Sir,
This week the community of Ness was the next in line to be utterly devastated by
the regressive policies of CnES where we saw our secondary school being shut. The
decision to close was taken on Wednesday 11th Feb -
That day was the culmination of an twisted effort that even Niccolo Machiavelli would
have been proud of. In a wonderful piece of politicking, a retiring councillor stayed
on long enough to help out, while a new councillor remained benched until 12 th March.
This all meant a 15-
On the basis of his understanding of what the status quo actually means, he votes
for the second time to close the school -
Let's go back two and a half years to June 2012 when the decision to close Lionel
School's secondary provision was overturned. Our illustrious leader, Angus Campbell,
threatened to resign because he didn't get his own way in closing Lionel School.
That spat betrayed a man who took it personally that certain people within his local
authority would dare to have the temerity to fight to save their school. There was
nothing personal meant by that Angus, it's tragic that you saw it that way then.
Tragic for the people of Ness I mean, like it was previously for Carloway, Shawbost,
etc, etc.
Roll forward two and a half years to what happened this week and our leader proclaims
that he's done the merciful thing in closing the school because 75% of the parents
in Ness have decided to skip S1&S2 in Lionel and put their children straight to the
Nicolson. Whoow........what a complete turn around in the space of two and a half
years. A massive jump from 0% to 75% of parents in two and a half years. By anyone's
standards that represents a collapse in parental confidence. Has that collapse got
anything to do with CNES axing the head teacher position in Lionel and then throttle
the supply of teachers? In any way did these actions from CNES contribute towards
this collapse in parental confidence?
Despite CNES's best efforts, the attainment of pupils in Lionel School remains comparable,
if not better than the Nicolson Institute during this dreadful two and a half year
persecution from CNES. The pressure put on the school during this period has been
intense, so much so that parents fear that maintaining that standard was unsustainable.
What a dreadful and horrible position these poor parents have been put in by CNES.
Instead of trying to understand the problem Angus Campbell and the disrespectful
Catriona Stewart could only summon this 75% statistic to use as a justification for
closing the school, kidding themselves on that the majority of parents agree with
closure. What a perverse way to represent things. Shame on councillor Campbell and
councillor Stewart for doing this, shame on you. Those parents have only been brought
to that decision point by what CNES have done to Lionel secondary school since 2012
-
As an absolute minimum, there must be an independent inquiry into what has gone on
in Lionel School since June 2012. If the findings of such a report implicate CNES
in deliberately undermining the school and children's education then Norman MacDonald,
Angus Campbell and Catriona Stewart must quit with immediate effect.
Their personal conduct during this period has been nothing short of disgraceful.
Some serious ego's at play, people who have completely lost sight of why they became
councillors in the first place. Their repressive policies have seen the provision
of secondary education on the west side of Lewis destroyed with pupils now having
to make at least a two hour daily round trip to get to a school that provides a comparable
level of education to what they had on their doorstep.......of course they've made
some highly subjective and spurious statements about why the Nicolson is so much
better, but would you really expect anything less from these people? I don't mean
to run down the Nicolson. I'm absolutely sure it's a good school for the children
within the catchment area (say 15 miles) but it simply does not work for any pupil
outside that bubble. I was so disappointment to hear Angus McCormack's lame comments
on this matter. I suspect there's a more partisan underlying reason for his objections,
despite his efforts to publicly frame it otherwise.
It's bitterly disappointing to feel this way about our local authority. I take absolutely
no pleasure in writing this letter. But I take even less pleasure in the thought
of our young children having to endure that two hour round trip commute, at the expense
of after school activities/homework time for an educational experience that has been
proven to be on par with that of the Nicolson.
Since 2004, Ness has been very fortunate in seeing a very healthy return of young
folk to the district. It was in a bad way then (like the rest of the Western Isles)
but things have changed a lot. A lot of people have come home to build/renovate houses
in the district with a view to bringing up a family here. The school roll in the
primary is testament to that. CNES have betrayed these people, myself included, by
closing Lionel School. Have we come full circle and now find ourselves in a place
where we are encouraging migration from the island yet again?
I find it painful that we have to now look for external help from the Scottish Government
to call this in. Even if that call-
I used to love CNES when they had real strategists working for them. That period
in the 1990's when people like Murdo Murray etc drove major projects from the Butt
to Barra. We now have a Comhairle who view school closure as a sign of success. How
times have changed.
Murdo MacRitchie
Caladh
9 Skigersta
Port of Ness
Isle of Lewis
Letter: Independent inquiry call into Comhairle’s “foul play” over Lionel School
14 February 2015