16 March 2010
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Following on from our meeting last Monday at Queen’s Hall, as a Parents’ Group we agreed to keep our lines of communication open & up to date.
As part of the ongoing political process, a Motion was tabled in the Assembly on Monday 15th March, opposing the proposed removal of Preparatory School funding. Whilst the Education Minister’s viewpoint remained, predictably, unchanged, the motion was debated robustly.
A strong contingent from our Parents’ Group & teachers were in attendance & we are pleased to advise you that the Motion, in its final form (Sinn Fein’s amendment having been rejected), received convincing cross party support. As promised, DUP & UUP had full party representation, however, we were delighted by the level of very vocal support & commitment shown by SDLP & Alliance. Our spontaneous applause at one point gave us the opportunity to express our support for the arguments being made, an action which was much appreciated by the Education Committee, but not so much by the Chair!
As expected, the Education Minister confirmed that no decision would be made until the findings of the EQIA Public Consultation were summarised & made available to her. We are, however, very encouraged by today’s proceedings & we will continue, on your behalf, to concentrate our efforts on political & legal response.
We will, keep you advised of progress made, including budgetary information, as & when this becomes available. The rhsprepfunding.blogsite.com remains the best & most immediate source of updates, especially if you subscribe by clicking at the top of the Homepage. Further mailshots & parents’ meetings will also follow, as appropriate.
In the meantime, could parents please return any outstanding questionnaires, duly completed to Michelle Edgar at John Ross & Son Solicitors, Frances Street, Newtownards. Should you require a blank questionnaire for completion, please give Michelle a call on 02891 813173. A reminder also that outstanding contributions relating to Counsel’s opinion should be forwarded to Michelle Copeland & Lucinda McKee at your earliest convenience.
Should you have any suggestions or queries, please direct these to your Parent/School Liaisons:
Nicola Hunter 07971 874940
Sarah Schűtzler 07809 373385
Les Simpson 07803 0164703
Yours
Parents’ Group
This is a posting from the DH website...
ReplyDeleteMonday, March 15, 2010
Democracy at work - heartening
Word will have spread but for those who have not yet caught up,
democracy can work and our representatives have heard us and those
from the other schools. Well done to those who have been in touch
with them so far.
The turnout of MLAs, the debate, the maturity of the cross-party
(almost) engagement and the numbers in the public gallery was all
heartening. We almost got carried away with the moment and were warned
by the Deputy Speaker! A healthy attendance by Prep children too.
The SDLP amendment to the DUP/UU motion was agreed. The SF amendment
was rejected. The amended motion was carried. The Alliance Party in support too.
So what? Well quite a lot but it may take time for the true value of
today to be realised. It is good news but it is not all over. We will
publish more once it is all fully digested.
Have a wee tipple and a small smile tonight. There is still much to do
starting tomorrow. :-)
Posted by Down High Prep Parents at 6:29 PM
Here is another posting from the DH website...
ReplyDeleteA big thank you to them for their review of the current situation.
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
So What? What did yesterday's debate actually mean?
The final version of the motion that was passed in the Assembly is attached here.
So what does this mean? This motion lays out a number of the avenues by which the final decision to remove prep funding may be questioned and reversed, both by the assembly and in the courts: that the decision was made prior to consultation; that the consultation did not meet the legal requirements (the Sedley requirements); and that it is contentious and is therefore a decision for the full Executive (and should be debated in full in the assembly amongst other things). It also then goes on to provide some of the main arguments. Finally, and importantly, it asks for proper discussion to find a way forward.
The Minister states that she has made no final decision in this matter yet. She has a number of options: (1) she could pay heed to the wishes of the Assembly and withdraw the proposal (which on the evidence of yesterday seems highly unlikely); (2) she could pay heed to the wishes of the Assembly and simply refer the final decision to the Executive (which, on the evidence of yesterday seems equally unlikely); (3) she could complete her review of the limited consultation (i.e. her review of the responses to the Equality Impact Assessment) and then either (a) withdraw the proposal, (b) refer the matter to the Executive (based on what she has read and heard) or (c) proceed to a full implementation of her decision.
There are many and bigger issues in education so it may be that she decides to focus on those instead. We shall see.