Our campaign gathers strength

We spoke to Bob Marshall-Andrews yesterday, and left with a feeling of cautious optimism. The department for education and the minister Lord Adonis have heard the proposals and the message that S.O.C.K. are telling and the phrase "gradualism" has come in, a sensible, reasonable approach to creating a school with a good chance to succeed that will build a proven structure and culture for the benefit of all the children of the Strood area. - Sound familiar to anyone?

We are in the paper again - this time from as far as the US - surely, there can't be many schools anywhere in the country who are held in this high regard. I hope the cabinet members read the papers more regularly than they read their emails.

Here is the article:

School gains support from across the pond

• Chapter's campaign spreads to America by Hayley Robinson hrobinson@thekmgroup.co.uk A FORMER head girl is supporting the campaign to save Chapter School from her home in the USA. Elizabeth Payne moved to Massachusetts 27 years ago but was disappointed to hear during a recent visit that Medway Council plans to merge Chapter with Temple and form an academy. As a result the 60-year-old former pupil decided to show her support by writing letters and signing an online petition. Elizabeth said: "Why does the council consider it necessary to close both schools and open an academy? Why not merge Temple with Chapter and give these young men the same access to an excellent education? "I did some research (into academies) and was concerned to read that they will help break the cycle of underachievement in areas of social and economic depravation. "Chapter is far from an under-achieving school. The school has built and maintained its reputation over many years due to strong leadership and dedicated teachers. "Change is obviously necessary for Temple but that change should not be at the expense of young women who attend Chapter School." Elizabeth left Chapter when she was 16 but credits her career history, to her education at Chapter. Progressive She said: "I left Chapter with four O-levels, went on to Medway College of Technology in Rochester where I obtained another four and in my 30s I went to university and gained a Bachelor of Arts' degree. "I have been very successful in my career. I credit all this to the faith the headmistress had in her students, the encouragement she and her staff provided and the opportunities made available to us in Chapter. Even then Chapter was a progressive school. I was part of an exchange programme; we were taken to the Old Vic in London and when I was 15 I went on a cruise with students from other schools visiting Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Leningrad." Elizabeth still has links with Chapter. Her sister Christine Coward is PA to the school's head teacher Sue Dore, her great-niece is a pupil at the school while her great-nephew is a pupil at Temple. Public consultation on the academy plan has finished and the plan will be discussed by Medway Council's Cabinet on February 19.

Medway Messenger, 21 December 2007

Some uses for S.O.C.K.s at Christmas

No obvious gags about Santa here - just an update on SOCK activity. For a few reasons (namely the late breaking news that to be included as part of the consulation the remaining petition signatures had to be submitted this week) - a few of the core SOCK folks were able to get the last remaining signatures and the online submissions to Simon Trotter - we presented 1,645 online signatures and 4,402 written signatures - making our total 9,663.

My personal thanks to each and every person who signed, and to those who juggled their time and were able to gather and present these - a MAJOR milestone for SOCK and something we should all be proud of.

We are also busy this weekend - we are talking once again to Mr Marshall-Andrews regarding some of the discussions that have been going on in the government regarding our campaign - and yes - they have been talking about us, our campaign and our family.

Oh and one other thing - back in November I sent a mail to all the cabinet members regarding the public consultation process - I had a few replies at the time - but today I received one saying "Thank you for your letter. I shall forward it as part of the consultation process."

One whole month after I sent the mail!

Might mention that at the next council meeting!

Anyway - I'll post some updates as we go through Christmas - in the mean time - take a look at the Cartoon - published in a national paper!

Merry Christmas

..... more from the petition, people tell it how they see it.

Again - as we monitor and review the petition - we are lifting the anonymous comments from the site - mixed feelings about this since they mean a lot to us - we are just not sure that they mean so much to the council - but they won't sink without trace. I'll happily record them here.

It is total idiocy to close a successful school in order to disguise the failings of a poor one. The staff of Chapter School , its governors and leadership team should be congratulated on their successes. This proposal is a slap in the face not a pat on the back.

I think Miss Dore should be the head of the next school. I would like it to still remain Chapter School . My daughter attends Chapter School at the moment and she says it is a wonderful learning environment and i wish to send my other daughter here too. By then, Temple School would have moved in with us and i wish that she has the highest level of teaching that teachers can supply. I personally dont mind Temple joining but i think that the school would need the councils help and control so therefore, i do not want the school to be an Acadomy which will not be controlled by the council. When the schools mix, i wish that the teachers would have control over all bullying. If anything was to happen to my children or neices then i would want something done about it. By 2009, i would have 3 of my neices and 3 of my children attending this school and i want it to be good for all the children! SOCK IT TO EM GUYS AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

As being a year 7 pupil i think that it is a BIG mastake for chapter and temple merge! I love chapter as it is and our reputation is better than temple and if we do merge our reputation wil go down hill. and it will lose chapter girls attention to there work and they would be more intersted in the boys than anything else. Miss Dore rocks and she has been working her S.O.C.K.S off! WE ARE A CHAPTER FAMILY AND WE STICK TOGETHER! CHAPTER RULES! SAVE CHAPTER!!XX

at chapter we're more than just pupils we're a family...why pull it apart...we all work to the best of our ability to achieve the best we can.. boys can not do that and would bring us down if we was to merge. Grammar schools do well as single sex schools .. the oppertunity to do well should be avaliable to those who don't go to grammar... chapter can offer that so why take it away?? my mum wanted me to come to an all girls school so my education wouldnt be interuped by boys and so i would be able to work to the best of my ability. and that is what i done in my yr 9 sats i got levels 6's and in my first piece of english gcse coursework i got a B. if there were boys in this school my grades wouldn't be what they are now... please don't take that away from me!!!! i love chapter it's my family and the building is my home. why take that away from thousands of us just because the council doesn't want to pay out for 2 schools... well i say don't listen to them because as mr tooland said in an assebmly "we're simply the best" and dont forget that.... i have 1 last thing to say and it goes out to all the chapter family and our supporters S.O.C.K it to em ;) xxxx

i have been going 2 chapter for 4 years now, and i have not been to a better school. it has helped with all my dificltys and made me feel welcome, its like having a big family that you cant abandon, Save chapter.

what really matters is that we get the best education possible. we have some good tachers at our school however if the academy brings alot of money with it it cant be that bad. What i care about is that we are not disturbed in the process of the change.So the ethos of chapter should go ahead but also the best ways of getting a good education. SOCK!!

what is the point in mixing chapter(a good succeding school) with temple(a failing school). It was Rede School long ago and it didnt work. So why just take it back to quare one. You councils need to think what you are trying to do ,closing chapter and breaking up our family. SORT YOUR SELF OUT COUNCIL YOU DONT NO WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

chapter n temple should stay seperate schools, the good standards that chapter has acheived over the years will be trashed if the schools are merged. i was at chapter for 7 years and have seen the acheivements made in that time and its incredable. temple is a school that needs to sort out alot of problems so there standards are level with chapters before they should even consider merging.

I go to chapter and it is a very good school. The education they are giving us is at very high standards. Why close temple and make an accademy, just because the name of the accademy wont be temple there behaviour will stay the same. They can come to chapter as chapter boys BUT NOT A TEMPLE BOYS! SOCKS!!!

Tuesday's meeting

Once again the faithful gathered - tonight we talked about more petitioning this weekend and the public consultation coming to a close this week, there's no time to rest we have some more things to do, some emails to write and consultation forms to return.

If you haven't done so please complete and return yours now.

Even though the public consultation ends this week, there is plenty more for SOCK to do and we intend to keep up the pressure in the new year, right up to and beyond the next milestones, then we see if our voices have been heard.

The feedback we have had to date has been great, and we really think that we are being heard and we hope that we are being listened to, certainly the feedback and the public support we have received from our MP is encouraging.

We did scrooge last week - this week I leave you with some soundbites we have received this week.

One person living close to the school contacted the office because they had heard about the proposal and the SOCK campaign, they said they wanted to know more and possibly offer their signature in support but were unable to leave the house"

So what you might ask?, well, the school were able to go out to them, talk to them, and get their support - that's what.

And finally.............

The school received a phone call form a lady regarding the behaviour of two of it's pupils, apparently the girls were out collecting signatures and spoke to this lady, in her words, "they spoke in detail on the issue, the effect it would have if it went ahead and what the campaign was all about" - they apparently then concluded this with a "polite request for a signature to add to the petition".

Girls - for someone to take the time to contact the school to praise you in this way you must have been very impressive. You have done yourselves, the campaign and our family a great service.

You should be proud of yourselves - we certainly are.

Who said that?

There have been a number of anonymous posts on the petition site, many with well thought out and heartfelt comments.

We (SOCK) have decided that when we present the petition to the council we will only present those entries that have names (and not Shrek, Donald Duck etc.) . In this pruning we reluctantly deleted the anonymous entries - but we wanted to make sure those comments got a chance of airing - so I reproduce some of them here - as is - as they were entered.

They tell a story - hopefully one that we can continue to tell as Chapter develops in the future.

i have been at chapter for 4 years now and i am in yr10. before i came chapter i was very worried and unsure about my life in the future. now i actually have in mind how well i might do in the future with my gcse results. i have grown up here with my friends and the teachers of chapter family and it will be such a shame to ruin what the teachers, staff and miss dore have built up in this school for many many years. before i came to this school my older sister attended here, her gcse results were very succesful and is now attending yr12 sixthform. if the council have the money to build an academy why not keep chapter as it is now, knock down temple and build a new school on the temple site for girls and boys and those who want to go there can apply. Support Our Chapter Kids!


although i understand that a change has to be made to these schools the year seven students that have just joined have to be able to finish theyre education before any of this can take place. I went to chapter school from 1999 to 2004 and i really enjoyed it there, i am now at the University of Leeds studying Performance Design, so i know that good things can come out of that school


PLEASE DONT MERGE THE SCHOOLS!! just put money into helping temple! get them a new headteacher and bring more discipline to the boys!! Chapter should not have to be bought down with temple because they cant sort themselves out!! its not fair and the councilors are just looking for a simple solution and WE ARE IT!! we are not a scape goat! we are a family! the teachers are our friends as well and they believe in us and have made us who we are today LEAVE CHAPTER ALONE! SORT TEMPLE OUT!!!


I think Miss Dore should be the head of the next school. I would like it to still remain Chapter School. My daughter attends Chapter School at the moment and she says it is a wonderful learning environment and i wish to send my other daughter here too. By then, Temple School would have moved in with us and i wish that she has the highest level of teaching that teachers can supply. I personally dont mind Temple joining but i think that the school would need the councils help and control so therefore, i do not want the school to be an Acadomy which will not be controlled by the council. When the schools mix, i wish that the teachers would have control over all bullying. If anything was to happen to my children or neices then i would want something done about it. By 2009, i would have 3 of my neices and 3 of my children attending this school and i want it to be good for all the children! SOCK IT TO EM GUYS AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!


It is total idiocy to close a successful school in order to disguise the failings of a poor one. The staff of Chapter School, its governors and leadership team should be congratulated on their successes. This proposal is a slap in the face not a pat on the back.


at chapter we're more than just pupils we're a family...why pull it apart...we all work to the best of our ability to achieve the best we can.. boys can not do that and would bring us down if we was to merge. Grammar schools do well as single sex schools .. the oppertunity to do well should be avaliable to those who don't go to grammar... chapter can offer that so why take it away?? my mum wanted me to come to an all girls school so my education wouldnt be interuped by boys and so i would be able to work to the best of my ability. and that is what i done in my yr 9 sats i got levels 6's and in my first piece of english gcse coursework i got a B. if there were boys in this school my grades wouldn't be what they are now... please don't take that away from me!!!! i love chapter it's my family and the building is my home. why take that away from thousands of us just because the council doesn't want to pay out for 2 schools... well i say don't listen to them because as mr tooland said in an assebmly "we're simply the best" and dont forget that.... i have 1 last thing to say and it goes out to all the chapter family and our supporters S.O.C.K it to em ;) xxxx

Please do not close Chapter school for girls. My daughter started there in September and is very happy and settled. It was a big decision for me to send her to this school,as it is five miles from our home.I believe it to be the best single sex school in the area,and trust the 'family'ethos that Miss Dore promotes.To close this wonderful school and all it stands for must be wrong!


I wholly and totally oppose the proposal to merge the two schools. We recently successfully fought closure of our childrens small Primary school. We firmly believe in Parental choice, and know only too well the value of a caring ethos and almost 'extended family' feel, which may not be the most cost effective option, but surely the next generation are worth investing in! Bigger is not better, no matter how much money is thrown into the collective pot! Help the failing school, sure, but not at the expense of a good one.

Dare I say it - the council's proposals were regarded as "HUMBUG"

As promised some photos from the weekend - final score still to be announced but we expect it to be over 1300 - a very successful weekend.

Many thanks to those who attended and those who signed.

What the "Dickens"

S.O.C.K. were out at the Dickens' festival in Rochester today. Very successful day with folks asking to sign the petition having already heard about the campaign and wishing to make their feelings known.

We have some photo's coming and we will update the site when we can.

Another demonstration of the depth of feeling in and around Strood. Combine this with positive feedback we have been hearing about how our campaign is being received and I think S.O.C.K. Has had a good week.