Small Schools Are Assets, Not Liabilities, So Let's Protect Them; EDUCATION WALES Mervyn Benford, of the National Association for Small Schools, Responds to the View Put Forward by Professor David Reynolds That Small Schools Cost a Lot More Than Larger Schools but Probably Do Not Deliver More

Byline: Mervyn Benford

DAVID REYNOLDS proposes closure of small schools in favour of larger, area-based substitutes.

The National Assembly rural development sub-committee inquiry strongly endorses his views and now he fronts their cause.

Their report is full of fine phrases, important questions and stern procedural cautions but in our 30 years we have often sensed the sub-plot.

The report ignores abundant evidence of small school effectiveness, including Estyn's, but highlights one minor worry about leadership, the same single point then repeated in the name of a professional association.

In order to justify new, larger buildings with …

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Publication information: Article title: Small Schools Are Assets, Not Liabilities, So Let's Protect Them; EDUCATION WALES Mervyn Benford, of the National Association for Small Schools, Responds to the View Put Forward by Professor David Reynolds That Small Schools Cost a Lot More Than Larger Schools but Probably Do Not Deliver More. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales). Publication date: January 22, 2009. Page number: 38. © 2009 MGN Ltd. COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale Group.

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