Rural Development Sub-Committee

Inquiry into Reorganisation of Schools in Rural Wales

Response from Dr Emma Posey

To whoever it may concern,
I am writing to give evidence for the enquiry into rural education.

I am a parent and governor of a community schools and would like to give a personal account of the benefits of community schooling. I have one child in Year 1 and another in nursery with a 3rd due to join in a year.

The children have small class size across a range of ages at our school. The children benefit from cross-peer sharing and learning from one-another. The school is as, and in many cases more, successful in terms of achievement than other larger schools - we have a very strong sporting record, for instance, but no playing field. Recently the school has been complimented on its advance teaching and the good behaviour of the pupils. The attitude and commitment from pupils to learning together is very striking.

There is an extremely strong connection between the school teachers, the children, parents and others from the local community and this is very positive in terms of pupils' achievement at school. Our schools is an essential part of a community - without the school, the community would not exist. It is central.

The school is small but in rural Wales small schools need to be part of an overall strategy for rural education and educational structure.I am a strong advocate of community schools. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information.

Dr. Emma Posey