Skerriesinthewilderness Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Policy forum to be held on School closures Please review reopening Skerries Secondary School!! It will cost you nothing, as you have saved nothing, just undo the damage you have done. Reopening Skerries Secondary will save SIC money, and give the children a better family life, and a better education crofter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skerriesinthewilderness Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 Shetland Times reports Dr Wills as furious, SO WHAT. Skerries Secondary School was closed by FALSE information ( being polite)YOU have saved NOTHING Dr Wills, so be a real man, come to Skerries and look us all in the eye (as promised Nov 2013)and tell us you stick by your closure vote. We have seen no evidence of educational gain, or financial savings. ( FACTS) Dr Wills can you show any savings of closing Skerries Secondary? Prove it, otherwise stay furious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skerriesinthewilderness Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 Is the SIC Education Dept going to wriggle out of this? http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/10200-sic-flouting-law-on-school-closures Has anyone read the Shetland Times this week? thebfg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 best to complain to Scottish education minister. we all know what they intend to do. its not changed. there goal is still to shut all junior high schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 best to complain to Scottish education minister. we all know what they intend to do. its not changed. there goal is still to shut all junior high schools.Except that the Education Department should not have goals like that. Their goal ought to be to follow the directions given to them by their political masters to the best of their ability. And frankly if they would rather not do what the councillors tell them then resignation might be the best option. paulb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 ^ Yes, but, when their political masters tell them to cut costs and tell them to become compliant with a new education policy handed down from their political masters in Edinburgh, but without giving clear instruction as to how those ends should be achieved, widespread closures are inevitably going to end up being on the table along with other options. Don't get me wrong, I'm not siding with the Education Department even though it may seem that way. Political masters need to give clear and reasonably precise directions to their minions, or chaos, as we see right now, ensues. As I see it, there's fault on both sides, not least perhaps in the Legal Department, who, if the claims made in the linked article are accurate, should have advised their political masters that halting a consultation and setting it aside until such time as they decided to revisit it, was in fact illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skerriesinthewilderness Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 Skerries folks were attacked 2 years after their previous consultation... The last and final consultation took place when there was no Headteacher in place... Do you think the SIC is interested in the law or indeed in the damage caused by their consultations to both the bairns and the community? Is Mrs Budge surrounded by the right team of people? Are they really seeking legal advice? And in your opinion, is their real aim the evaluation of the quality of the education provided by rural schools or is it a simple erasing exercise to get small schools out of the Shetland map and off the financial books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) ^ The SIC is a wholly broken organisation, it continues by its own momentum despite itself, there is nobody at the wheel, nor is there rhyme, reason or a plan, only a few front line folk trying to do the best they can with whatever crap happens to fall from aloft. Any few "good" people which might still exist up through the system are either strangled in red tape or lost in the morass of numpties which surround them - a total wipe out of "managers" and management structure is needed and start over again from a clean page. Until that happens it can only bumble on like a multi-headed dinosaur that doesn't have a clue, creating chaos with ever step, that nobody can explain, justify or unfortunately prevent. Edited March 2, 2015 by Ghostrider paulb and brian.smith 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Skerriesinthewilderness Posted December 5, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 A death by a thousand cuts..... Close the Secondary School......(Very little incentive for families to settle in Skerries)........Close the Salmon Farm........(More families move out, and some essential workers)..............Skerries Flights No longer SAFE as the short runway needs Firecrew..........(Now we have less options of travel)........Dr probably wont waste a whole day visiting Skerries........ I expect Skerries will now need major reinvestment to make the place viable again........Nice one Dr Wills you deceived your fellow councilors with your emotive speech, aided by the inept Education bullies. Dr Wills, Gerry Edwards, Vaila Wisheart, Audry Edwards, and a few others DECEIVED the SIC, you saved NOTHING in closing the SKerries Secondary School, if anything you have increased the costs. FACTS are the primary school now, is running at the same cost as when both Secondary,and Primary School was open. If any of the names above had any HONOUR they should resign for telling LIES. SAVING £73000 . Skerries are still waiting for DR Wills to look us all in the eye. side show bob, concerned shetlander and crofter 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ll Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 What is the school role and population now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckleJoannie Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Skerries school roll is currently one http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12027152/This-campaign-to-send-Britains-loneliest-schoolboy-Christmas-cards-epitomises-the-festive-spirit.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironwithin Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 It and other schools that are not vilable should be closed for the greater overall good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post side show bob Posted December 6, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 I have to disagree about closing things. There is such a thing as community. Also a right to live where you want and bring up your bairns there to.It seems again that communities on da Isles get a raw deal. whalsa, concerned shetlander, Ladylady and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whalsa Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 It and other schools that are not vilable should be closed for the greater overall good.The real issue here is WHY are school roles falling? I see the Skerries school as the thin end of the wedge, if you follow the logic of closing small schools to favour large ones then it will carry on this endless cycle of depopulation and centralisation. People also forget that most of Shetlands wealth is generated by the rural areas NOT by Lerwick. I don't know figures for what Skerries puts in to the economy in taxes etc but I would be willing to bet it is more than £73k per annum. The Whalsay Secondary School will probably be targeted again soon, a thriving community which contributes greatly to the economy of Shetland (and the wider country) yet it is not safe from these misguided and draconian cost saving exercises which will almost certainly cost more in the long run. One of the reasons I joined Wir Shetland is to help try to reverse this worrying trend. Our rural areas need development and support NOT cuts and depopulation. concerned shetlander 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staney Dale Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 It is the closure of the salmon farm which has been the important thing. Perhaps a proper investigation of why this failed might throw some real light on the situation in Skerries, rather than obsessing with the school. Forcing secondary bairns to stay on the island for their education will not save the community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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