Redressing balance of report
I am writing in reply to your lead story last week about the Ofsted report of Greenhead High School. As a parent of two children there I would like to redress the balance.
Greenhead High School does indeed deal with some very challenging pupils which other schools are not willing to take. However, I cannot praise enough the dedication and care of the staff, not only in dealing with these children, but also in making sure that those who want to learn do not lose out.
My children are currently in years seven and ten. They have both been very happy at the school and have been offered numerous opportunities during their time there. My son who is 12 and has ambitions to enter politics one day is already on the Learning Council and has spoken to inspectors from North Yorkshire about the way the foundation year (year seven) is managed in the school.
He is also a reporter on the school newspaper and an active member of the dance drama club. Despite being the only one from his school to choose Greenhead, he has made a good group of friends and was well cared for by the staff in his first few days.
My daughter, aged 15, is a budding actress and plays a very active role in the performing arts department. She is also highly academic, being one of those children recently gaining a place in MENSA, and is already achieving mainly As and A*s in her GCSE grades, just one and a half terms into the courses. She has had the chance to enter a court competition as a barrister, visited several universities and attended Oxford Literacy Festival, to name just a few of the opportunities given to her. She also participated in the high jump in an inter schools athletics competition, which for a child who does not favour sport was a real credit to the staff of that department.
Any pastoral issues either we as parents or our children have had have also been dealt with swiftly and effectively. Both children feel confident to talk to both teachers and other staff if they have a problem and for us this has contributed hugely to how happy both they and we are with the school.
Fran Grasham Keighley
Warmth and courtesy
I was immensely saddened last Thursday to read your front page feature on Greenhead High School and as a former secondary school teacher myself, I can appreciate that the morale of the staff and students will now be at rock bottom following the report of the Ofsted inspectors.
However, may I just say that during 2006 we were regularly invited to visit Greenhead High and on each occasion, without fail, we were treated by students and staff alike with a warmth and courtesy which should make the school proud.
There was always a lively enthusiasm from the students, a good teaching atmosphere and a high level of attainment shown, especially in sciences and engineering, where I was twice asked to present awards.
We wish to show our support of the school during these difficult times and to hope that a clear way forward can be found.
Cllr Graham Mitchell and Mrs Constance Mitchell Keighley Town Mayor and Mayoress 2006/7.
Excellent improvement
I have been very impressed over recent years with the excellent improvement in GCSE grades at Greenhead High School. Parents I know who have children at the school speak highly of the standard of teaching received and of how well they are doing both academically and socially. One of the young women I'm thinking of is now at university studying law.
So I was shocked to read of Ofsted's judgment and negative comments about Greenhead as reported on your front page last week. The school serves a community which has a considerable share of complex social and economic difficulties.
Ofsted would do a greater service to the education and self-esteem of our young people if it took this into account and also listened more carefully to head teachers before passing judgment.
Annie Williams South View, Haworth
Extremely unfair on pupils
This letter signed by three pupils was sent to the editor of the Keighley News.
We are members of Greenhead High School and we are appalled by the way we have been portrayed and judged in such a short period of time.
It was extremely unfair that the year 11s were assessed, even though many of us were not present for the inspection, due to the fact that we were taking our mock exams.
The majority of the students work hard and are achieving good grades.
This hard work means we have been labelled as a maths and computing specialist school.
Why isn't Greenhead being praised for all the good things, like early entries for GCSEs?
Statistics show that Greenhead has improved on a yearly bases with its results.
We would appreciate it if you would take the time and effort to get to know the school, which can't be done in the space of the few days that Ofsted spent before passing judgment.
Pupils of Greenhead School Year 11
A dereliction of duty
It was with great disappointment I learned last week that Keighley and Ilkley MP Ann Cryer had failed to keep her word to the local electorate by not supporting her party's previous commitment to put the new EU Reform Treaty to a referendum of the people.
When Mrs Cryer stood for re-election in 2005, she did so on the basis of a Labour manifesto which promised the country the referendum it demanded on this document, which is an EU constitution in all but name.
So too did the Conservatives, whose Members of Parliament did keep their promise in Parliament last Wednesday by voting to have a referendum.
As we now know, Labour members did not - including Mrs Cryer.
Her failure to keep her manifesto pledge is a dereliction of her duty to the people of Keighley and Ilkley. I do not believe this will be quickly forgotten.
Kris Hopkins Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Keighley and Ilkley
Pockets of dilapidation
As the railway station and Dalton Lane area has been in the news quite a bit recently I thought I'd write to ask what, if anything, is to happen to the complete eyesore just by the top of Dalton Lane towards Keighley Fire Station?
I refer, of course, to the former premises of British Gas, which have stood, steadily falling apart and completely abandoned, for the best part of 20 or 25 years to my certain knowledge (that is a "guestimate" but can't be very far wrong). If ever there was an argument for compulsorily tidying an area up after a certain time limit, this is it?
The plot is a complete mess - what will it look like when we have a smart, new college building 50 yards away, along with a new entrance or front area to Keighley Railway Station and a new busy Asda store across the road? New shoppers to Keighley will wonder where or what they've come to!
Do we know who owns it - dare they come forward even? Please tell me the machinery for the college or Asda will stray down the road a bit and flatten it! Come on, sort it out. Pockets of dilapidation pull the whole area down. I could name a few more but this'll do to start with.
Kath Gower Lees Bank Road, Cross Roads
Wonderful furniture project
I would like to say that you to Keighley Furniture Project. Over the past three years I have bought a number of items there and have nothing but praise for the staff/volunteers who work there. They are always cheerful, helpful and kind.
Last week I found a wardrobe perfect for my needs and duly paid £5 for delivery. My home does not have direct access from the road so having already carried said wardrobe, large and heavy, some distance, they then discovered difficulties with my stair banister and a rather tight turning on the landing. But they persevered and finally managed to get the wardrobe in. So thank you to Chris and Gary, who went to some trouble.
I am entering a new phase in my life and a more settled one in my new home. I am hoping to go back to work soon, which is good, but once I'm off benefits I will no longer be able to make use of Keighley Furniture Project.
So I would just like them to know I really appreciate the service they run. If anybody has furniture in good condition which is no longer needed, they will even come to collect, so that others can make use of it.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
No response on complaint
In response to Peter Clarke's, of Oxenhope, letter last week, I would like to agree with everything this gentleman has said.
I myself have written to Bradford Council on the subject in the last few months, with no response or acknowledgement of my letter.
Like Peter Clarke I have nothing against the bikers, it is a great venue for them but please cannot someone be a bit more responsible for the rubbish they leave behind.
How anyone can pull in and eat on a sight like this and how much better for our Yorkshire image if tourists saw a well-kept site and youngsters having fun in our good, clean, Yorkshire air.
For a start how about some rubbish bins so at least they had somewhere to put their rubbish.
June Waddington Lane End, Barcroft, Cross Roads
Discuss binge drinking
With the issue of binge drinking still high on the news agenda, it would be refreshing to see some discussion of why young people drink and what can be done about it.
Our young people say they started drinking because their friends drank, they wanted to experiment and they were following the example of family and friends. They also say their parents condoned or didn't care about their drinking.
We believe it's time to find solutions to teenage binge drinking by challenging the problem at the earliest opportunity and giving young people reasons to be responsible. This approach works and will reduce teenage drinking.
Clare Checksfield Chief Executive, Crime Concern
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