Isle of Wight Council will publish a two part statutory notice for its proposal on the future of Kitbridge Middle School at 8am this morning 17th July.

Following an Ofsted inspection in February this year during which the school was judged to require special measures the council proposed to discontinue Kitbridge.  The school site would then become part of Downside Middle School.

Full details of the notice will be published on www.iwight.com

Part 1 of the statutory notice provides details of the council’s proposals to discontinue Kitbridge Middle School on 31 August 2008. Part 2 details the local authority’s intention to make an alteration to Downside Middle School from 1 September 2008.

Within six weeks of the publication date of the statutory notice, written comments can be made to Isle of Wight Council in respect to Part 1 of the notice.

Within four weeks of the publication date of the statutory notice, comments can be made in respect to Part 2. All comments should be addressed to Duncan Mills, Principal Adviser (0 - 13), Isle of Wight Council, County Hall, High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 1UD.

Meanwhile, Ofsted has just published a monitoring report following the inspection carried out at Kitbridge Middle School in February, after which it was placed into special measures.

Director of Children’s Services Steve Beynon said

“I am pleased Ofsted has recognised there are immediate improvements being made at Kitbridge Middle School since it was placed into special measures in February, although there is still much work to be done.

I am also happy that the government’s inspectorate has acknowledged the effort and hard work of the local authority in assisting the school during what is a challenging time for staff, pupils and parents.

Anyone associated with Kitbridge can see from the report that there are due to be a number of exciting changes to many aspects of the school beginning in September, including a new look curriculum, as the council continues to press ahead with its proposals to expand Downside Middle onto the Kitbridge site”.