Memorandum submitted by the National Governors'
Council (T20)
1. PARENTAL AND
STUDENT CHOICE
It is very hard to exercise these choices in
a rural environment. Where there are choices of schools there
is often not a feasible way of getting to and from the schools.
Transport is scarce and expensive. The rural environment has become
very unsafe for independent travel eg cycling and walking because
of the huge increase in population over time most of whom travel
fast on small country lanes which are often not wide enough for
one car let alone two. The numbers of huge lorries using these
same roads is also a problem, as they were never designed for
this traffic. It is understandable why parents do not allow their
children to get to school by walking or cycling. Where schools
have become unviable because of small numbers of pupils many have
closed which has reduced the choices. In some circumstances the
federation of several small schools has provided a better outcome
than closing schools. A good example of this is The Dunbury near
Blandford Forum in Dorset.
In many rural schools, particularly secondary,
the majority of children travel on school buses. The present rule
that "out of catchment" children are either not allowed
on these buses or have to pay for their transport mitigates against
parental choice for all. Only those families that can afford can
choose, whereas it would seem much fairer if, once a place is
offered, all children were entitled to free school transport.
This would also have an environmental benefit as it would cut
down cars involved in the "school run".
2. RURAL COMMUNITIES
Unemployment and rural poverty are enormous
issues for many communities and bring with them many of the features
of inner city deprivation such as increased crime. This is also
compounded by the fact that there are many rural holiday homes,
which help to destroy the community. In some rural villages and
towns the school can be a focus for the community but in others
the full time population is so small it is hard for that to happen.
Car crime, burglary and drug related crimes are very widespread
and have a damaging effect on children. Drug culture spreads easily
where people have no work and money is short, and in rural areas
seems to affect whole families. Children are influenced by what
they perceive as "normal relationships" portrayed on
the television and so begin to act these out in their own environments.
This leads to behavioural problems in school.
3. FARMING
As agriculture has changed and been through
crisis it has left in its wake some devastation. The foot and
mouth crisis was the final straw for some farmers and those who
had been just managing to make a living were unable to continue.
For these families who have had to sell up, many have nothing
and find it very difficult to find work. This has an impact on
school with children worrying about the survival of their family.
There is a sudden change in the culture of the countryside and
the mutual support within the communities is disappearing. The
social and meeting places have gone now, with most of the old
agricultural markets scrapped, and the majority of shopping taking
place in supermarkets and mega-stores where people do not know
each other. The other meeting place, post offices have been slowly
disappearing from communities, and banking being automated, means
this also adds to the social isolation in a rural community.
4. EDUCATION
OUTSIDE SCHOOL
Children in rural areas can be disadvantaged
in their access to the Arts. The Regional Arts Boards work hard
to provide good community access to "The Arts" where
possible. In Dorset there is a very good programme put together
by South West Arts and Artsreach to bring dance and drama to village
halls. This is excellent and needs to be encouraged but does not
address the issue that many children never go to the theatre or
to an Art gallery. Schools try to organise trips to give children
an opportunity to experience this but the high costs, usually
because of transport, often leave some children unable to access
these trips.
Sport suffers from similar problems—facilities
are limited and dependent on transport. Some people have to travel
quite extensive distances to reach swimming pools and sports centres
and there is a high cost to that. Within schools there is a problem
in organising sports fixtures, as there is necessarily a need
for transporting pupils. Within primary education, many parents
help with transport but this becomes less so in the secondary
sector.
It is very hard to run after school extra curriculum
activities because of the lack of rural transport. Some authorities
such as Suffolk do run a "late bus" once a week for
some schools but this does not include all the villages. This
means that clubs and activities have to be run at lunchtimes.
5. 14-19 CURRICULUM
Some of the proposals would be very difficult
to implement in a rural county. For example the suggestion that
a student should be able to attend more than one institution to
study different subjects. In Suffolk in the rural areas there
are very few buses during the day. The idea that a student in
a high school 18 miles from Ipswich could take some of their courses
at school and some at the FE College in town is just not practical.
There is widespread worry about this as the
new legislation which proposes to allow the LSC to close sixth
forms where it feels it necessary without reference to the School
Organisation Committee. A sparse population means that schools
and sixth forms will not have such great numbers as they do in
towns and cities but they are important as part of that community.
If sixth forms do become centred in colleges some rural children
would have to travel over an hour each way to get there and that
quickly results in them abandoning their courses.
6. RURAL GOVERNORS
As with all governors it is important that we
ensure public accountability and achieve good value for money
whilst ensuring that children receive a broad and balanced curriculum.
It can be very difficult to achieve this in some rural situations.
Governors of rural schools have all the other issues to take account
of and strategies to address these cost money, which is in very
short supply in rural areas. For example, in Dorset 5% of the
education budget is spent on school transport. This is a large
amount of money for an authority, which has so little.
Governors also face an enormous challenge in
recruiting staff, as the costs of housing are too high for staff
to afford. Many of the affordable properties are bought as second
or holiday homes. The school budget will not allow governors to
offer extra financial enhancements and so potential staff look
elsewhere.
It is very easy to be misled by the idyllic
pictures of sandy coves or cows in lush green meadows and pretty
thatched cottages—rural life is very tough for many people
now.
10 February 2003
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