10:40am Saturday 23rd January 2010
Sir – In its review of education in North Craven, North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is claiming, due to a fall in the birth rate in the next couple of years, the three-tier system should go because the cost of educating children will rise.
Surely the only reason for a change would be a fall in standards and our children not receiving a good education.
Our children deserve the best education possible. So is NYCC really going to send the year six pupils back into primary schools to be taught in mixed-age classes of 30 pupils in many schools (the class size in the middle schools is between 20 and 25 of the same age), where the class teacher is expected to be a specialist in a dozen areas with limited equipment and facilities?
Is it not better to have specialist teachers with specialist equipment and excellent facilities? After three years of the middle school system, the pupils have improved their learning considerably and are above the national average. This speaks for itself.
The pupils in primary schools have a great education up to year five and really enjoy their time there. However, they are ready to move on to the middle schools as they have outgrown their small schools and need pushing physically and mentally in a larger environment, which prepares them better for transfer to secondary education.
Settle College has said it is happy for a review of the system (Craven Herald, December 10). We all agree we want a strong Settle College with a good sixth form. How does Settle College think its results for GCSE and A levels have improved? It is because of the excellent education they receive before transferring at year nine. The year eight results have increased each year due to the specialist teaching the pupils get in the middle school system. They are now making pupils complete some GCSEs in year nine.
If the middle school system is abolished, how will the new Settle School expect pupils to cope without the extra year of specialist teaching? This would lead to a fall in GCSE and A level results so, surely, Settle College should be backing the current system. I have spoken to hundreds of parents and pupils who say the current system is the best. NYCC has said it has £2.5 million to put into the review, but this will be reallocated elsewhere if not needed. Surely this should be used to improve the current system even more and make our schools even more successful, or is it a threat that, if the schools are not closed, no money will be spent?
The question NYCC needs to answer is whether this education review is about giving our children the best possible education or about saving money.
We need to be proud of our schools and education system and should fight to keep it. Please let your support be heard by NYCC and the media for the current three-tier education system, otherwise it will be gone very soon.
Mark Glover, Procters Row, Settle
Sir - I have read with interest the letters sent to the Craven Herald regarding the gritting services in Skipton and the surrounding area.
As a resident of Cross Hills, I wish to congratulate everybody involved in the gritting done by the staff at the Skipton depot of North Yorkshire Highways and their sub-contractors.
The main roads have always been passable, the side roads and estate roads have been ploughed and gritted by tractors and the footpaths have been cleared by quad bikes fitted with ploughs and little gritters.
I know the gritter wagons and crews are out in the early hours, late at night and, in the extreme weather of late, out all night, sometimes gritting in very hazardous conditions, especially in the higher reaches of the Dales.
May I say well done to all the supervisors, drivers, maintenance staff and everybody else involved in keeping our roads and footpaths as safe as possible in these difficult times.
Bill Carswell, Newlands Drive, Cross Hills
Sir - I noticed on Friday that the highways department, comprising four vehicles and six men, spent the day filling in the potholes on the Snaygill section of the bypass, only to find on Monday morning that all the potholes were empty again!
Perhaps next time they should try cornflour and water instead of plain flour in their mix, or maybe a bit of double-sided tape would do the trick!
Alan Tudor, Park Street, Barnoldswick
* Editor’s note: The highways department said it was true most of the new filling had disappeared almost as soon as it was put in, but this was due to the below-freezing temperatures causing the fixing material not to stick. They said they would continue applying the Macadam where it was required. Meanwhile, notices would be placed at the worst of the pothole sites to ask drivers to take care.
Sir - I just don’t believe it. I drove down Manse Way and The Hawthorns, Sutton- in-Craven on Monday night (January 18) to find that the pavement gritters had been out in force.
No sign of any snow or ice and a temperature of eight degrees.
The biggest hazard on these pavements now is the amount of grit they have dumped.
No sign of these gritters in Sutton over the last two weeks when the pavements were three or four inches deep with compact ice. North Yorkshire County Council has finally lost the plot.
Mrs S Dowgill, Daisy Place, Sutton-in-Craven
Sir – As a permanent invalid I would like to place on record how much I appreciate the help I have received from my carers who come each night and each morning, seven days a week, to assist me no matter what the weather.
In this bad period of snow we’ve been experiencing they have been brilliant! Always pleasant and friendly, they manage to get to me somehow. I cannot thank them enough.
John Jenner, Millholme Rise, Embsay
Sir - Regular readers of the Herald’s letters column will be aware of the well of anger and discontent among Craven residents at the appalling performance of Craven District Council (CDC).
Barely a week goes by without cogently argued letters from people who are (at best) disappointed or (at worst) outraged.
For every correspondent who takes the time and trouble to write and rail against the council, there will be hundreds of like-minded others who lack either the time or the will to do so.
But how representative of the Craven community as a whole are such letter writers? No one can say for certain, but it’s safe to assume those who write to the Herald on civic matters flag themselves as caring citizens. Or to use the jargon of market research, they are a “self-selecting random sample”.
Therefore a sample of, say, a few dozen people can accurately reflect the attitudes and opinions of many hundreds – even thousands. Major national and global opinion pollsters and research organisations operate on this principle when appropriate.
Which means that, although those who write to this newspaper in criticism of CDC are always in a minority, they are likely to be statistically representative of the majority of Craven taxpayers.
Such caring, public-spirited citizens have a great deal to contribute to the improvement and recovery of Craven District’s public sector and I appeal to all who have written to this newspaper to comment on CDC’s performance to contact me with a view to an informal private meeting.
Any views expressed at this meeting will be treated in confidence and there will be no commitment to whatever course of action (if any) the meeting may decide.
My hope is that we can bring our collective ideas and influence to bear on the council for the good of Craven as a whole. I look forward to hearing from you, either by email to peter@peterss.com or by telephone on 0777 905 2046.
Peter Scott-Smith, The Green, Long Preston
Sir - May I, through your letters page, sincerely thank all my staff and volunteers for their useful work and dedication throughout 2009.
We have seen a lot of changes and some upheaval, with our merger with Help the Aged, but with all of your help and support things will become clearer and more profitable for our charity.
Can I also thank all our donors of goods to sell and, finally, thank all our customers, without whom we could not survive. Of course, we always need more saleable bric-a brac and clothing, not to mention the unwanted Christmas gift, or wrong-size garment purchased!
As ever, we always need more volunteers to work in the shop.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Viv Carter, Age Concern Charity shop, Swadford Street, Skipton
Sir - I wish to draw the attention of readers to the profiteering of most UK-based companies who sell antifreeze that is pre-diluted and cannot deal with temperatures lower than -5C.
I live in Gargrave, which regularly gets winter temperatures as low as -10C. Without the five litres of German VCP antifreeze bought at Lidl for £4.90, my wife would not have been able to get to work.
This product, undiluted, protects down to -60C well done Germany!
Come on UK, don’t sell us water (or waste fuel carrying it all over the country) when we can get it out of the taps.
A Bell, Skipton Road, Gargrave
Sir - Last week’s letter from an angry Christian regarding the selling of hot cross buns and Easter eggs rather bemused me.
Firstly, I can see no connection between selling such items at any time of the year and the community involvement and charity work of the store involved.
Secondly, the tradition of Easter eggs is a remnant of our pagan heritage.
Thirdly, what evidence does she have to support her claim that we are a largely Christian population?
Finally, why does she think that Christianity automatically demands anybody’s respect?
If I want to sell Easter eggs on Christmas Day I have the right to do so without fear of censure by any section of society.
Michael Horsman, Romille Street, Skipton
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