“""Jo - not relevant to the current argument but lots of children in the east of the city travel to Corsham and Bradford rather than go to St Marks.""

That may be Si, but it is from CHOICE that they go there, and it also says to me that if THEY choose not to got to St Marks, why should boys from the south side of town be forced to go there??”

“Not about members Jayne. It's about votes, and standing as an independent is a very hard choice to make. Can be quite lonely and quite expensive.”

“Maybe its time to make a new political party up and we could call it 'The Common Sense Party' think we would get loads of members!!”

“Please don't kid yourself Jayne, this is politics your playing with here. Logic and common sense do not even enter the equation. Only the vote count at the next election matters, and those calculations will already have been done.

Politicians of all persuasions at all levels have this ability to tell the voter what they want to hear then do exactly what is needed to maintain their position.

Remember the lies told by MP's across the party's over expenses, lies over wars and Dr Kelly. Then you only have to consider the local scene with the Spa fiasco, the lack and silence of leadership. The unwillingness to listen and act upon obvious c**k-ups such as the bus station and its traffic implications, the BRT nonsense and so the list goes on.

I have been selected to stand at the election next May. I'm not sure now I wish to be tarred with the title 'politician'.”

“Dave Sometimes the obvious answers are just ignored. With the new consultation due out soon we need everyone to give their input and make suggestions of how to solve this mess we find ourselves.”

“Am I missing something in this schools debate?

If the NHS have less patients than the number of beds, they simply close a ward.

If the Royal Navy have an excess of warships compared to the number of crew available or to their requirements, they simply mothball them.

Can schools not do the same? Mothball the surplus classrooms and downsize the staffing and overheads to suit the number of pupils enrolled. Tailor make the school to suit the community it serves.

My apologies in advance, as I obviously know nothing about education, else this would have been part of the consultation process.”

“Tim, Newbridge,
Thankfully my children are not directly affected by these decisions, but I hear what you are saying about the need for a school on the northern side of the city. However, my understanding is that both Beechen Cliff and Ralph Allen are almost full to capacity already, so the children who would have gone to Culverhay will be faced with the same hour walk if they have to go to Oldfield! It's the same problem, just different children. The whole thing is a bit of a mess and feels like a cost cutting excercise without any thought for the long term impact on all these communities. Yet again, this council is being so short sighted and blinkered and decisions are being made by people who do not even represent the city.

Also, as I live on the south side of Bath I use the Culverhay sports facilities. Is Oldfield proposing any sort of facility for local residents?”

“Parent, Thanks for a sensible explanation of the finances of out of authority children.

I stand by my comment that exisisting pupils will not, "on the whole", be impacted. Your daughter will continue to be taught in a single sex class until she enters sixth form. Certainly the impact on her will be less than those unfortunately pupils at a closing school or those pupils who will have to walk for an hour to get to a school.

CH, The proposal of Kim Sparling to allow sidlings of existing pupils a place in the school regardless of where they live is the only sensible, fair and pragmatic way to go. I can see no reason why people who would have otherwise gone to Culverhay won't be able to get places at Oldfield too. A proper co-ordinated plan will see that that their are spaces for all. Remember the extra demand for places following culverhays closure will take arrise gradually over 5 years, during which time the "sibling effect" will have deminished.

There must be a school on the North West side of Bath. If you want to close Oldfield and not replace it with anything, do you really expect kids from Upper Weston to walk to Culverhay or Ralph Allen (1 hours per day of their lives wasted!).”

“Steph and Dave: It's a myth that B&NES and its put-upon council tax payers "pay to educate South Glos girls," and that South Glos and Bristol "take free advantage". The other two councils pay B&NES a per capita fee for each of their pupils attending Oldfield.

I reckon the myth is probably rooted in the days of Avon, when parents from Bristol could - and did - freely send their daughters to "our school" on the west side of Bath to keep them out of the clutches of all those inner-city lefties. I might be wrong.

But South Glos and Bristol don't contribute to Oldfield's capital funding (for new building, refurbishment etc). This is paid solely by B&NES, and is calculated only on the number of B&NES pupils on the roll. This means that Oldfield struggles with capital funding compared with schools who draw a higher proportion of their pupils from B&NES.

Whatever you think of Mrs Sparling, she's undoubtedly a pragmatist who is going to consider every possible source of capital funding to keep the school going. That's why she's so keen on the academy option: it's a bigger source of capital funding.

And whatever the benefits or otherwise of single-sex education, parents in B&NES have repeatedly told the council that they want more co-educational schools.

Prospective parents in B&NES might well think that it would be an acceptable use of their £1.5m to upgrade the facilities at Oldfield, to allow it to go co-ed and to give their sons and daughters a non-denominational mixed education, whether or not Oldfield becomes an academy.

And Mrs Sparling certainly isn't going to turn down a £1.5m offer without careful consideration.

She's manoeuvred Oldfield into what looks like a win-win situation.

(Tim, as the parent of a daughter at Oldfield, I believe she would indeed be "impacted" by a switch to co-education. I have mixed feelings about whether that would be a good or a bad thing, but please don't dismiss the views of existing Oldfield parents - and the education of our daughters - quite so lightly.)”

“Jo - not relevant to the current argument but lots of children in the east of the city travel to Corsham and Bradford rather than go to St Marks.”