THE Church of England diocese that includes the Isle of Wight has responded to proposals to reorganise island schools.

The Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth’s submission was put together after diocesan officers listened to the views of parents, staff, governors and churchgoers across the island at a series of meetings over the past two months.

The official response of the Portsmouth Diocesan Board of Education has now been sent to the Isle of Wight Council as part of their consultation on the plans.

Of the three options on the table, it favoured option 3, but urged more flexibility from the council on small schools, especially in rural areas. And it insisted that none of its 19 church schools should close without more detailed discussions.

Diocesan director of education Tony Blackshaw said: “The diocese does not, at this stage, agree to the closure of any particular school until detailed discussions have taken place between all interested parties. There needs to be much more discussion about which schools it would be proposed to close and how the rest of the provision is to be provided.

“The diocese agrees with the positive and negative aspects of option 3, as outlined in the consultation document, and would strongly support its implementation. The diocese sees positive advantages in schools being organised in line with other systems, not least because this would encourage the recruitment and retention of staff.

“While supporting one form of entry, we would find it difficult to support more than two forms of entry and would like greater flexibility on school size for some communities, perhaps allowing for some smaller schools in rural communities where need could be articulated.

“Clearly, we support the objectives of the local authority to raise standards, reduce surplus places and provide more cost effective provision. We welcome the whole island approach, but the diocese feels very strongly that there needs to be greater flexibility in the application of minimum sizes for schools.

“The proportion of church school places must be maintained, not least in terms of maintaining their ethos and Christian values, whilst offering diversity of provision and in the interests of building social cohesion. However, the provision of discreet denominational provision in certain areas does not preclude the possibility of joint provision [with the Roman Catholic diocese] being agreed as the consultation proceeds.”