New Secondary Schools for Richmond 2

[BayJay]

I'm starting this new thread because the other one of the same name has filled up.

That makes it surely more important for the school at Clifden road to be inclusive .

It seems to be saying that more children from Kingston will get into Teddington displacing children from the Fulwell area, more children from Kingston will get into Grey Court presumably displacing children from schools like Darrell that are linked to Grey Court but are some way away (?) but that children from East Twickenham going to Vineyard will be able to get into Orleans Park displacing children from Hounslow. Is that a correct summary? I seem to remember reading earlier in this discussion that the overall effect wouldn't be that great assuming existing patterns of admissions, but the patterns could change because noone really had much idea how many children who hadn't applied to Teddington and Orleans Park schools before because they had no chance of getting in would now start to do so, including unexpected ones from Catholic schools, the private sector and home schooling.

LottieProsser: your summary is correct; the Council forecast gave a net increase of Richmond borough children getting a place in RB schools; hence their backing of the move to end linking, which as you say sets off a complex set of changes, resulting in a hard to forecast net result for the borough's children.

We will have to wait until the allocations for autumn 2013 are announced to get the first hard evidence of what the effects of this change actually are. It is very unlikely that the Council has got it right but we won't know until then to get the first idea just how they've got it wrong. The numbers will then change year by year as families adapt to the new state of affairs by changing their plans or moving house . .

I hear that Orleans has made no decision re academy status but that the financial incentive (aka bribe) to convert is strong in a time of austerity.

Is there any news yet on whether the new school in north Kingston has managed to secure funding? That'll at least free up some places at Grey Court and possibly reduce any new pressure on Teddington due to the probably link changes.

I think this is the latest status on the North Kingston School, unless anyone has heard anything since.

I doubt even if Kingston opens it will free up places in Grey Court or Teddington that are now popular. Kingston needs new school because of massive surge in demand there and inadequate planning by their Council. It is difficult to believe that there will be repatriation of students from Richmond schools to any new potential schools.

There's some news from the Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign. They are reporting legal advice that the Diocese has missed the February 1st deadline for publishing its proposals, meaning that the rules of the new Education Act must now apply. If that's correct then the council will have to consider Academies and Free School bids ahead of VA options. Of course it doesn't stop the Catholic school being re-framed as an Academy, (but if the diocese did that then the school would need to have 50:50 admissions). It will be interesting to see how the council reacts to this.

I would be surprised if this is actually the case, given that Michael Gove only gave his consent to publish the proposals at the end of December and the process is for a pre-statutory consultation first.

If it is however the case, as I said a few weeks back...
"I have wondered myself, in the whole Academy debate, whether the Catholic Church could have saved itself some money by opting for an Academy with Catholic feeder schools. Not that I am advocating that and I think the Church and church community are happy to pay their way as per the VA school route."

This is what the Becket Keys Free School has in effect done. They have got around the 50% faith admissions restrictions by having all but one of it's feeder schools being church schools.

Becket Keys Church of England Free School states: ' . . If a faith or Church School has more applicants for places than it can offer, it is allowed to apply criteria to the applicants to restrict the number who will gain places. As a Church School, it can select up to 50% of its intake on faith grounds; this may require a reference from the local church or vicar, confirming regular attendance, and we may identify local primary schools as feeder schools - both of these are likely to feature in our draft Admissions Policy . . '

So non-CofE children attending the feeder schools will be able to apply for 50 % of the places.

Brentwood heads: "Schools vision at loggerheads" 17/10/11 gives the full story.

Seenbutnotheard, under the new Education Act anyone (not just affected parents) can object to a school's admission arrangements. See para 7.2c of this. I expect that any unusual or controversial arrangements will be put to the test very quickly.

Whether its about following the letter of law or spirit of law, it will be fair to consult on a range of option for schools at Clifden Road. Clearly we now see 2 options for use of Clifden road site - a Catholic school or a RET sponsored local Twickenham school. How can the Council still continue with a misleading consultation that only shows the Catholic VA school as the only option?

Akhan, to be clear, it wouldn't really be appropriate for the council to consult about particular free school proposals. Free School proposals are independent of the council, and are approved or rejected by the DfE. Under the new Education Act, if the council needs a new school it must:
a) See if there are any approved Free School proposals;
b) If not, they can invite proposals from Academy providers;
c) If none come forward they can invite proposals from a VA school.

seenbutnotheard - I think you need to dig a little further into the admission arrangements for the primaries linked to Becket Keys.

If you look at this

The linked primaries are -
Larchwood - PAN 30, non-faith school
St Paul's Bentley - PAN 30, faith applicants prioritised, but non-faith pupils admitted in 2011
St Peter's CE Primary - PAN 45, of which only 10 are reserved for faith applicants
St Thomas of Canterbury - PAN 75, faith applicants prioritised, but non-faith pupils admitted 2011

Not living in the area, it's very hard to guess as to how many of the places at the primaries end up going to churchgoers. I suspect that there is a significant number of children who have got in purely on distance. Which is probably why the admission criteria for Becket Keys were approved. I doubt such criteria would be deemed acceptable if a Catholic academy were set up in Richmond due to the fact that most of the primaries are fully subscribed with faith applicants and it wouldn't be in the spirit of the law.

The council consultation seems to suggest that it would mothball the site if it is not a Catholic school and would not open another school here until the Acadamy places are taken.

I honestly feel that a Catholic VA school on this site is the best option as it would not be detrimental to any existing school.

BayJay, you have indicated that the Free School you are involved with is considering other sites, so could this not be a win-win all around?

LittleMrsMuppet - see the post I made on Wed 25-Jan-12 18:11:49

"Of the 150 places available, 75 are purely Faith based.

Of the remaining 75 places available, a further 51 are available to the 2 feeder schools which are themselves 100% faith based admissions.
12 go to the other CofE feeder school (which is less selective) and 12 to the non-denominational feeder.

So, at a guess, at the very least 126 of the places are likely to go to CofE families, possibly more - not quite what the Government would have had in mind I guess. "

Seenbutnotheard, Free School applicants can express a preference for a site, but they're not allowed to enter any negotiations for one. If a free school application is approved then it is the Partnership for Schools agency that handles all the negotiations and secures an appropriate site.

Seenbtnotheard - I read your earlier post. I was trying to make the point that your maths is purely speculative and your figures are unsubstantiated.

We don't have the data to know how many children of CofE families are at the four schools in question. All we do know is that none of them are fully subscribed with practicing churchgoers.

But as you say, if 126 of the places went to CofE families it wouldn't be what the government had in mind. Which is why I very much doubt that this is the anticipated outcome at Becket Keys.

Bayjay thanks for that clarification. Am I correct in understanding that council as per the new act a) needs to see which free school proposers get approved this year and b) invite an academy to propose a school before making a decision on clifden road ?

Akhan, if RISC's advice is correct, and the new act applies, then the council a) needs to see if there are any approved free schools (which could include a Catholic free school). If not, they can then..
b) invite academy providers to propose a school, and if none come forward they can then..
c) consider a VA proposal.

According to the front page of the RTT (Friday 10th Feb) the Council has lent £32.25 million to other local authorities eg. Lancashire and Glasgow at interest rates as low as 0.39%. So it sounds as though it should ask for that back now and lend the money to Kingston to build a new secondary school so Kingston will feel happier about going ahead as they won't have to go down the PFI route. Then all the children who were going to go to Grey Court can go to school in Kingston instead and the Council will have a half empty school in a not very convenient location for all the children from Teddington and Twickenham who won't have any places. But then again if they do get the money back from Lancashire and Glasgow perhaps they should spend it on sixth forms rather than borrowing £25 million from somewhere else presumably at a higher interest rate?

Who are the Partnership for Schools agency and what possibly negotiating position can they adopt when faced with Lord True saying he needs Clifden for another purpose?!

Lottie, here is the link to Partnerships for Schools.

LittleMrsMuppet - you might be interested to read this link from the British Humanist Association. It seems to back up my view that they have 'got around' the admissions rules.

I understand that the Sponsor behind the Becket Keys school is also behind the school that BayJay is proposing.

Faith schools are popular, wanted and will be fought for - some of us continue to want a school for our children with Christ at the centre. Many people do not want that. I think that there is room for both views in different types of schools.

Thanks. They are closing down on 1st April 2012 and their role is being transferred to the Education Funding Agency which is part of the Dept. for Education. Doesn't say much about their role in finding sites and negotiating with site owners.

Lottie, when they are transferred they will still perform the same role.

Sorry, that didn't make sense. I'm listening to a conference call so half distracted. What I meant was that the role still exists, whoever it is that performs it.