WHARFEDALE'S three middle schools will be abolished as result of Bradford's on-going education review.

Other schools in the area face the threat of closure as the local education authority plans to change from a three, to a two-tier system of education.

The massive upheaval in the school system is an attempt by education bosses to raise standards and lift Bradford off the bottom rung of the national education ladder.

But for the Ilkley Pyramid of schools it has been condemned as an exercise in major disruption designed to divert much-needed resources from high-achieving outlying areas to failing inner-city schools.

Heads, teachers and governors in Ilkley are remaining tight-lipped about the decision, prefering to wait until more details are forthcoming.

In a statement issued on behalf of the heads of the Ilkley Pyramid, Peter Wood, head of Ilkley Grammar School, said: "All Bradford head teachers were informed by the director of education and members of the review team that they were recommending a reorganisation into a two-tier system of education throughout the authority from September 1, 1999.

"This recommendation will be placed before the Bradford education committee of elected members on March 24 and before the full council later on the same day. Detailed implications for the individual schools will be made known on March 30.

"Throughout the entire process the Ilkley Pyramid of schools will work closely together to maintain the present high standards of education."

The proposals, almost certain to be approved by Bradford Council next week will lead to a widespread closure of between 50 to 70 schools in the district as a whole. The move will bring Bradford education authority into line with more than 90 per cent of the rest of the country.

It follows a ballot of parents in which two-thirds out of a total of 20,000 were in favour of going two-tier.

Ilkley district and parish councillor Anne Hawkesworth claimed that the review was conducted in order to justify a money-saving policy already decided by the education bosses.

She told the Gazette: "Those conducting the education review process and the consultation were given a remit by the Labour group from the start - that was to prove a case for two-tier education. The purpose was said to be to improve standards - the reality was to make cuts by closing schools."

Coun Hawkesworth warned that local authority policy aimed to produce a common denominator of education standards, driving the lowest up while at the same time lowering the excellent - as in the Ilkley Pyramid - down.

"It is therefore not surprising that 2,200 Wharfedale parents opted 'to be left alone,' she said.

"They are fearful of losing a successful formula, and of the turmoil and upheaval of installing a two-tier system that would be created not only for the youngsters within the system but also the communities adjacent to the buildings.

"Shops will suffer from loss of trade if one of the Ilkley First Schools closes. In our naivety we must not imagine that it is only the middle schools which will disappear - we can also prepare ourselves to say goodbye to some smaller schools," said Coun Hawkesworth.

Parents in Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale and Addingham faced an agonising choice when the options for change were issued by Bradford Council.

One of the three options involved abolishing the middle school system in the rest of Bradford while keeping it in Ilkley.

It would have meant leaving the Ilkley Pyramid out on an educational limb, resulting in a lack of specialist three-tier teaching staff once the changes had become established. It was also seen to threaten fairness in resource allocation.

Coun Hawkesworth claimed that the ideal solution for Ilkley would have been to go it alone under the grant maintained system whereby schools could opt out of local authority control, but under the present Government, this option is no longer available.

Ilkley's Labour MP Ann Cryer is less pessimistic about the changes and personally favours a two-tier system, although she said she understood that the Ilkley Pyramid of schools would face their own particular problems in changing.

Mrs Cryer said: "Once we know what the concrete effects on Ilkley schools are, I will be willing to meet with the heads and make representations on their behalf."

The schools review team has recommended the two-tier option largely because Bradford has fallen out-of-step with the National Curriculum, the Government and the rest of the country.

It was felt that attempts to improve standards in Bradford classrooms were hampered severely by breaks in the curriculum, particularly at two key stages of children's education.

But Coun Hawkesworth's colleague on the Tory group at City Hall, education spokesman and Rombalds councillor Dale Smith, has described the education changes as a 'pig in a poke' which will be dumped on school governors to manage.

Coun Smith said: "Consultation' over the school review is dogged by poor information and leading questions. Teachers are being destroyed by the lack of esteem they are being given.

"The vast majority (fortunately) are competant professionals delivering first class results, the majority believe that their severest limitation is lack of resources at the chalk face. Are they correct in this?"

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