A nail in the coffin for the Battersea Free School protesters?
By aloquifique | Monday, January 17, 2011, 17:56
-
Studio Octopi design for 'Bollingbroke School'
-
lobby against Bollingroke Academy
Local parents are a step closer to creating a new state secondary school in south Battersea after the council exchanged contracts to buy the former Bolingbroke Hospital.
The council intends to lease the building to a group of local parents so they can create a new free school on the site.
The school will be open to local children of all abilities and from all backgrounds.
Council leader Edward Lister said: "The new Bolingbroke Academy will give south Battersea its own state secondary school where local parents are free to set the priorities for their children's education.
"We hope this will be the first of many free schools in Wandsworth so children from all over the borough can access this new model of education."
Executive member for education and children's services Kathy Tracey said:
"The new school will help meet growing demand for school places in this part of the borough and offer an exciting alternative to the traditional secondary school.
"As more free schools are created they will help drive up standards right across the education sector as schools compete with each other to develop the best local offer."
The new school's refurbishment and future running cost will be met by central government.
For more information on free schools visit www.education.gov.uk/freeschools.
For more information on the Bolingbroke Academy plans visit www.arkbolingbrokeacademy.org.
/s111794203.jpg?v=11)
Comments
Not wanting to be facetious but Wandsworth are looking for local people to sit on the borough's Independent Appeal Panel for school admissions and exclusions.......
By aloquifique at 12:49 on 25/01/11
ReportIt's going to be discussed again tomorrow morning on BBC London radio - I think a Falconbrook parent may be interviewed at 7.40ish for those who want to hear that side.
By LJBrownie at 23:18 on 18/01/11
ReportThank you for that. That all makes perfect sense and good to know what could be possible. I have a sense that in this 'flagship' Conservative borough, with a 'flagship' Conservative education agenda who, with any real authority is going to listen and say 'you have a point'? It seems like we're all on the Gatwick Express whether we want to be, or not!
By aloquifique at 23:06 on 18/01/11
ReportWe intend to present the petition to the Council - we have nearly 200 signatures online and (I think at the last count) some 500 more on paper. We hope it will trigger a proper debate about education in Wandsworth to ensure that future investment is better planned to meet our community's needs and better targeted towards children who need it most.
My personal view is that there are several possibilities in terms of what can actually be achieved. We hope to influence the admissions policy. For example, to change ARK Bolingbroke Academy's mind about excluding Falconbrook from the feeder schools and instead have 5 feeder schools.
ARK's response to date is to say that Falconbrook (62% of kids receiving free school meals) parents already have Battersea Park School - it's 1.3km away. No mention of the fact that Wix (31% of kids receiving free school meals) parents already have Lambeth Academy which is 1.2km away. We don't think it's right that the small number of parents involved in the campaign and ARK decide who deserves more choice. On BBC London radio this evening, at 17 mins on the tape, a Falconbrook parent is on saying she supported the campaign for a new school and wanted to be part of it and would have prefered a lottery to ensure that a wider mix of kids were included.
In addition, we want to draw attention to the plight of other Wandsworth schools in dire need of buildings investment - if there is £13m in Council coffers for this new school, is other money available for the repairs so badly need in many Borough schools including Chestnut Grove and Graveney?
You are right that this one may possibly be too far down the line to turn back but, given that Wandsworth council has stated its desire to open more free schools in the borough, we want people to register their disagreement and ask the council for proper planning of school place needs in the Borough with admissions policies that are fair for all - which is what the petition says too.
By LJBrownie at 22:42 on 18/01/11
ReportWhat hope is there if the contracts are already exchanged? is it a case of too little too late? Who is the petition being given too and who's listening in Tory Wandsworth? I think folk will be keen to know how fruitful the anti-campaign can be at this stage.
By aloquifique at 22:21 on 18/01/11
ReportShow all Comments