I have been visiting the secondary school on Sheppey, in all its manifestations, for 30 years. Today I visited the Oasis Isle of Sheppey Academy, as it is now called, and for the first time I did not leave with a sense of sadness and despair for the future education of the Island’s children. There has been a fantastic transformation and I would like to congratulate the Principal, Dave Millar, and his team of enthusiastic teachers and helpers. When the Academy first opened I visited it to help teach a maths lesson as part of the Teach First initiative. I was appalled at what I found. The open plan internal layout was neither conducive to learning, nor discipline. There was an underlying air of anarchy about the place. It was soon obvious to be me that what had been put in place was not the answer to the historic problems surrounding secondary education on the Island and I relayed my concerns to the then principal, who admitted he shared my concerns, but I sensed he felt little could be done to change anything. Earlier this year Oasis took over the Academy and I again raised my concerns with David Millar. He had already recognised the various shortcomings in the school and was determined to act. He has acted and what a fantastic difference has been made in such a short time. When I visited today the sense of anarchy has disappeared to be replaced by an air of calm controlled learning. In our area we have six secondary schools, five of those in Sittingbourne and one on Sheppey. The mainland schools are all, in their own way, excellent, but the school on Sheppey has always been the weak link in the chain. No more. I can now say, hand on heart, that I have six excellent secondary schools in my constituency! My youngest granddaughter attends the Oasis Isle of Sheppey Academy and I have always worried about the standard of education she was receiving. Like every other parent and grandparent on the Island I wanted to see an improvement in both learning and discipline. We are beginning to witness that improvement and I now believe the future education of my granddaughter is in good hands. Thank you Oasis.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 14:08:04 +0000
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