We need to make the new Sheppey Academy work

Let me get one thing straight; I am not opposed to academies in principal. However, I was opposed to having an academy on Sheppey, for a number of reasons.

I felt it was wrong to try and solve the long standing problem of poor attainment at Minster College by destroying the Island’s middle schools and replacing them with a two tier system. I haven’t changed my mind.

But those of us who supported the three tier system lost the battle and we had to move on to try and argue for the type of secondary education that would provide the best education for our children. In my view an academy was not the answer.

What I wanted to see was choice and the only way to provide that would have been to build three separate secondary schools, at least one of which would have specialised in academic skills and another in vocation skills.

That option too was not to be, because the only way that the Government would provide the funds necessary to improve secondary education on Sheppey was via the academies programme.

Having imposed an academy on the Island, ministers then allowed party politics to override good sense, and it was decided that the academy should be split across two sites, rather than the one site solution preferred by everyone except our local Labour Party politicians!

And they couldn’t even get a split site policy right! Rather than having the two halves of the academy located at the Minster College and Danley School sites, local Labour Party bigwigs put pressure on their colleagues in Westminster to swap Danley with the Cheyne School site. Politically astute, but educationally a poor decision for our children and grandchildren.

I have been criticised for my stance and accused of being anti Sheerness. What a load of cobblers. I am not anti anything except stupid decisions, made for party political reasons that have long term implications for the education of Sheppey’s children!

I would have dearly loved a secondary school to have been built on the Cheyne site, to supplement schools at Danley and Minster College sites. Such a decision would have really given Sheerness its own high school, but this was denied by the very politicians who have tried to buy off residents with the second best option of having part of the academy built in their area.

But we have what we have and it is important we do everything within our power to make the new academy a success. I will do my bit anyway.