MP and Council Leader call for Seaford Head to keep Sixth Form for a further year

9.20.07am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 12th Nov 2007

Seaford MP Norman Baker and town council leader Jon Freeman have called for plans by Seaford Head college to close its sixth form to be put on ice for a year to allow time to find a way to keep the provision going.

The two Lib Dems made the call at a rally of parents and students at the Salts recreation ground on Saturday. Norman Baker has already raised the idea with Matt Dunkley, head of children's services at East Sussex County Council, and will later this week meet the head teacher and chair of governors at the school to press the idea.

Norman Baker says: "It is clear that the town wants its sixth form to be retained and frankly, it is difficult to understand how a town the size of Seaford, with 25,000 people cannot support a sixth form when much smaller communities such as Ringmer appear to be able to do so. I am also concerned that the decision to suspend the sixth form has not been subject to any sort of proper discussion with parents, students or locally elected representatives. In my view, this all suggests that the right way forward now is for the plans to suspend the sixth form to be shelved for a year, and for meaningful engagement between the college and the local community to take place, with a view to finding a way to deal with the school's legitimate concerns about funding."

Jon Freeman adds: "I have discussed the matter with the school, and they are concerned that there are not enough students enrolled for the sixth form, even though numbers are up on last year. It is also the case that with the government planning to require all students to stay in education until 18, and with the general growth of the town, numbers in future years are likely to rise further. All this suggests to me that the matter needs to be further considered before drastic action is taken and I think Norman's idea of a one-year breather is a sensible one that I hope the school will support."