Drummers

Day 22

June 12 2009

The middle school fayre took place today. We went along to see what was on offer. It's worrying how what seems like a few 50P's for coconut shy stalls and tombolas can stack up to a lot of money! But it was all for a good cause. These boys, above, were excellent. A Dorset Samba drum band called Magic drum orchestra. I bet they go down well at festivals and parties, too.

As I was walking around, two things dawned on me. The first thing was that we had to drive to get to the school as it was a long way for little legs and tired parents to walk at that time of the day. A lot of people drove, and the high street was clogged up with traffic. Pretty dangerous conditions for children to be walking to a school in.

The second thing that occurred to me was that this could be the penultimate middle school fayre, depending on what decision Dorset county council make about the future of our first and middle schools. If they decide to change the current three tier system to a two tier system, then there will be closures to the first schools, and the middle school will be rebuilt to accomodate children aged 4 - 11. There will be no middle school, and there will be an increased volume of traffic on the high street twice a day to get the children there and home again. The proposals have included nothing about the money that would be required for road restructuring, and I wonder how many accidents will arise.

At the end of this month, the decision on the proposal will be announced. If it goes against what the majority of locals want, I bet there will be an outcry, to put it mildly. The saddest thing of all, is that all through the proposed review process earlier this year, it became clear that the council's tampering with a well-functioning system threatened the fabric of the community. If two-tier is Purbeck's future, then the community will be devastated.

The soap-box is now empty!