AN ILMINSTER headteacher has spoken out in the ongoing row over quality of education for children in the area.

Last week, as reported in the News, a report from county councillor Linda Piggott-Vijeh highlighted that children with special education needs, those receiving free school meals and children looked after are all performing below standard.

Cllr Piggott-Vijeh was referencing a national report in her argument, and said more needs to be done at a local level to help children.

Now, Claire Oaten, headteacher at Greenfylde, said the school was doing all it could to address the issue, and defended her school.

She said: “Like all schools nationally, we are aware that we live in challenging educational times but at Greenfylde we feel we have risen to this challenge through our breadth of curriculum that responds holistically to children’s needs.

“As Cllr Piggott-Vijeh rightly points out the education of vulnerable groups of children is very important and as schools we do have to find creative ways to address this issue.”

The disagreement was sparked after Cllr Piggot-Vijeh said everyone, including families and schools, should do more to better the educational offering for children in the area, and urged a back-to-basics approach.

Cllr Piggott-Vijeh said: “My personal view is that the message we need to get across is that education is everyone’s responsibility.

“It is easy to blame local authorities and funding cuts, which do certainly have an impact, but all of us can help in many ways.”

Miss Oaten added: “In response to the comments I believe all schools work within that moral purpose of children at the heart of all we do and a strength in Somerset schools is our partnership work between the schools, working together to share ideas and skills to the benefit of children in our locality.

“Rotary come into school and work with pupils on a weekly basis for reading skills and termly our pupils, along with ones from Swanmead and Wadham hold question and answer sessions with the mayor of Ilminster which enhances the children’s social, speaking and listening skills.

“Partnership is the key to moving forward, schools, families and communities have a wealth of resources that together can be used to support our future citizens. Education is changing but this needs to be seen as an opportunity rather than an impossible challenge.”

“At Greenfylde we were very proud to be chosen for the Government’s National Pupil Premium Award this year and this reflects our work using the arts and sport alongside more academic and pastoral support to nurture children’s talents and well-being.

“We live in times when we are educating children for future careers that may not currently exist so need to offer a breadth of transferable and relevant skills.”

For the original story and Cllr Piggott-Vijeh's full comments, click here.