con"sultation has now ended. But the fight goes on until 5^th Feb….contact the Cabinet. 08/12/08 Forest Heath District Council have tonight voted to reject the consultation document and all school closures. All Councillors except Lisa Chambers voted against Suffolk County Councils proposals. Councillor Chambers who is also a Cabinet member at Suffolk County Council abstained at this meeting. Lisa Chambers will cast one of the deciding votes at the Suffolk County Council Cabinet meeting on 5^th Feb (see contact the decision makers – above)
		08/12/08 The online e-petition is now closed with 362 signatures.
Whilst we are at it let’s also help to save St Felix. Sign the e-petition here: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveStFelix/ And Brecklands in Brandon: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/save-bms/		03/12/08 The location for the Cabinet meeting on the 5^th Feb 2009 at 1.30 pm where the decision will be made has been confirmed as: Council Chamber, Endeavour House, Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX . The public gallery capacity is 30 with a video link to an extra 50 seats. If you are planning on attending please e-mail info@paddocksmuststayopen.co.uk We may need it to be moved to a larger venue!