RDC(3) RRSWA7

Rural Development Sub-Committee

Inquiry into Reorganisation of Schools in Rural Wales

Response from National Federation of Women’s Institutes-Wales

Background

The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) is an educational, social, non-party political and non-sectarian organisation.  It has some 200,000 members in 7,500 Women’s Institutes across England, Wales and the Islands.  In Wales there are 16,000 members belonging to 500 WIs. It was established to ensure that women are able to take an effective part in their community, to learn together, widen their horizons, improve and develop the quality of their lives and those of their communities and together influence local, national and international affairs.  The WI has an unrivalled reputation as a voice of reason, integrity and intelligence on issues that matter to women and their communities.

As far back as 1979, the closure of village schools was a concern for the WI:-

"This meeting views with deep concern the fate of villages whose schools have been closed within the decade.  It urges Her Majesty’s Government and Local Authorities to restrict the closure of small schools after considering the effects not only on the children but on village communities as a whole”.

NFWI-Wales is a member of the 'Association of Communities in Wales with Small Schools (ACWSS)’ - a network of six national organisations that joined up in 2005 to campaign against the closure of small rural schools in Wales.  NFWI-Wales, Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, Wales Young Farmers’ Clubs, Farmers Union of Wales and the Small Welsh School Fund together represent more than 65,000 individuals throughout Wales.  The objectives of ACWSS are to:-

• Provide support and information to communities in Wales with small schools in order to develop and expand their sustainable community opportunities;

• Highlight sustainable community development opportunities that will focus on utilising the community school building and facilities during non-statutory education periods; and

• Offer expansion for community services based on social enterprise and cooperative company models.

Impact of school closures on communities, families and the environment

The Women’s Institute has branches in towns and villages across Wales. Members are very active in their communities and can see first-hand the impact that school closures are having in their areas.  In 2006, a petition consisting of a total of 15,000 ACWSS signatories, of which 5000 were from WI members, was presented to the Minister for Education calling for an acknowledgement of the crisis facing rural village schools and for the publication of new guidelines for Local Authorities.  The response from WI members to this campaign demonstrates the strong feeling amongst the membership of the WI that the closure of small schools is affecting not only the education of children but village communities as a whole.  

School closures are impacting on the vibrancy of communities and contributing to social exclusion.  The closure of rural schools can undermine the social fabric that exists within small communities affecting language and community spirit.

In 2007, the NFWI produced the 90@90 report to celebrate 90 years of working for communities, justice and the environment.  The report identified and evaluated changes which have taken place in communities and villages across the UK over the lifetime of the WI through the WIs’ own experiences.  In relation to schools, members spoke of their concern at the closure of village schools and the effect that this is having on the children in terms of them having to travel long distances to school, children as young as 5 sometimes have an hour long journey to school.  Also it increases the amount of cars on the road during the school run which is having a detrimental effect on the environment and the health of a child and is therefore unsustainable and goes against many of the policies of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Access to local services is declining -  post offices, small shops, hospitals and banks, to name but a few vital services, are closing.  In some areas, the local school is the only remaining social network.

In 2004 the Wales Rural Observatory undertook a detailed survey of local services in rural Wales using Community Councils (or Town Councils) as the unit of analysis. Over 70% of the councils responded and the survey identified that 68% did not have shops selling food, 67% did not have shops selling non food items and 38% did not have a general store. With regard to post offices 72% of councils did not have a post office and as for banks and building societies 85% did not have a bank and 90% were without a building society.

WI members are deeply concerned about school closures and some WIs have been campaigning to safeguard local schools in their local authority area.   One WI that has been campaigning against the closure of their local school is Glynneath and District WI.  Last year the WI wrote to Powys County Council to express their concern about the threatened closure of Ysgol Thomas Stephens. This school is scheduled to close in September 2008.  In the letter to the Council last year, the President of the WI wrote:-

"The school is the hub of the community providing a first class education to the children of the village, if it were to close, the children would be dispersed and all the advantages of being a part of a close and vibrant community will be lost which will surely have a detrimental effect on the development of the child.  In addition it would also necessitate long journeys to school and an added burden on the extended family that would have children out of the community away from their support networks”

Fear of school closures is an issue which impacts negatively on children and young people.  A local school gives a child a sense of belonging and involvement in the community.  NFWI-Wales is concerned that closure of local schools in rural communities could result in young children spending about an hour travelling to and from school.  

As well as the educational and community impact, it is vital that the environmental impact of school closures is assessed due to increased transport needs that would arise.  Closure of small schools will increase the number of cars on the road as more people transport their children to school by car. Current Welsh Assembly Government policies focus on reducing car travel due to its negative impact on the environment and its contribution to climate change. In addition, with the high cost of fuel in the current economic climate, the increasing need to rely on car travel will only exacerbate rural poverty and impact directly on the cost of living of families.

At a time when the Welsh Assembly Government is putting so much investment into improving the health and wellbeing of the population, removing a local school contradicts this by reducing the number of children and parents who can walk to school.  This could consequently contribute to a decline in the amount of physical activity being undertaken by families.  

Policy and guidance

Whilst it is inevitable that some rural schools must close due to very small numbers,  NFWI-Wales would urge the Welsh Assembly Government to update its guidance to schools to reflect the need for a detailed and meaningful consultation to be undertaken with communities in relation to any proposed closures and for findings to be made public. Prior to the 2007 National Assembly for Wales elections, ACWSS produced a manifesto in which one of the points highlighted was the need "to develop an intermediate body to ensure fair consultation provision when Local Authorities conduct their individual consultations”.

NFWI-Wales believes that an in-depth analysis into the impact of a school closure should take into account the following:-

• the educational impact on the schoolchildren affected;

• the current facilities available in the community and its potential impact on the sustainability of the community;

• the impact it will have on children in terms of the length of their school day taken up by travelling to and from school;

• the environmental impact from increased transport needs;

• the health impact on children;

• the impact on the Welsh language; and

• the impact on families in terms of managing work-life balance.

NFWI-Wales would urge the Welsh Assembly to commit, in its policy and guidance on school closures, to supporting small schools to become community resources and social enterprises.  

Another key point being emphasised by ACWSS is the use of school buildings to develop sustainable community development.  ACWSS supports the integration of community schools as physical resources within the catchment area that the schools cover.  With the closure of so many facilities including village halls, a school building could provide a venue for community groups to meet as well as encourage the formation of new groups. School buildings and facilities could also, for example, be used for delivery of lifelong learning courses.

In 2007, ACWSS carried out a rural issues survey in which over 100 people took part.  One of the comments made in the ACWSS rural survey was that schools were not being used enough for community activities.

Thirdly, ACWSS is calling for school buildings to become the hub of social and community enterprise development.  For example, parts of a small building could be redesigned to offer weekend courses, a weekend retail function, meals on

wheels/catering, conferencing and so forth.  The ultimate aim is to stimulate new enterprises for our communities and ensure young people can find employment, housing and a decent standard of living which in turn will allow a social balance of having a stable level of children to populate the historically successful small schools of Wales.

To conclude, NFWI-Wales hopes that this inquiry into the reorganisation of schools in rural Wales will highlight the important role of small schools not only in providing children with good quality education but also the wider role of small schools in maintaining sustainable communities.