OPTIONS for the future of schools in the Stowmarket and Stowupland area have been published today (Monday September 10).

In conjunction with schools in the area, Suffolk County Council is now seeking the views of local people before any decisions are taken.

A consultation booklet, which sets out the options on a school by school basis, is available online and from schools in the area. A series of public meetings have also been arranged for people to come along to and hear more about the options.

Anyone wanting to give their views on the options can do so either via a paper questionnaire or by completing the on line version, available on the county council’s website. All comments must be received by November 9.

The proposed changes would see young people remaining at their local primary schools until the age of 11 before they transfer to a secondary school. This would mean the two local middle schools would close.

Any changes would not happen until at least September 2015 and would take at least a year to complete.

County councillor Graham Newman, cabinet member for education and young people, said: “The recent key stage 2 results showed that schools now operating within the two tier system of education in Suffolk have seen as much as a 19% improvement in some subjects.

“Schools, such as those in Haverhill and Lowestoft, which started reorganisation from three tiers to two tiers in 2007, have achieved a 12% improvement in writing and a 6% jump in maths – in both cases double the rate of improvement across the rest of Suffolk.

“These results demonstrate why there continues to be such a strong commitment from the county council to have all young people in the county educated in a primary and secondary school education structure.

“I would encourage people in the Stowmarket and Stowupland area to get involved with the consultation, give their views on the options set out in the booklet help shape the future of education in the area.”

Two thirds of the county’s three-tier schools have now been reviewed and are either now operating within a two tier structure or will do within the coming years.

The consultation booklet, questionnaire and details of the public meetings can be found at www.suffolk.gov.uk/consultations