In reply to UKC News:
You can use the email address enquiries@tollbaredge.org to send emails to them. I suggest everyone fires off a quick one-liner, or more if you have time. I suffer slightly from keyboard-before-thought syndrome, so here's mine:
To whom it may concern,
I have recently read your very profoundly inspiring vision statement, in particular the opening paragraph, which states:
"The Tollbar Edge vision for the Tollbar Edge Cleethorpes Academy comes from the concept of an Academy at the centre of its community, designed to raise aspirations through the provision of excellent education and the delivery of the Every Child Matters agenda. The new Academy, in partnership with Tollbar College, would work with both statutory and voluntary local partners, continue to promote extended learning facilities for adults as well as students and would seek to develop further a range of extracurricular activities including sport and performing arts."
In fact if I'm honest I haven't read the rest of your statement, as I assume it is just as dishonest as the first paragraph, and I've got better things to do.
I wonder if you could enlighten me as to how evicting an active, volunteer run, community based, local climbing club, promoting extracurricular activities and sport, at the centre of the community, which has been actively raising aspirations for over 20 years, fits with this statement? Could you also tell me in what way the voluntary local partners were consulted prior to the decision being made?
I look forward to your timely response,
Andrew Simpson
(a concerned climber, concerned both at the precedent this sets for "self governing" academies and at the example the blatant dishonesty of the PR spin blowing forth from your website will set for the students you are going to be teaching.)