Plea to parents . . . have your say on school merger

As consultation is about to start on the merger of Keynsham's two comprehensive schools, parents are being urged to voice their opposition to the move.

The closure of Broadlands School in St Francis Road was proposed two years ago as part of a major education review in the district.

Broadlands School in Keynsham has more than 1,000 pupils, hundreds of whom travel from Bristol every day.

If the closure goes ahead, all the secondary school children in the town will go to Wellsway. The council said it had to make changes to secure money from the Government Building Schools for the Future scheme.

But since 2008, more than 600 new homes have been earmarked for land in the town and hundreds more could be built on the Somerdale site.

And if the Conservatives win the next general election, money from the Building Schools for the Future scheme is not guaranteed.

Andrew Wait, a Keynsham town councillor, father-of-two and a deputy head teacher, knows more than most about education and the two schools.

His two grown-up children Sarah, 28, and Richard, 25, both went to Wellsway, while his wife Helen, a qualified maths teacher, works as a teaching assistant at Broadlands. They both passionately believe Broadlands should stay open.

They are urging parents to use the consultation process, which begins on March 28, to let the council know how much Broadlands is still needed.

Mr Wait, of Manor Road, who is deputy head at Mangotsfield School, said: "Wellsway and Broadlands have served the children of Keynsham for many years.

"Each school has successfully met the needs of their respective intake. Wellsway with academic excellence and Broadlands with a more vocational curriculum and a well-respected special needs department.

"Over the years there has been healthy competition between the schools and this rivalry means that students are proud to be at their chosen school. Ofsted has recognised the good work of both schools, notably Broadlands in an inspection last month."

He said that with 1,000 pupils at Broadlands and another 1,250 at Wellsway year groups would be huge at a merged school.

Mr Wait said: "B&NES argues that around 70 per cent of Broadlands students come from Bristol and about 15 per cent of Wellsway students come from South Gloucestershire. B&NES council tax payers are not penalised for the day-to-day cost of these extra students.

"Surely it is a good thing for the town that so many parents want their children to be educated in Keynsham. It brings money to the town and inflates house prices as many families choose to live in Keynsham as their children approach secondary school age.

"B&NES has applied for money from the Government's Building Schools for the Future fund. This is revenue that authorities bid for to get money to build new schools. It is based on social deprivation and currently B&NES is 64th in a list of 70 authorities. After the election, this fund will be one of the first casualties of public spending cuts, so B&NES will never get this money and a good school may be sacrificed for nothing."

He said comprehensive schools work best where they have about 1,000 students. The new school would have about 2,000 initially.

Mr Wait said when people get the chance to speak about the issue, they should say: "For goodness sake B&NES, if it isn't broken, why fix it?"