A very big thank you

Dear Parents & Guardians

The Board of Governors' letter on Friday 23 April was a welcome summation of the sentiments & determination felt by the whole school following the announcement at the Education Committee at Stormont last week.

As a Parents’ Group, we want to add a huge ‘thank you’ of our own to you all. As a small working party we have been highly reliant on your support, timely response to calls for action &, above all, your ability to hold your nerve throughout a stressful few months. We very much appreciate the trust you placed in us & in the information & advice we provided. Testament to this has been the net minimal disruption to pupil numbers & the new pupils joining the school throughout this turbulent period.

Above all, we appreciate the barrage of letters & emails you sent to DENI & other external bodies, MLAs & to OFMDFM, both initial letters & follow up letters, to keep the pressure up. You should be under no illusion, that without this we would not be where we are today, as it was clear that it was not just the volume of correspondence, but the personal arguments posed which were crucial to the outcome. Recent soundbites from OFMDFM indicate this has been the most professional & aggressive campaign & lobbying they have EVER seen & we understand the correspondence received by OFMDFM numbered in the thousands! Do stand back, think about this & be proud that you, the people representing 1.5% of the pupil population of Northern Ireland, did this & that in doing so, you have invested in your childrens’ future educational rights & standards.

It is with some sorrow that we will see RHSprepfunding.blogspot.com wind down in its current form. We have, however, decided not to kill it off completely as, now established, we feel it may be a useful communication tool for wider ‘prep communications’ in future. Watch this space!

Please also be reassured that the Education Minister is certainly not off our radar! We continue to be vigilant & liaise on the political, inter-prep school & legal fronts, maintaining the relationships & completing the work of recent months

Regards

RHS Prep Parents’ Group