Whilst I applaud the decison to close both Oaklands and Millbrook schools.........why open them again ?

You can pour as much money as you like into these areas but the places will still be infested with scum. Nothing will improve until you eradicate the mindless morons from these areas.

Just look at Cantspell - how much money has been spend there but it still has the same old rubbish going there so nothing will get better.

I think its is very narrow minded to tar everyone with the same brush. I have a child attending Oaklands and whilst they may be a minority of pupils who had behavioural problems, the majority are working to eradiate mindless attitudes like yours. Its these attitudes which do not help children's mental positive image. I lived in this area for a while and I can assure you I or my family are not scum - this term is very offensive

What is your solution then? Where and how would you educate these children with a view of increasing both pupil and social standards of behaviour. I think judging from your comments you could maybe do with enrolling! Half wit.

Einstein wrote:
What is your solution then? Where and how would you educate these children with a view of increasing both pupil and social standards of behaviour. I think judging from your comments you could maybe do with enrolling! Half wit.

this comment aimed at the first half wit commentator

the main problem with the area is people from out side the area,passing though that cause the biggest problems.dont for get that have kids that come from all over where they been refuse for a school in there local area.and yes even from chillworth

Woolston School had:
The larger number of pupils.
A larger catchment area.
Was more centrally located.
Achieved the higher grades.
Had the most investment in new buildings.
Was a Language College with other schools benefitted from.
Was already a mixed school.
Had a higher number of staff.

Yet they closed it down in favour of Weston Park Boys, sorry Grove Park, it had to be re-named as it had slipped so far.

What a sad age we live in.

It's the last chance for education in Southampton. For many parents the schools simply aren't good enough- hence why so many go to Romsey, Mountbatten, Kings, Thornden, Wildern and Hamble.

Why should parents settle for second best? why should kids with behavioural problems take all the funding from the brightest who deserve the chance to excel at the highest level? and as for those in the middle? they deserve the biggest chunk of money because they really are being sold short.

for all those who think oasis maybe a good thing.bear this in mind,my son took his options and had a meeting to discuss without any changes taking place to what we/he decided.two weeks later his options were changed without discussion or parental involvement to include extra (on top of gcse) religious education studies,pushing aside a an ict short course

there manifesto says
1:Freedom of choice!
2:we need to embrace ict as a 21st century tool

my son has been denied both of these.oasis don't want to hear my concerns and will NOT speak with me on the subject

You decide if you want your kids in these schools!!

that is so wrong of them angry,religious education studies should be kept out of schools if a person whats this then theres to church on sunday where it can be done,its all about religious brainwashing when its enforce on kids

oasis 5 acres typical echo getting facts wrong.
30 acres was 35 acres until council sold some of the public greenbelt land to a tennis club (now david lloyds), leave the schools as they are. Bad enough they cut millbrook school inhalf and made a packet on housing.
If Oaklands gets flattened no swimming pool for the public.

No more kite festival and where are the coastguard and hampshire air ambulance going to land eventhough there is a landing platform ontop of the west wing at the hospital.

Make me mad wasting taxpayers money.

In 10 years we will need more schools when the baby boom catches up.

southampton schools have always been awful and will be ever thus.the labour govt thinks it can change things by throwing money at everything , by giving new posh sounding titles to schools(and the new so- called "universities")and dumbing down exams- to absolutely no effect.

baz wrote:
southampton schools have always been awful and will be ever thus.the labour govt thinks it can change things by throwing money at everything , by giving new posh sounding titles to schools(and the new so- called "universities")and dumbing down exams- to absolutely no effect.

baz its a mess i know m8 but the problem started back in the 80's,what we need is a goverment with the back bone to turn back the clock.

Millbrook school has failed since the mid 1970s, parents were promised anew school by oasis and the council and now find that planning application has not even been submitted. lots of money being spent on gimmicks - spend the money on better teachers and compulsory parenting classes for the parents of those kids that are troublesome.

been there - done that wrote:
Millbrook school has failed since the mid 1970s, parents were promised anew school by oasis and the council and now find that planning application has not even been submitted. lots of money being spent on gimmicks - spend the money on better teachers and compulsory parenting classes for the parents of those kids that are troublesome.

Absolute nonsense - Millbrook School hasn't failed since the '70s.
I and many of my friends left between '80 and '86.
We are 75% graduates who are a mixture of Company Directors,University lecturer,Healthcare professionals,
Policeman and 2 architects.
I'm sure that there are many other success stories eminating from all of the schools mentioned.

Where I work you 'can-tell' where some of the worst go to school, BUT, its not the kid's, they pick-up the message from their parent(s) or carer(s)and the one-eyed babysitter in the corner, without those influences most would be ok.
As for Thornden and all the other so called 'good' schools, lift the lid, they have problems too, but are better at hiding them!

I find it very amusing that Bellemoor is being renamed Upper Shirley High. Sounds like something from a Disney Film. I left Bellemoor in 1994 and it was no DIsney Film!

angry wrote:
for all those who think oasis maybe a good thing.bear this in mind,my son took his options and had a meeting to discuss without any changes taking place to what we/he decided.two weeks later his options were changed without discussion or parental involvement to include extra (on top of gcse) religious education studies,pushing aside a an ict short course there manifesto says 1:Freedom of choice! 2:we need to embrace ict as a 21st century tool my son has been denied both of these.oasis don't want to hear my concerns and will NOT speak with me on the subject You decide if you want your kids in these schools!!

what do you expect when the "chief executive" is REVEREND Steve Chalke.

Seems to me that the echo missed out the important REVEREND bit in their article today.

the schools should concentrate on needed skills, NOT misinterpreted, misrepresented 2000 year old texts.

I'll be doing everything o make sure my son has to go to neither of these schools.

Stop paying young slags to have babies and all education problems will be gone in a matter of years

angry wrote:
for all those who think oasis maybe a good thing.bear this in mind,my son took his options and had a meeting to discuss without any changes taking place to what we/he decided.two weeks later his options were changed without discussion or parental involvement to include extra (on top of gcse) religious education studies,pushing aside a an ict short course there manifesto says 1:Freedom of choice! 2:we need to embrace ict as a 21st century tool my son has been denied both of these.oasis don't want to hear my concerns and will NOT speak with me on the subject You decide if you want your kids in these schools!!

it's their not there!

IT's a pointless subject anyway as it doesn't teach you how to set formuli on Excel, or any sort of programming. It's because kids aren't taking academic subjects like history, geography, RE and languages they languish behind kids from posh schools.

Non-christian children (and there are many in Southampton) are likely to get a raw deal at these Reverend Steve Chalke schools . Parents should be prepared to take appropriate action (legal, if necessary) at the first hint of religious discrimination.

Some parents will not want their kids to get involved in clappy-happy evangelism.

Bob444 wrote:
Non-christian children (and there are many in Southampton) are likely to get a raw deal at these Reverend Steve Chalke schools . Parents should be prepared to take appropriate action (legal, if necessary) at the first hint of religious discrimination. Some parents will not want their kids to get involved in clappy-happy evangelism.

Where's the evidence? Plenty of non-catholics send their kids to St Annes, St Georges and St Mary's College. Such bigotted views of Christians, spread no doubt by the left, would not be tolerated if it was about a different religion.

Back up your evidence before you make such sweeping statements. Perhaps if more people followed Christ we'd have a lot less crime in this country for starters.

Condor Man wrote:

Bob444 wrote: Non-christian children (and there are many in Southampton) are likely to get a raw deal at these Reverend Steve Chalke schools . Parents should be prepared to take appropriate action (legal, if necessary) at the first hint of religious discrimination. Some parents will not want their kids to get involved in clappy-happy evangelism.

Where's the evidence? Plenty of non-catholics send their kids to St Annes, St Georges and St Mary's College. Such bigotted views of Christians, spread no doubt by the left, would not be tolerated if it was about a different religion. Back up your evidence before you make such sweeping statements. Perhaps if more people followed Christ we'd have a lot less crime in this country for starters.

I am an atheist. All three of my children went to a local church school and they never got a raw deal. They got a decent education and had some good values instilled. Perhaps the most important of these was respect for others. The ethos of the school was good in this regard. Yes, they had to put up with a bit of bible bashing and praying and worshipping in assemblies and sometimes in class too but that aside they got a lot of good out of the school. The only thing I didn't like is that the fact they were at a church school meant that we did feel we had to keep quiet about our own views in case it caused problems for our children. We told them not to make any decisions about religion until they were older but to listen and question and not take a teacher's word about religion as 'gospel' and then to make up their own minds when they were old enough. Dogma (religious or otherwise) is the root of many problems in this world, past and present. It is plainly wrong for religion (or any other dogma) to be thrust upon children but if they are stong enough mentally to make up their own minds then it shouldn't be a problem for children to attend church schools here. The problem with a lot of schools these days is the size of them. They get so big that the teachers just don't have the time to devote to anyone who is falling behind. As parents we have a responsibility to make sure that our children take some responsibility for their own education and to make sure they keep up.

The reason why children fail is in part due to a lack of parental support. For 11 years we've had a government that has encouraged liberal views on parenting but have failed to enforce responsibility.

Southampton's schools are blighted by poor behaviour and under-achievement. In most secondary schools their GCSE rates are below 50%- the national average is closer to 70%. The LEA have produced poor schools, it's time for a change. Whether they are run by Oasis, McDonalds or Primark is totally irrelevant.

Whats Southampton upto .Were is the Polish School .are kids need to learn about the culture to mix with them all.get a Polish school opened NOW

There is nothing wrong with liberal views on parenting and I think the problem is a lot older than 11 years. Look at what Thatcher said once, "There is no such thing as society." That sort of attitude has as much to do with the problems in schools as liberal views. In my view it comes down to a lack of responsibility and respect on the part of parents and children. As they get older and we begin to give them more freedom kids need to be taught that they must take responsibility for their own decisions and their own lives. Problem is there are a lot of parents who can't or won't take responsibility for their own lives let alone what their kids do. In that regard I suppose Condor Man is right - there needs to be some control from government to help those who can't or won't act responsibly of their own accord.

first of all I take it that Keith Oftergrass, Conderman, Baz Soton will all be standing for council in 2010, when the next city council elections take place, and I take that all three of you will either be standing as Conservatives or BNP with the views that you have on every subject under the sun.

The one danger I see with Rev Steve Chalk running these schools is creating religious biggots. When Oasis first got the contracts, one of the terms of the contract they tried to informce on the teachers was they all had to be Christian, which is against the law, they were made to withdraw that by the City Council. So what happens to the pupils that are Muslim, Sikh, Jew, Hindu, Spiritulist, Catholics are the going to be excluded from those schools. Southampton has traditionally only had two state religous secondary schools, St Annes, and St Georges. They are open to anyone to attend but most of the pupils that attend these secondary schools thier parents are practicing Catholics, so they choose to send them their, plus the head of the schools, must also be a practicing catholic. I believe that they might get some support from the Catholic Diosese because of their status.
As for the City council proposing to build the new school on Five Acres, that is the last piece of green land in the Lordshill area, so where are the football teams, cricket teams, etc going to go then. With the emphasis on getting people healthier etc. It just shows the short sightedness and the lack of joined up thinking.
Finally Keith Oftergrass, you say why re-open Millbrook and Oaklands, well have you not heard of the fact that all children between 5-16 have to go to school, if you close them where do you propose to send the children to be educated.
People like you should seriously think before they put something on here, and find out your facts first, it makes you look alot better.

dave m8 there is some from of council elections every year,next year i belive its the hampshire county elections plus a few city ones to.

People wonder why the youth of today are in such a state as they are....well its because of narrowminded people like Keith Oftergrass with his mindless statement in fact I think you will find Oaklands had one of the best GCSE results in the city not so long ago, just because your parents paid for you to go to private school......

southy wrote:
that is so wrong of them angry,religious education studies should be kept out of schools if a person whats this then theres to church on sunday where it can be done,its all about religious brainwashing when its enforce on kids

Mouthy,

Please come back when you can put a paragraph together in plain English. No doubt a product of one of the aforementioned schools.

"They are open to anyone to attend but most of the pupils that attend these secondary schools thier parents are practicing Catholics"

You are joking, right? No you really believe that. I know a number of cases of parents not telling the truth to get their daughters into St Annes - whether based on religion or musical ability.

There parents have shown their child that dishonesty doesn't pay. We were honest in our application to St Annes for a daughter - she didn't get a place. I sent her to KES instead - where all three of mine now study. Best decision I ever made. They all got in having passed the entrance exam and get to work and play with hard working peers.

They can call Bellemoor what they like but it still has to take in the pond life.

Condor Man wrote:

angry wrote: for all those who think oasis maybe a good thing.bear this in mind,my son took his options and had a meeting to discuss without any changes taking place to what we/he decided.two weeks later his options were changed without discussion or parental involvement to include extra (on top of gcse) religious education studies,pushing aside a an ict short course there manifesto says 1:Freedom of choice! 2:we need to embrace ict as a 21st century tool my son has been denied both of these.oasis don't want to hear my concerns and will NOT speak with me on the subject You decide if you want your kids in these schools!!

it's their not there! IT's a pointless subject anyway as it doesn't teach you how to set formuli on Excel, or any sort of programming. It's because kids aren't taking academic subjects like history, geography, RE and languages they languish behind kids from posh schools.

You got that right. IT (aka ICT) is like learning to wash your hair, clean your teeth or cook. A basic life skill and one that parents should be involved in teaching their children. Schools do not and never have prepared young people for use of IT once they leave school.

Young people need to be shown how to communicate, negotiate, add numbers up and write clearly, for their working life.

Sadly as an employer I see very few of these skills being taught. Our workforce just gets poorer and poorer, year on year.

The state school system just produces McChildren, many with a high fat content.

well big cog you can blame m.thacher for that she change the system and its never been right since.

The Chief Executive of these schools REVEREND Steve Chalke said the following (paraphrased as I can't find the exact quote)

"the current Church is failing, we need to find new community outreaches to spread the 'Word'"

how can we believe that he won't try and force his "god" on our Children.

he all ready has nod they push out sicence lessons for a re lessons
another thing wrong with it ,it's tax payers money going to a school thats has no state controll another words a private school funed by the tax payers

been there - done that wrote:
Millbrook school has failed since the mid 1970s, parents were promised anew school by oasis and the council and now find that planning application has not even been submitted. lots of money being spent on gimmicks - spend the money on better teachers and compulsory parenting classes for the parents of those kids that are troublesome.

OASIS ARE BUYING ALL THEIR KIDS SCHOOL UNIFORM INCLUSING BLAZERS AND TIES. I AM SURE THAT THIS WILL MAKE THE CHILDREN WORK HARDER!!!!NOT...NEW BUILDINGS DO NOT MAKE FOR A BETTER EDUCATION. LOOK AT THE LEAGUE TABLES . ST ANNES IS AN OLD BUILDING SO OS REGENTS PARK

Suburban Outlaw wrote:
People wonder why the youth of today are in such a state as they are....well its because of narrowminded people like Keith Oftergrass with his mindless statement in fact I think you will find Oaklands had one of the best GCSE results in the city not so long ago, just because your parents paid for you to go to private school......

COUNCILLOR BALLIE (EDUCATION SPOKESMAN) SENDS HIS CHILDRREN TO A PRIVATE SCHOOL SO I DON'T SEE THAT HE IS QUALIFIED TO COMMENT OR MAKE DECISIONS REGARDING STATE SCHOOLS.

sotonian wrote:

been there - done that wrote: Millbrook school has failed since the mid 1970s, parents were promised anew school by oasis and the council and now find that planning application has not even been submitted. lots of money being spent on gimmicks - spend the money on better teachers and compulsory parenting classes for the parents of those kids that are troublesome.

OASIS ARE BUYING ALL THEIR KIDS SCHOOL UNIFORM INCLUSING BLAZERS AND TIES. I AM SURE THAT THIS WILL MAKE THE CHILDREN WORK HARDER!!!!NOT...NEW BUILDINGS DO NOT MAKE FOR A BETTER EDUCATION. LOOK AT THE LEAGUE TABLES . ST ANNES IS AN OLD BUILDING SO OS REGENTS PARK

Exactly - better schools attract better teachers, I know who I would rather teach! oasis need to stop the gimmicks and spend on better teachers - i think you were agreeing with me?

Southy, perhaps you did not realise that Southampton is a unitary authority and as such does not have any County councillors in it any more. County councillors ceased to be relevant in Southampton and Portsmouth about 10 years ago.

There are no elections planned. The only way that you will see an election in Southampton next year is if there is a bye election if a councillor stands down. Which from what I have heard there may well be, one of the 18 year old Tories will be standing down as he will be off to university. Hopefully that will be one seat less for the Toreis.

like i said there's are some from of elections most years

Whilst i was a pupil at millbrook we was often told we may close however it never came around,i happen to believe closing millbrook is a good idea as it has always had a "bad" reputation and failing marks on ofsted,
however closing it to re-open it is defeating the objective to get rid of the "dead wood" whcih is what is needed in our schools today,
Whilst i happen to think it should be closed i feel if we have all these schools closing down on us where will our nxt generation of children go? i for one wouldnt be happy sending my child half way accross the city to a school where my child wouldnt be able to reach me if needed in an emergancy,i also feel the council havent put this into much thought at all as they have clearly made this choice purely about money as always