Nick Binfield, Save Brading School:

This week bought the fear and dread of loosing our school to the forefront of my mind.

I’ve sat in Brading over the last few days listening nervously  to the rain beating down on my roof and watching the weather forecast with increasing dread.

Thinking of next year and the impossible position that the Isle of Wight Council will place me in. 

I’m thinking thank goodness I have a local school to send my child to. 

But next year those at the Isle of Wight Council are potentially removing this choice from me and will force me and countless other low income families into the most difficult decisions.

Next year the council will force me and other parents in Brading to make a choice between three basic rights for our children: education, food or a warm house. 

My child will be forced to walk 1.8 miles to the nearest school in all conditions, already tired and soaked through to the core by the unjust removal of our school.

I simply can’t afford the bus or the train so walking is our only option. 

Imagine my anxiety as I read that Morton Common may again be closed to through traffic.

What are my choices? Walk through flood water or get on a bus or train.

A decision many better off parents will make without thinking yet a decision that will cost me £12 a day minimum.

Indeed a decision that many others won’t have to make as the council prioritises schools in the wealthy villages of the Island.

The reality for me and families like mine is that £12 is our food budget or our electric top up.

By launching an attack on the poorest and most marginalised families, the council will be causing my child to either miss school, miss a warm meal or live in a cold damp house.

All I and dozens of others ask is for you to leave Brading alone, have an understanding of the local context and follow your own guidelines.

Your job as public servants is to support the most needy and vulnerable not further marginalise the most disadvantaged children in the hope we don’t have the means to fight back.