Last week it was announced that students at Oxford School made more progress than at any other school in the county and the school is in the top 25 per cent nationally for improvement.

Surely, this must make county councillor Michael Waine reconsider his attempt to close the school down?

He claims that “this is not about pushing any agenda, but rather… to improve the attainment of the young people served by the school”.

This is exactly what the governing body and staff of the school have done, as evidenced by the children’s results, and yet Mr Waine has seen fit to remove these governors, because of their opposition to his plans for an academy.

Educational improvement comes about through the hard work of professional educators, working hand in hand with the community they serve, not through the meddling of politicians with their own motivations.

Worse, it seems that local people are unlikely to be given any choice, if a new sponsor is found.

Mr Waine has already stated that: “While cabinet decisions are informed by consultation outcomes they are not driven by a simple arithmetical analysis of responses”.

Apparently, there is a need for responses to be “evaluated and weighted” and “final decisions need to be driven by the cabinet’s wider objectives”.

As far as I can see, this all adds up to the county council making the decision and local people living with it.

Maybe it’s time people wrote to Mr Waine and told him what they think of his proposals?

GAWAIN LITTLE, President, Oxfordshire NUT, Pinnocks Way, Oxford