Save Hillside Community First School

Hillside Community First School is the only non- church First School in Verwood. To only have 30 non denominational places is insufficient for the size of Verwood which continues to increase in size from all the new build housing planned. Removing these places will result in less choice for parents. Halving the intake in 2022 will ultimately result in halving the size of the school which will reduce the resources available, this will directly affect my son who still has several years left at the school.

Any requirement to reduce first school places in the village should be shared across the three First Schools and proportionately across the church funded and non-church funded places.

This school is a monument to great education for all children in Verwood. Three of our children went there. Two of our grandchildren go there. Reducing numbers will prevent access to Verwood children in years to come.
The plans are nothing more than an attempt to eventually close the school down to reap the rewards of a land sale for housing.

Hillside have been amzing with my son who has special educational needs. The way they work with him and the additional help and support he receives is second to none. My sons father also died a few years ago and the continued ELSA he has recieved has also been fantastic. I cannot praise the school enough and cant help but feel he would not have received this at the other schools in verwood. For the school to down size and possibly close would be devastating to the pupils who may want/need to come to the school who need this extra support. I also feel to downsize would then impact on funding and the children would also suffer from this. Hillside is well known in the area for its intervention programme and this along with other reasons is why I chose the school above the others in the area. It would also be a shame as those not wishing to go to a church school will be very limited and if they do not get a place at hillside would then be forced to apply for schools outside of the area.

I feel this is very short sighted. Hillside has always been part of the community and Verwood has also been able to give parents options. I feel if this goes ahead, more parents will look outside of Verwood to send their children and this will then impact the Middle school and Upper schools. if parents are driving to Ringwood you might as well drive all your children to Ringwood. I believe that the WAT is looking at parents automatically that don't attend Hillside will go to Verwood First but this is not the case we have other options. Cranbourne, Ringwood, Three Cross, St Ives. Please sign the petition to help keep Hillside in the community.

My son attends HILLSIDE SCHOOL and has been thriving in the inclusive environment and ethos delivered by the great staff at this school.
My son has SEN and these needs are so well met at this school and the way that all the staff and measures implemented is fabulous making it an all inclusive environment and one in which is geared to allowing and affording ALL students the opportunity to achieve with amazing support provided by ALL the staff at every level.

The school has one of the best ethos’s I have ever been part of. Mr HARRISION and his team are a credit to this school and make it a welcoming place to be!

When I heard that they are looking at reducing the intake numbers by such a drastic amount I can say that this has stunned me. This school has exceptionally high standards and this is reflected in the reports posted by OFSTED.
By reducing the size of intakes you are reducing the freedom of choice for the parents and also to allow the children the freedom of thought and expression.
Choice is a fundamental part of life and people shouldn’t feel like they MUST follow a faith style school.
This was one of the main drives for choosing HILLSIDE as it was rights respecting and not faith driven.
By reducing the options to parents and children is not fair and impacting upon people’s right to freedom of thought and expression and religion ,could be considered a breach article 9 of the human rights act.
Parents and children shouldn’t feel like they have to follow a specific path as their is no other options available to them. HILLSIDE fulfil this role and allow children to form their own paths in a positive, safe and supportive environment!

I would urge that the option for downsizing this school is reconsidered to allow the freedom of choice to be maintained and to allow these amazing staff to continue to support other children the way they are my son along with so many others.
I am under no illusion that he would not have thrived as he is here at another school.

I feel very strongly that this is the wrong decision and would unfairly cause damage to a very special, highly valued, friendly, successful school and pre-school, as well as harming the community the school serves.

I’ve worked at Hillside for 14 years and it’s without doubt an amazing community school that has provided education to the children of Verwood for over 50 years. It’s community based so offers a balance to the other religious school with an excellent rights respecting ethos. The staff are vastly experienced and have dedicated many years to making Hillside the best first school
In the area. It is blessed with a beautiful setting , a new key stage 2 building, strong links with the local community and this is reflected in its strong Ofsted reports over the last 15 years.

Hillside is a well established First School in Verwood and I am proud to be a part of the amazing, caring team. I feel it is important to have more community places in the area to offer a greater choice to parents. The team work extremely hard and have a high level of expertise which is essential to this very inclusive school.

Both my oldest children have attended Hillside and have flourished. My son is autistic and Hillside has done a remarkable job of not only helping him but helped me cope and learn to help him the best I can. For other children to miss out on the incredible support and learning aides that are not available in any other school in Verwood would be an absolute travesty. I also have a younger son who would be starting school in 2022 and the thought of him not being able to follow in the footsteps of his siblings and have the same opportunities at Hillside is a horrible thought.

My child currently goes to Hillside and it is such an amazing! school, Mr Harrison and all his staff are so loving, caring and understanding to the children. If there is a problem it is always sorted out. Last year we moved into Verwood my child needed a school place in year 3 we had an appointment to go and look at another school in Verwood which is part of the Wimborne Academy which we did, both my child and I didn’t get the right feeling, so I immediately phoned Mr Harrison who said we could go and look at Hillside the same day, when we arrived we saw Mr Harrison’s Happy smiley face and he was so relaxed and welcoming and both my child and I knew this was the school for him.
I feel that by cutting the admission numbers in 2021 you are not giving the freedom of choice to other parents meaning they may have to choose another school and not the one they would like to choose

My children attend this school & while all three first schools are amazing while looking round them all we felt that Hillside stood out for children that needed a little more nurturing /help. The amount that has recently been spent to modernise the school & house more students would be wasted.

This is the only non religious first school in Verwood. The children learn about all religions at Hillside without being ushered into a particular faith.
It is so important to a growing community to have the option of a non religiously bias school for these young minds.
By the time the children get to middle school, they can then make their own choices of faith to follow or not to follow at all.
Cutting the intake of Hillside per year to 30, when there are another 90 religious school places in Verwood takes away a freedom of choice from our community.
Also, My concern is that WAT has not taken into account the additional housing being built in Verwood over the next several years.
We could potentially have a situation that all 3 first schools are at full capacity & families will be forced to take their children out of Verwood for their education.

Because I believe in the freedom of choice. By limiting numbers you are drastic shrinking the amount of places for people who want a school not linked to a church. I was also part of the governing board that voted to become an academy under the understanding they would not change and embrace the fact we were a non faith school.

The school would suffer staff job losses. There would be less funding for the school which in turn would have a detrimental effect on the remaining staff and children particularly the ones who need extra help!

This school provides a fantastic environment for children to learn and develop. The staff are so nurturing and professional. It'd be a great loss to the community if this school was forced to reduce all its able to currently offer.

With more houses being built in Verwood over the next few years this is a very short sited consultation.
Verwood families should have equality for its children. 90 church school places and only 30 community places does not offer us this.
The WAT clearly does not know how passionate Verwood is about its children and their education.

Hillside is a community school which celebrates all faiths and religions with equal measure. To lose such a large number of places would not give parents and carers equal choice, many will take their children out of Verwood for their child's first school education.
Hillside is more than a School to its children, parents, and staff - its a family.

Hillside is a huge asset to our community, but there has been a severe under funding for it for many years. Temporary huts were replaced at the end of their life span with more temporary huts. This is a good school, and the only non denominational school in Verwood which has a large population. I'm concerned that by reducing the places available, children will be forced to take places in schools outside of Verwood, which isn't ideal for their families for many reasons. Reducing places also had knock on effects for the associated pre school and the wrap around care provided to Hillside children which doesn't seem to have been considered and will severely impact on children & their families.

My children are at the school, it will have a knock on effect on their education.
The school is the only COMMUNITY school in the town, it would be taking away choice for all religions in the town, how is this diversity in the 21st century.
The other schools already have parking issues, so add on a larger intake for the other schools and there will be major problems.
How will this affect siblings, the mental health implications on both children, parents and staff. Possible loss of jobs, the impact on transport to other areas to drop off children if they do not get a place in our area.

My daughter attended this wonderful school for 5 years.
She had the most perfect start in life that's to the facilities, staff and culture of the school

This has to be stopped for too many reasons to voice on here. Family members including recently my own little boy have attended this amazing community non religious school over the past 20 yrs!!! In my opinion no other compares and this consultation has not been thought through with keeping the community in mind.

I cannot believe the the Wimborne Academy Trust are trying to reduce the intake number to the only non religious school in Verwood.

The school spaces are very much needed in a commuter town that is ever expanding. To loose these spaces, and the detrimental effect to the school as a result would be devastating.

Fabulous school

Having 2 young children of school age and being a teacher myself, I think it is important for parents to have a choice of education. If places are reduced at Hillside, they will increase at other schools and this could be detrimental - putting more pressure on them and increasing traffic. With lots of new houses being built, more families are likely to move to Verwood over the next few years!

I recently have just had a baby during lockdown and hillside was the place I wanted them to attend

Hillside has always been an inclusive school welcoming all children as equal no matter of race, colour, religion, rich or poor. Hillside staff work as a team to provide the children with an excellent, sound, all round education providing a good start in life. The school works closely within the community & welcomes many visitors into school from all faiths & walks of life to give a broad & varied hands on experience to enhance the curriculum. Any child with SEND is given the best possible care & support to promote their learning. The Headteacher & staff are always accessible for parents, grandparents, carers & pupils to speak about any concerns or comments they have building a good home/school relationship. The school is set in an idyllic setting surrounded by an SSSI heathland extending outdoor education. The grounds have ample space. It has always been supported by a strong PTA providing fundraising & social events which support the school & funds extra resources. Although not a church based school Hillside’s RE education has always covered a non biased look at all religions with local churches invited to take an assembly thus teaching pupils to make their own decisions & respect others beliefs.

If this school is closed it will never ever reopen and the children of Verwood will have lost the opportunity to attend an excellent local school. Also Hillside school forms an important part of the local community and should not be underestimated the effect proposed closer will have

This school is vital to the Verwood community. This School has provided vital education and support for many years.

Longest running school in verwood needs protecting.