There is some progress at last on the issue of the missing secondary school places in Adur which has meant that a cohort of pupils from west Shoreham have had to travel to schools in Worthing that did not feature in their original choices. Shoreham Councillor Kevin Boram and I have not held back in our criticism of the failure of the West Sussex education department consistently to mess up their school allocation numbers and need to put it right.
We have held meetings with ministers at the Department for Education, will be seeing the regional schools commissioner next week, as well as numerous discussions with the County Council. Sir Robert Woodard Academy have now agreed with the County Council to take 70 additional pupils in September next year which on previous form should address the shortfall although the parental choices just submitted have yet to be fully compiled.
This will give a temporary breathing space allowing the school to consult on redrawing its catchment area to address the west Shoreham ‘black hole’ and find a permanent solution to providing sufficient places in Adur for Adur pupils. My view is that can be achieved by adding to Shoreham Academy on their Middle Road site, as happened over 30 years ago when it was Kings Manor.
To add a bit of colour to my column I chaired a meeting of the Parliamentary Tibet Group last week where we were serenaded by a group of very colourful Buddhist monks from the Gyuto order in Dharamsala in India. Gyuto's monks are known for their unique tradition of overtone singing dating back more than 600 years. Some of the world’s leading scientists from NASA have studied the monks and concluded that they can produce the lowest sounds capable of a human being and that within their overtones subtle vibrations are present.
When chanting or meditating the monks experience extraordinary effects such as being able to raise their temperature by up to 20 degrees, and an absence of any pain. Impressive!
