May 31 2010
The Importance of Community
I just thought I would do a short post about the importance of community in the closure of a school. As part of the decision making exercise, local authorities are supposed to take into account community use of the school. It usually centres on how much use is made of the school premises by local community groups. This is actually what the guidance states. If there is a lot of use by community groups then it is more difficult to close the school.
However, in the case of Gillas Lane Primary School, we found The Schools Adjudicator to be open to a much wider interpretation of “community”. We argued that the community valued and supported the school in different ways even though there was little community use of the school’s premises. We pointed to the history of the area and the role the school had played when there was social disruption for several years. The school was seen as an oasis of calm for the children of the area and it never received any vandalism during this period. We were supported at meetings by members of the local community who did not have any links to the school. They stood up in meetings and supported the school in their own way. The school was a living symbol for the community of the good things in the area rather than a resource to be used.
The Schools Adjudicator did comment on this. He felt from the meeting and the written representations made that the local community valued the school and was impressed by the support given. I am sure that this had an impact on his final decision.
It just shows how The Schools Adjudicator is more likely to take a much wider view of the overall context of the school than the minimum that the statutory guidance states.
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