Brockham School Name Change
A meeting was held last night, Thursday 17th June, to
discuss the name change from Brockham School to North Downs Primary
School. The meeting started at 19:30 and was chaired by Roger
Hammond; members of the Temporary Governing Body were represented
by Richard Prophet and Nick Caddick.
Around 70 people attended the meeting, many whose children and
grandchildren have been to Brockham School.
Richard Prophet stated that it was necessary to merge, Brockham,
Betchworth and Leigh Schools and that a new name would unite the
three schools and reinforce strong bonds between the villages. One
parent explained that it was accepted the schools needed to merge
and thanked the TGB for all the hard work they have put in,
but couldn't see why the names of the schools had to change.
One resident pointed out that Brockham School would lose
it's identity and that the North Downs covers a vast area and not
just Brockham, Betchworth and Leigh.
Another parent suggested if the name of the school had to be
changed, why couldn't it be called Brockham Acorns with the other
two schools retaining their names. The TGB explained that a
competition had been held in the school with pupils being asked to
suggest a new name for the school but had only received 12 replies.
Many parents said they knew nothing of the competition and did not
receive the letters sent home with the children. Other people
suggested the lack of replies meant the children didn't want the
name changed.
Richard Prophet said he would be speaking to the other members
of the TGB to convey people's views but could not commit to any
decisions.
The meeting finished at 21:00.