From St Mary-the-Virgin Parochial church Council members June Davison, Nigel Elton Walters, Joan Solomon, Catherine Davis, Rev. Bevaly Rackett, Anne Corby, Brian Cadoret, Stewart White, Jonathan Norton, Christine Wood, Sylvia Beardsmore and Margaret Downer:

We are writing on behalf of Brading Church of England Primary School.

As the local community’s church we are extremely concerned at the potential knock on effects of this planned closure.

We work closely with the school and its headteacher, Beverley Gilbert, providing assembly services every half term, with key services at Easter and Christmas in church.

We have always been deeply impressed by the level of professionalism and commitment and know the school did very well at its recent SIAMS inspection.

A faith school offers more than just Christian doctrines. It fosters team work, mutual respect, responsibility and community values, from which every child, of whatever faith, can benefit.

We are aware that the CE policy is that if one faith school closes another must be offered nearby. The likely candidate is the Bay CE School in Sandown, 1.8 miles away.

This means the children will not qualify for transport provision, as it falls below the two mile limit.

Brading has the highest number of children qualifying for free meals on the Island.

These families will not manage four bus fares a day.

A related issue is the one of regular flooding in winter months along Morton Common Rd - 52 days last autumn/winter.

Unless this was tackled via the Environment Agency, Island Roads and RSPCB, any such plan would flounder.

Commuting to St Helen’s would be more difficult and it is dubious if the school could take our 149 pupils.

The quality of a child’s education not only depends on teachers but also the environment and support systems in place.

A long journey by public transport or on foot in the rain, as has been suggested by the council, would impact on this.

Brading has been rated “good” for its last two OFSTED inspections.

The attainment levels have been slowly rising since the Coronavirus epidemic, unlike some other schools.

It has been fully subscribed. It has new buildings, extensive land, and a kitchen with catering staff. It provides wrap around care from two to 11 years. It is financially viable.

We have the highest number of special needs children, outside of a specialist school, on the Island.

The teachers go the extra mile and have an enviable reputation. They are loved, respected and trusted by the parents.

As the community church we also have to consider other corollaries which may not have been included in deliberations.

The village shop relies heavily on the school. We have already lost the butcher, the post office and the GP surgery.

Brading Community Partnership (BCP) run very successful youth clubs and Duke of Edinburgh Award schemes.

Our award-winning bellringers are successfully training some of the youth group to ring.

These activities will be threatened as children are split off in different directions, to new schools and make new allegiances.

It tears asunder community ties and dissipates existing cohesion.

Brading lies on the edge of the Bay Area, which is itself deprived.

This whole region lags behind the rest of the Island in investment and infrastructure.

Please do not rip out the heart of this loyal and deep knit community.

We do not believe closing the school will help to drive up standards.

Children who have not had the time or the money for a proper breakfast will be in even less of a position to engage with school lessons and learn.

They will lose time adjusting to an unfamiliar environment.

Local schools, with smaller class sizes are much more conducive to good learning.

We believe other ways of saving money must be considered with school closures as a very last resort.

We have been told there are other options, including federating with another school, and urge the council to consider these.