Llandinam in Powys - News of their successful campaign reached us as follows:

Dear Mervyn

I thought you would like to know that Powys County Council have recommended to keep Llandinam open due to the wonderful reason that the standard of education is so good! They are voting tomorrow at their cabinet meeting which will be webcast live for the first time. We are all delighted as you can imagine! I sincerely thank you both for all you help and advice and keep up the good work helping small schools to thrive and survive.

Llandinam School was unbelievably lucky when all hope seemed lost. The brilliant Estyn report could not be argued with and three new families moved to the village over the summer ensuring a healthy number of 50 pupils for 2014. At the cabinet meeting the head of the Council remarked that he had never received so many letters of support for one school. We were also lucky that the photographer of the local paper had attended Llandinam school. The importance of letter writing and raising the media profile of the school cannot be overstated. We gave parents a list of possible topics to prompt ideas and advised them to write every four weeks making different points. We believed the Council gauge the level of support at the informal consultation stage. We also encouraged parents to visit every local AM/MP and I personally found that some of them had been misinformed about education standards, the state of the school building and pupil numbers. We had a very good numbers person on the governing body who worked out the minimal saving that the Council would gain (0.06%), way below their estimate. As the Council always produce a very convincing proposal for closure it is essential to have a crack team to provide strong counter arguments.

Our strategy, had we to continue would have included wider media coverage using the film made about Llandinam School and involving solicitors to pick holes in Council policies. We were baking cakes endlessly to raise money! The other people I accessed were education departments of universities and the Child Commissioner of Wales who advised that Councils had to complete a child impact assessment at the formal consultation stage. Sadly the only University that showed any support was Glyndwr in Wrexham but that may have been due to the fact that I had studied there at one time.

I did hear of a school in North Powys, Llangedwyn that had around 15 pupils but was saved by the fact that it was a church school. I hope the threat to Trefilan School will similar disappear. It is such a stressful time for everyone and I still am dismayed by the unnecessary distress placed upon staff, pupils and the local community.

Best wishes to you Mervyn and your team.

Diane

Gladestry

Its home page declares:

This is a flourishing small school which currently has 42 pupils from the village and surrounding areas.

The school aims to provide a secure & stimulating environment in which children are valued as individuals and where they are encouraged to achieve their full potential in all spheres. The school has a happy, vibrant atmosphere and fosters strong links with families, the church & the local community.

The report on the Estyn Inspection in March 2009 states that "Learners receive an outstanding all round education. Standards are consistently very high and teaching is exceptionally good"

As part of the celebrations to mark this excellent report a flagpole has been installed and is flying a flag designed by pupils which features the school motto "We love to learn"

We advised the school at a time when closure was in the air. A similar story emerges as in the case of Llandinam. Additionally the school has very positive collaboration with three other local schools and during Powys review- part of its plans to rationalise provision- and again with those very positive findings from Estyn- the Authority decided the school's quality set a high standard it was keen to see continuing to influence the partnership and the local area generally and it is now seen as a beacon of best practice. NASS congratulates Powys on its recognition that the good practice we know nationally and internationally justifying small school performance is here recognised even in the face of heavy incitement from the ruling Assembly parties to Local Authorities to close small schools allegedly to save money.

Channelkirk

NASS was present at the consultation meeting in Channelkirk in Borders Authority and saw how the campaigners – a packed hall with many standing the entire duration in pouring rain outside- pressed the rational arguments of their virtues and their need for a local school. Gradually the hollow arguments of officers that had prompted the Council proposal began to discomfort leading Councillors present and ultimately the proposal was withdrawn. The school's quality was very evident from work it had currently on display and inspection evidence. One of the main advantages argued by the Chief Officer was that the money could provide all-weather sports provision at the receiving town primary school. The Chief Officer had previously been a secondary P.E. teacher!

Paul Docherty, lead campaigner at the time, still lives in the village and sends this news:

With regards to Channelkirk, it goes from strength to strength. Twelve or eighteen months ago it was inspected and it received two "excellents" and the rest were "very good" – it was the first school in the Borders to get two "excellents" and, although one other school has since achieved that, it continues to demonstrate the quality of the school and the staff and I know it is close to being full – and that includes quite a few placements from Lauder who know exactly what we are known, that Channelkirk is simply an excellent school!!

As to a rebuild of the school, I think that is still some way off but the good news is that Glenn Rogers is retiring shortly although not without controversy as he is trying to push through an "asymmetrical" timetable for the High schools – schools finishing at lunchtime on Friday – all in the name of cost cutting of course. It's at the consultation phase but we are clear as to what will happen. Fiona Johnson is now fighting our corner but if you have any thoughts, advice or data on this then I could put you in touch with her.

NASS expresses its pride at the quality of education we have helped campaign for and promote and that in these three cases exemplifies the quality of the advice and support we give. Because devolution exists we depend very much on small school supporters making contact with good news and helping spread the word that NASS exists and in this respect is cross-border. We remain "national" in that respect- as set up back in 1978.

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