For three months, Godshill Primary School has, alongside five other schools, lived with the distinct possibility of closure at the end of the current school year. Late last night in the Isle of Wight council chamber, to loud applause from the public gallery, the council cabinet decided that Godshill would be removed from the list of six schools destined to be closed.
It has been a huge Godshill team effort that has seen the council turn its back on the closure recommendation produced by their team over the past year. The school’s staff and governors along with a very effective team of parents and supported by the Godshill community, primarily via Godshill Matters have used their combined expertise, knowledge and contacts to convince Councillor Bacon and his education team that Godshill has a vital role to play in the rural centre of the island. Thanks must also go to our ward councillor, Suzie Ellis, for all her efforts in putting forward the case to her fellow councillors.
It looks as though, with the proposed demise of Wroxall and Arreton, we will see the growth of Godshill Primary. Hopefully it will be able to incorporate many of the strengths and characteristics of Wroxall in what would effectively be a merger of the two schools. Prior to recent changes, Godshill and Wroxall were linked politically and now it looks as though they are to be linked educationally. Some might suggest that it is now time for the new and larger establishment to get a new name.
It has been suggested within the Godshill Matters community group that the lantern parade which was to be the centrepiece of Godshill Christmas Cracker last weekend, could now be part of a celebration for the future of Godshill Primary and the Godshill community in the new year.
Over the past month, the school, the scouting groups and residents have been making willow and tissue lanterns, illuminated by LEDs. Until the storm caused its postponement, there was to have been a lantern parade through the village followed by singing around the Christmas tree led by the school choir.