School Closure Debate: Letters

Hurworth School may be small and the corridors narrow, but that is not what makes the school achieve excellent exam results - it is the children and teachers.

It is unfair to expect to merge two schools and everyone to come out the other side with the same performance and achievements. It won't work, and teachers who are happy in a smaller school will look elsewhere for teaching posts (as has happened at Haughton's new school).

One of the great strengths of Hurworth School has been the success and support of Hurworth's parents. What will happen to this when the schools are merged?

The location of the new school is also open to question. Why place children next to an industrial estate and, in particular, mobile phone masts?

And traffic at the roundabouts on the A66 at Morton Palms is horrendous even on a quiet weekday. How will it cope with the increased volume of buses and cars?

I understand Eastbourne parents' points of view. They are proud of their school and want the best for their children. However, I take offence at the suggestion that Hurworth parents "look down their noses at Eastbourne". This is not the case. We want to keep Hurworth School in Hurworth and as part of our community.

I have lived in Hurworth for nearly 30 years and attended Hurworth primary and comprehensive schools, as did my husband, and it was our wish that our children should attend these schools.

As villagers, we are like King Canute, with the Local Education Authority and Darlington Borough Council acting as the waves. But before we drown, we will be making a very big splash and will hopefully rise to the surface. - Nicola Ventress, Hurworth.

IT DOESN'T make sense to combine Hurworth, one of the best schools in the country for exam results, with Eastbourne - one of the worst.

I couldn't settle at Eastbourne so I failed all nine of my GCSEs. At 16, I went to Darlington College of Technology and passed four of the O-levels in my secretarial course. I found it much easier to settle at the college than the school.

A school in a village location makes it a lot easier for the pupils to feel dedicated to their work.

Hurworth may become a "ghost village" if the school closes, because families with school-aged children would move to be near another reputable school.

Councillors may think that by combining the best with the worst would improve the standard of education received by the worst. This isn't always the case. By mixing the best with the worst it is more than likely that the standard of education received by the best lowers to that of the worst. - Margaret A Greenhalgh, Darlington.

I FIND myself enraged at some of the small-minded comments of a community.

I rarely get involved in political wrangles but the school closures situation has made my blood boil. How the people of Hurworth expect any sympathy for their cause when all they can do is criticise is beyond me.

There was a letter in The Northern Echo referring to a "them and us" situation. The only people creating that is the people of Hurworth.

I do not live in the Eastbourne area so the schooling situation does not even affect me, but I believe that every child, regardless of where they live or how much money their parents have, deserves the best the council can give them. If this means a new school in a different place, so be it.

I hope the outcome of this situation will benefit the children at both schools rather than the parents' bank balances! - Name and address supplied.

WE are the parents of two children at Hurworth Junior School. The news of the proposed closure of Hurworth Comprehensive School has come as a great shock. We anticipated that our children would be educated in the village school.

We view the proposals as unwise. The site for the new school is an industrial area of town. The start of the school day clashes with the traffic taking people to work. With all those cars, lorries and buses - think of the chaos.

Why is Hurworth being closed when its results are so good? The suggestion that it is not being closed but moved to a new site is farcical. It will be a new school on a new site.

The announcement the council has made gives the impression of a fait accompli. The council has decided and it is not up to anyone but the council to make that decision. Where has the democratic principle of listening to the public voice gone?

We are very annoyed at the way the council has handled this affair. Think again and listen to the parents of children from Hurworth. - Karen and Andrew Robson, Hurworth.

I LIVE in Hurworth but attended Eastbourne in the mid-1980s. I don't like the way The Northern Echo is printing letters saying that Hurworth thinks it is better than Eastbourne. That is not the case.

The real issues are as follows:

* The method in which Darlington Borough Council has handled the proposals both with the parish council and parents within Hurworth is totally unacceptable;

* There is nothing wrong with the school that cannot be updated;

* Hurworth's exam grades prove the effectiveness of rural education. One of the key factors in my move to Hurworth in 2001 was that our children would be within walking distance of school;

* Large schools like the one that has been proposed will not benefit any children in the long-term, fuelling my belief that the council is doing this for financial gain.

There is no reason why the money from the Government can't be spent on a new school for Eastbourne, and the money generated selling off the old school site can be used to finance the upgrade of Hurworth. Then everyone would get something positive out of what has become a sensitive issue on both sides. - Dave Brown, Hurworth.

I HAVE a 14-year-old son attending Hurworth school and an 11-year-old daughter who will join him in September.

A recent report to Darlington councillors points to concerns over the performance of Darlington's secondary schools apart from Hurworth.

Why then is the council considering closing the town's most successful school and merging it with an unsuccessful one?

It has been proved that 1,200 pupil schools do not raise standards. It will therefore fail pupils from Eastbourne and Hurworth.

My concern is that my children should continue to receive a good education. Why isn't the money, which is being made available for the new school, being earmarked to improve standards in all the schools?

Some of the schools do need updating but new modern buildings do not guarantee a good education, as we've seen in Middlesbrough recently.

After the election, Tony Blair said that his Government had learned to listen. Unfortunately Darlington council has not learned this lesson. - Mrs J Verity, Hurworth.