CGDTWishing everyone a really great New Year, and here’s hoping that today’s news on the halting of the schools consultation means that Argyll and Bute Council drop all plans to close Kilmodan.
The Development Trust is convinced of the absolutely crucial importance the school plays in ensuring our community grows and thrives.
Well done to the Parent Council for all the effort they have put into the Save Kilmodan School campaign!
The communication plan is a comprehensive guide as to how the community can help save Kilmodan School, primarily by writing letters. If you feel inspired to do so, and we believe everyone should be (especially if you saw the recent “From Here to There” video), please make sure that you copy in the Parent Council to any letter or email you send.
Let’s get writing!
The Parent Council have taken their campaign to the roads with this video of the school journey our children will have to take if Kilmodan Primary School closes. Great Stuff!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GacXqzG_VBQ
And here’s a map of the route the bus took.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=103766161444137524479.0004951e0b0ec5cc4a695&ll=55.954198,-5.158768&spn=0.224886,0.614548&t=h&z=11
The Development Trust have just sent our letter in support of the campaign to keep Kilmodan Primary School open to Cleland Sneddon, the head of Education for Argyll and Bute Council. The letter provides a detailed critique of the proposals as they relate to Kilmodan Primary School (and Strachur and Tighnabruaich) as well as looking at the process in its entirety.
This letter has been cc’d to our local councillors Alex MacNaughton, Ron Simon and Bruce Marshall, as well as MSP Jim Mather and MP Alan Reid.
Here is an excerpt of the more general points:
The Colintraive and Glendaruel Development Trust wishes to register its opposition to Argyll and Bute Council’s proposals to close Kilmodan School in the Clachan of Glendaruel for the following reasons:
- The proposals do not improve the educational standards for the pupils of the school in any way.
- The proposals commit the children to a school journey of over 45 minutes: which by the council’s own standards is unacceptable.
- The proposals critically undermine the economic, social and cultural viability of the Clachan of Glendaruel and therefore the community.
- The proposals create a division in our community, and do so without regard for the electoral and physical boundaries between Colintraive and Glendaruel.
- The proposals have not been made in consultation with the statutory community bodies.The proposals were not preceded with any attempt to engage with the community on alternative arrangements to closure as the act and guidance indicate.
- The proposals, which have been put forward for discussion on 2nd November by the council, state in point 8.1 the note that the council decided to go ahead with the consultation process on the 2nd November. This contradicts statements made in letters to parents to all three schools. In our view this undermines the credibility of the whole consultation process.
If you require a different format of this document, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’ll be publishing our letter to the council here shortly, but in the meantime there is a report on this at the community site: ColGlen.org