I know most of you won't be bothered about saving a school many miles away as it won't effect you but it effects me and I'm asking for your help!
Whitby had two secondary schools fed by dozens of primary schools and feeding a college. The larger secondary school which usually took the kids from town, merged with the college to take 11 to 19 year olds.
The remaining secondary school which was a bit smaller and took the kids from the surrounding countryside schools, tried to get academy status so it could take 11 to 16 year olds. The local authority stopped this at every turn, until last year when they said it would be possible. Now we've found out why:
The local authority have a buyer for the land the smaller school is on. They want to develop it into housing. This is bad for several reasons.
Firstly, it means there is only one secondary school in town so no choice. The next closest school will be over 21 miles away over the moors road which often gets closed in winter.
The ethos of each school is very different. The larger school has a reputation for being a bit sterile and the pupils are numbers that get processed. The smaller school is a happy place that for the kids joining from a small country school, find less intimidating. All the staff know each kid.
Because each school is different, it suits different kids. Some thrive in the larger school, and vice versa. It gives parents a pupils choice.
The story of the school closure was released through Facebook when an ex-pupil (now runs his own media company) had it leaked to him. The school had to admit it was true and that the governors from both schools had been discussing it since the beginning of last summer. Most of the governors were members of staff and they've been told the best chance they have of keeping a job is if they all agree to the merger.
The results of the small schools last OFSTED report took everyone by surprise. There's loads of inconsistencies and untruths but now the local authorities are using the report as a reason to merge. The OFSTED report is better than the larger schools report but the local authority says that's because it's still recovering from the merger with the college. It's true to say that mixing the better school with the larger one will mask the crap report and help with the massive budget overspend!

My parents attended this school, as did me and my brother. My son was due to start in September as he doesn't like the other school.

Anyway. Here's the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/saveeskdaleschool/

And more importantly, here's the online petition: https://www.change.org/p/north-yorkshire-county-council-stop-the-closure-of-eskdale-school />
We already have enough signatures to get the Local Authorities to take notice but I'd really like you guys to help me by signing too.

There's loads more scandal coming out from this and I'll update as and when I can.
Cheers guys.
Owelly.

[Edited on 22/1/16 by owelly]

[Edited on 22/1/16 by owelly]