Letters of the week - Infants and Juniors at loggerheads
It is easy to see with the headline in last weeks Cornish Times how some people may have been concerned about our school governors' decision concerning the Public Funded Initiative (P F I).
There were, in particular, certain adverse comments apparently made by the Chairman of the Junior School, Mr Earl.
I was disappointed that he did not feel able to contact me to seek out the full facts behind our decision. If he had, I would have been able to tell him that our governors have always considered our main purpose is to place the children first, by providing them with the very best education we can obtain.
We were not in the same situation as the juniors were at their old school. Our school has recently undergone extensive refurbishment and more is planned over the summer and Easter holidays. We would not have gained a new nursery as reported in your article.
There would, no doubt, have been benefits to a new building, most notably an improved staff room. But, we concluded, this would not have offset the loss of budget flexibility, as this would have meant that, for 25 years, we would not have been able to pass on savings in our budget to provide more support in the class-room.
Decisions such as this have not been taken lightly. Indeed, we met with Mr Earl's governors and formed a working party to ensure that we had all the available facts before we reached our decision.
Since becoming a governor, I have always been impressed by the high standards of the staff and fellow governors, particularly in their dedication to the children we serve. It is with deep regret that I read that Mr Earl seems to be leading calls to set the junior school up in competition for the infant classes, instead of working with us to ensure the best start to our children's education.
PHIL HUTTY
Chairman of Governors
Liskeard Infant School