New Secondary Schools for Richmond 2

[BayJay]

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

BayJay - you might want to remove that link - it gives your RL name...

BayJay - in case you do not return to the thread for a while, I have reported your post for you so MNHQ can remove it.

Thanks SeenButNotHeard. I've reported it too. Frustrating that you can't edit posts yourself!

Here's a better Link to RISC's Facebook page.

BayJay to your point "So, if the council do accept the VA proposal as it stands, Michael Gove won't be particularly impressed"

Could this be the get out of jail free card for the Council ?

Jeev, it could be, but it's not helpful to put it in those terms. As I said before, a bit of magnanimity can be helpful in situations where political parties need to make policy-changes.

Now that the post I made earlier has been removed, here it is again, but without the dodgy link:

Jeev, no not a soap opera. Just politics.

You're right that RISC have just published details of letter from Michael Gove to Vince Cable in which he says "...the proposals are for a school to be a voluntary aided school within the local authority's remit. As you know, that means that the school will be able to admit pupils on the grounds of faith, but the 50% non-faith provision for the schools's admissions will not apply. The suggestion that the school takes on a similar provision voluntarily seems very sensible to me, and I would welcome such a move.".

So, if the council do accept the VA proposal as it stands, Michael Gove won't be particularly impressed.

I don't expect Cllrs True, Samuels and Arbour will give two hoots about what Michael Gove thinks. Some of the more ambitious young Tories who are doing a stint as a councillor as preparation for being selected for a safe seat in Parliament might care but their bosses seem to have them so firmly suppressed that they daren't breathe let alone disagree! When was this letter actually written?

Lottie, I don't think your cynicism is any more justified than my optimism .

BayJay Wed 07-Mar-12 13:00:41: re new schools: It is for Cllr Malcolm Eady, Lib Dem education spokesperson and former cabinet member for education, to ponder this and advise the Local Party what line to take between now and the May 2014 election and what to say in our manifesto. In 2010; all we said was:

?Our achievements: . . Half the local secondary schools are being refurbished or rebuilt in a £92 million programme. Significant improvement in Secondary A*-C GCSE school results - up 7 % on last year's results which were up 6 % on the previous year . .

What we will do: . . . Increase primary school places by 840 over and above the 1,050 additional places already provided. Increase the number of secondary places available by continuing to invest capital in our schools . . ?

So I suggest you ask him rather than me: [email protected] I?m sure you?ll get a straight answer to a straight question!

Jeev: No, this is not ?just soap opera? - it is a political battle in dead earnest about who gets control and exclusive use of a public asset not just for today but effectively for ever, as the Catholics are being offered a 125 year lease on the site for a pepper corn rent.

I have no idea what Gove?s remarks signify or indeed when they were written.

The latest news from RISC is that they have convinced Newsquest, the publishers of the RTT, that its distribution of their leaflet last Friday was very patchy: Newsquest are reprinting the leaflet and will deliver it to the areas that missed out tomorrow.

The local LibDem position was made extremely clear by Councillor Eady in a speech he made to the Council last September, where he was minuted as saying, ?...the priority should be to utilise the Clifden Road site for a community secondary school...? He also said in the same speech - as reported on the LibDem website - that inclusivity is LibDem national policy and part of the Coalition Agreement.

It's hard to tell whether the LibDems are sensibly providing the Conservatives room for a dignified way to change their position, taking into account the party tribalism which blights the borough's politics (BayJay's point), or whether they are simply lacking the courage to behave like a decent opposition by clearly articulating and arguing their position. Either way, the effect is that the Council is simply carrying on.

Is it too much to ask for a clear and principled stand, respecting the genuine concerns of Catholic parents but giving priority to the needs of the borough as a whole - including all its other minorities? After all, who is it that expects to benefit from the votes the Council will surely lose as a result of what they're doing?

Perhaps at local level we need more change agents who care about the needs and concerns of the community and take positive action. e.g. Twickenham free school.
rylehom - Its a shame if its only a game of votes, and less about need to deliver change for the community. But if it is all about votes, then as much as I disagree with what the Tories are doing, they seem to be the only ones who are prepared to put their skin in the game.

Just posting a link to the council's new consultation on Sixth Forms.

Thanks BayJay - There is no consultation document or survey to fill for this. Is this the one that is costing £25m. What about 6th forms for the 3 academies?

Akhan: yes the total cost will be £25m including the 3 academies - however I think that there is no need for a statutory consultation about their plans as they have become independent of the council. If you look on their websites you will find out about their 6th form plans: Sixth Form Course Guide including Internships For Sixth Formers @ Twickenham Academy. I have no idea whether or not this is a good idea but for better or worse, it's happening now, in a school near you.

akhan, yes, you're right that the consultation seems a bit light on detail, and apart from providing an email contact it doesn't give clear instructions on how to participate. Its a statutory consultation, so presumably it complies with the rules. I saw it advertised in a community newsletter, so it is definitely being publicised.

Twickenham and Hampton Academies are well advanced with their Sixth Form plans (if you look back a few months in this thread you'll see I posted a link to their consultations at the time). They now have Government approval to proceed and will be opening their Sixth Forms in September 2012.

Richmond Park Academy will be consulting about its own Sixth Form plans next year.

On the 6th form consultation please see the details under this link and send any feedback to Matthew Paul
www.richmond.gov.uk/home/education_and_learning/post_16_education.htm

On 9 March, Richmond Park Academy published a statutory proposal to establish a sixth form in September 2014. RPA has its their own process and you provide feedback to them directly . Please see link to RPA's 6th form consultation communityboard4rpa.blogspot.com/2012/03/proposal-to-establish-sixth-form-at.html

RPA 6th form link: communityboard4rpa.blogspot.com/2012/03/proposal-to-establish-sixth-form-at.html

Thanks for the correction about the timing of the RPA consultation Gmsing .

Chris thanks for correcting my "Opeartor Error".

Two stories in today's RTT:

[[
www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/richmondnews/9579064.Principal_speaks_out_at_plans_for___25m_sixth_form_expansion/?ref=eb Principal speaks out at Richmond's plans for £25m sixth form expansion:]] ' . .
?We are alert to the danger that the establishment of sixth forms will have a negative impact on college enrolments and most concerned that the high quality and wide range of our provision is maintained in order to ensure maximum choice for young people.? . . '

[[http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/richmondnews/9579019.Richmond_secondaries_rise_up_the_rankings/?ref=eb Richmond secondaries rise up the rankings:
]] ' . . the Dfe increased Richmond secondary schools? ranking from 26th to 16th, out of 151 council areas, after taking into account just the percentage of pupils achieving five or more GCSE grades, including English and maths . . '

Chris, the paper edition also has the story about the Gove-Cable letter. It hasn't made it onto the RTT website yet though, and I haven't seen an electronic edition for a couple of weeks now (they used to send them out automatically on a Friday morning).

The council's progress against the Children and Young People's Plan has just been published for scrutiny. Notice the priority on page 2: "Undertake a feasibility study to establish two new secondary schools including a Roman Catholic school." Unfortunately the report only describes the progress made on one of the two schools.