shevans Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 Closing Skerries School that is delivering an excellent education, and saving no money. This could only happen in Shetland??It will heavily impact the whole if Skerries, population, jobs and house values are just a few. Grab a few spare primary aged children and get them on Papa Stour, then the real issue of education vs cost will really surface from the SIC educational department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 Closing Skerries School that is delivering an excellent education, and saving no money. This could only happen in Shetland??Well they say closing Skerries Secondary will save £73,000 which I presume is meant to be the savings per year. They also say that the Skerries kids will get a better education in Lerwick. If they are telling lies then maybe we could see even greater savings by sacking them without compensation. But this is not yet a decision. Full council tomorrow will make that subject of course to anything the Scottish Government might do. For myself if I was faced with making this decision as well as looking closely at the figures and alternatives such as remote learning I would really like to hear what the three kids plus perhaps the older ones in Skerries primary had to say when out of earshot of their parents and both teachers and council officials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papastour Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) The children of Skerries have spoken without parents or council workers around to the BBC Shetland reporter (Mike) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/10509305/Tiny-island-community-fights-to-save-Britains-smallest-secondary-school.html They also voted to keep the school open when the SIC closed all the other schools because of the weather forecast. They obviously value their school and love it. Edited December 10, 2013 by papastour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crofter Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 petition here if anybody wants to sign it tonight... https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/shetland-islands-council-save-out-skerries-secondary-school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 The children of Skerries have spoken without parents or council workers around to the BBC Shetland reporter (Mike) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/10509305/Tiny-island-community-fights-to-save-Britains-smallest-secondary-school.html They also voted to keep the school open when the SIC closed all the other schools because of the weather forecast. They obviously value their school and love it. Well of course Fair Isle and Foula survive without secondary schools as did Papa Stour and as does Fetlar. And I am sure perceived wisdom among education experts is that bigger is better (up to a point). But if the plan for 2 year secondary schools goes ahead that could leave Skerries with 1 pupil or even none. Meanwhile being quoted on the BBC really does not guarantee free speech from the Skerries kids. If I had to decide tomorrow my heart would say "keep Skerries open" and my mind might well decide I needed to be anywhere other than the council chamber tomorrow. Might vote for the 2 year option. Sorry I do not think the petition will do much good. What are needed are new facts such as the perceived saving being wrong and someone of at least as great a standing as the last "expert" to say that the last report was rubbish when comparing the education offered in their own local school to that offered when having to stay at the AHS Hall of Residence........yes it is no more a hostel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crofter Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 JustMe, I agree that the petition will likely not make any difference, but at least it is a way to express your opposition, if that is your view. "I think it's a bad idea to shut my school. The bad things about going to the Anderson High School would be travel. At the moment, ferries from Skerries on Fridays haven't been going due to weather conditions. These weather conditions are serious and this is only October. Imagine going on the ferry later on in the winter! I have previously been on school outings and stayed in the Janet Courtney Hostel. I didn't like it. I enjoy staying in Skerries, I sometimes go to Lerwick at the weekends and I enjoy it, but to be there all the time is not viable for me." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Well that is it!. The powers that be have decided and only the Scottish Government can change things. So I had a few thoughts. Like is it so bad to stay at the Halls of Residence in the week and go home at weekends. Remember that a lot of the members of the UK government went to public schools where they went there before term started and came home when it ended. And of course some went to prep school which meant they were even younger leaving home. Fair number of the opposition had the same educational experience as did lots of civil servants. So I think saying that closing the school will wreck home life may well fall on deaf ears. As will talking about the bairns getting sea sick. Got a couple of options there. Move to somewhere without any sea or home educate. Families are going to leave?. Bet others would be happy to move there and would even be delighted to lose the older kids during the week. Need the help of the kids on the croft?. Hire an eastern European and pay proper wages. Does that sound terrible?. Well it is not exactly how I feel but the sort of things are going to be raised by those in favour of closure so those who want to keep the secondary department open need answers to this sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian.smith Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 (edited) Well that is it!. The powers that be have decided and only the Scottish Government can change things. So I had a few thoughts. Like is it so bad to stay at the Halls of Residence in the week and go home at weekends. Remember that a lot of the members of the UK government went to public schools where they went there before term started and came home when it ended. And of course some went to prep school which meant they were even younger leaving home. Fair number of the opposition had the same educational experience as did lots of civil servants. So I think saying that closing the school will wreck home life may well fall on deaf ears. As will talking about the bairns getting sea sick. Got a couple of options there. Move to somewhere without any sea or home educate. Families are going to leave?. Bet others would be happy to move there and would even be delighted to lose the older kids during the week. Need the help of the kids on the croft?. Hire an eastern European and pay proper wages. Does that sound terrible?. Well it is not exactly how I feel but the sort of things are going to be raised by those in favour of closure so those who want to keep the secondary department open need answers to this sort of thing.I think most folks involved will not really care about how the posh brigade coped with boarding school as it was their parents choice,Why should they move there was a school there when they got there.The last point is laughable. Do you see great profit margins on a croft which would allow paying a wage and why eastern european Edited December 12, 2013 by brian.smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I think most folks involved will not really care about how the posh brigade coped with boarding school as it was their parents choice,Why should they move there was a school there when they got there.The last point is laughable. Do you see great profit margins on a croft which would allow paying a wage and why eastern european No Brian, I do not think that the people of Skerries will care much about the posh brigade at boarding schools but to an extent the posh brigade will make the decisions. But my posting warns about the sort of attitude that Skerries folk will have to overcome if they are to win. And why an East European?......well supposedly they are the only ones prepared to work hard in the UK for the minimum wage. Well apart from crofters who work hard for less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ll Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 A bit of a shame this for Skerries, but one wonders if the high level of costs for providing services for outlying islands will need to be severely trimmed if they can be justified in the long term or it's going to be death by a thousand cuts. If you take a return ferry journey to Skerries for a car and driver, it is having to be subsidised beyond the fare to the tune of £790. You could go on an all inclusive cruise for this kind of money. I don't know what the two planes and infrastructure and Tingwall airport cost for providing 4 return plane services in addition to the ferry runs, but if SIC is running the show, it will not be cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papastour Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Names have been changed to protect identity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43OFjvTiNDg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Names have been changed to protect identity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43OFjvTiNDgWhat Names? I see Adolph Hitler, German Staff Officers and others wearing SS insignia. Didn't bother watching (or listening) to it as I don't think that it is particularly relevant but, is this a very lame attempt to label modern day equivalents a Nazi Fascists? Explain..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unlinkedstudent Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 That German translator should be sacked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckleJoannie Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Names have been changed to protect identity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43OFjvTiNDgWhat Names? I see Adolph Hitler, German Staff Officers and others wearing SS insignia. Didn't bother watching (or listening) to it as I don't think that it is particularly relevant but, is this a very lame attempt to label modern day equivalents a Nazi Fascists? Explain..... Being married to a teacher I think that video explains a lot about how the Curriculm for Excellence came about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted December 18, 2013 Report Share Posted December 18, 2013 Being married to a teacher I think that video explains a lot about how the Curriculm for Excellence came about. Like I said, I didn't watch more than the first few moments of it before revulsion set in. Just can't get my head around the link between modern day dictats and the despicable actions of the Nazi's. At best the link is, in my opinion, just not appropriate. Way to extreme for a genteel soul like me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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