Richmond Borough Schools Chat 7

[muminlondon2]

Lots and lots of discussions on local schools and education issues preceded this thread, including Richmond Borough Schools Chat 6.

Anyone who wants to carry on that discussion, and offer information and opinions (without being moderated by any particular individual or interest group, bearing in mind all the usual mumsnet guidelines about respect and not getting personal, etc.) - feel free.

Orleans Park here. Difficult to compare - 80% x 5A-C passes not counting English and Maths, and specifically 65% gaining E&M, but not clear if they all passed 5 GCSEs in total (in which case 65% x 5 A-C including E&M).

But 46% on Ebacc so perhaps 65% is close to the comparison GCSE inc E&M measure. The only comparison I can find is 52% Ebacc pass rate for Grey Court.

'Progress' rates will be fairly meaningless this year, because in 2010 many Richmond primary schools boycotted SATs.

Apologies, didn't read all the pages of Orleans Park's very comprehensive announcement.

65% 5A-C including E&M

Teddington School has published it's full AS results on its website. I'm not sure what to make of them as I don't know anything about how AS relates to A level e.g. whether AS results count towards A level results!

MuminLondon you deserve MN medal for your forensic scrutiny of stats!
If all school published the same metrics we could compare more easily - why don't they want us to compare? They can explain the reasons for anomalies, but not to even provide makes people ( maybe unfairly) suspicious of what they are trying to hide.
LProsser
My DD1 has just done AS so ( I think!) I finally have a grasp of them - tho' they are being phased out, so my own DD2, DD3 and DS will just do 'linear' A levels.
AS score do count towards A2 ( A2 is 'A level' ie achieved at the end of Y13)

Sorry - didn't read properly (which why we need MumInLondon here! )
Interesting that it appears that Grey Court has 'overtaken' Orleans ( where there is minimal EAL - not sure about PP, SEN).
I was previously accused of 'bigging up' Maggie Bailey- just for the record have no DC at Grey Court! - so am hesitant to say it , but... she does seem to have done amazing things there. I hope she takes an hour or so off to relax with a drink and enjoy the great achievement of the staff and DC at her school.

Turing house have sent an email. The permanent site is definitely in Whitton.

"
Turing House will open initially in Queens Road, Teddington, in September 2015 and is proposed to move to Hospital Bridge Road for September 2018."

Turing House Permanent Site Announced 'The Education Funding Agency is negotiating arrangements for the purchase of a site on Hospital Bridge Road in Whitton, currently owned by the London Borough of Hounslow. We are excited about the potential of this large site and the new facilities that will, subject to planning permission, be built there.

Work is now commencing on the logistics and a planning application for the new school buildings, ensuring that the impact on the local community and neighbouring garden centre will be minimised and opportunities for community benefit are maximised.

Turing House will open initially in Queens Road, Teddington, in September 2015 and is proposed to move to Hospital Bridge Road for September 2018.

The school's admissions criteria for 2016 have been determined and published, but now that the permanent site has been announced we will consult on the admissions arrangements for 2017 and beyond . . ‘ (TH email news letter)

The story is in the Richmond and Twickenham Times.

It's a shame they didn't try to get a quote from Twickenham Academy.

Council press release - judging from the typos in the first line this was published very quickly. I guess a lot of people are on holiday, too.

Reading the comments added to the RTT article about the Turing House site, it is obvious local people are very unhappy about the roles of the EFA and local council in selecting sites for local free schools in our Borough. Why cannot the lack of transparency and meaningless consultations be exposed. This must be happening all over the U.K . Who will expose this situation?

Central government - via both the DfE and quango EFA - and local council are both passing the buck, but it looks like admissions consultations and planning committee are the only avenues of objection for parents and residents. The School Admissions Forum meets next on 3 September and members include a Turing House governor as well as local councillors. Minutes from the meeting of 30 June are here - there was very little to be gleaned at the time as information was presented verbally, so all very hush hush and behind closed doors - let's hope they will be more transparent from now on. The minutes have at least been included. Some info:

· By 30 June there were 34 primary school vacancies in the Borough including at the two new free schools

• Hampton Academy had more vacancies this year compared to last year and yet 83% (293) of its applications were first preference. How many were turned down because they were also offered to families holding TH offers?

That Hampton Academy figure makes no sense. If it received 353 applications and 83% were first preference making 293, which is threefold increase on the 100 first pref applications last year, why does it end up with more vacancies and offers made as far as Barnes even accounting for 100 TH overlap offers? Some mistake there.

Rogue percentage sign? 83 of them first preference?

I know of two families that put in late applications to Turing when they saw Hampton Academy's Ofsted report. It's a shame but not surprising as it was a dire report. All those last minute bulge places offered by Waldegrave and Orleans Park and RPA and maybe other schools too had to have a knock on effect somewhere though. I reckon the council only sanctioned those because they wanted more choice in the system with it being an election year.

It's possible the council discussed this with Orleans Park and Waldegrave but as they are academies they wouldn't have agreed on those extra pupils had it not been advantageous to them. And with changes to funding kicking in this year, it definitely would have been more palatable to get more funding for a couple of extra pupils per class than to have to make any staff cuts. RPA waited longer before offering extra places, but it would have been unacceptable to expect pupils to have to travel seven miles to Hampton Academy. So those extra offers were in the best interests of both parents and schools.

I really wish we could see a very firm decision made in the next year or so on the two Learning Trust academies, though, because if after two Ofsteds they are neither successful nor fully subscribed, I really don't see that they can continue as they are.

Minutes from Kingston Admissions Forum meeting of 6 July state that Kingston has 212 vacancies in year 7:

Forum members were concerned about the number of secondary school vacancies and the impact of the establishment of new secondary schools in the borough on long established secondary schools. There were particular concerns about funding as this was calculated on the basis of how many pupils were on roll at a given time, not the published admission number. This could impact on the future viability of certain schools and caution should be exercised to avoid over provision. Furthermore, it was noted that Chessington Community College would no longer offer 6th Form provision.

In response to questions and comments, officers stated that the number of vacancies for year 7 admission was not surprising as schools were able to increase their admission numbers without publishing a statutory notice. ... The School Admissions Forum had no control over school expansion ... free school providers ... had the freedoms to open new free schools without necessarily taking account of a local authority’s views and school place planning context.

The 2016 secondary admissions brochure is published.

Last year's applications have been presented differently this year - number of first preferences are not recorded. Listed below, in popularity order of total applications (which could be one of six on the form, or an additional 7th in the case of Turing House):

Orleans Park (1,240) – 1.691 km
Teddington (1,195) – 2.487 km
Grey Court (1,125) – 3.243 km
Waldegrave (848) – Area A: 1.644 km Area B: 5.190 km
St Richard Reynolds (830) – None. (148 children baptised in criterion ii).
Christ’s (639) – 2.372 km
Richmond Park Academy (592) – 2.571 km
Hampton Academy (353) – No cut-off
Twickenham Academy (392) – No cut-off
Turing House (310) – 5.150 km

Also the Primary Admissions Brochure 2016 has been published. For the first time, this gives the number of open places and cut-off distances at church schools. Places at the Catholic schools are all offered to Catholics apart from Sacred Heart (12 allocated places). St Mary's Hampton CE has no religious criteria.

However, the Church of England primaries should think very carefully about how accessible they are to the community. It's clear how their admissions policies might have contributed to the school place shortages in Twickenham, yet even more galling how little rationale there is for Deer Park School at Manor Circus:

Holy Trinity – 29 (2,242m)
Queen’s – 15 (1,073m)
St Mary’s 32 (795m)
St Mary’s and St Peter’s 13 (540m)
Archdeacon Cambridge’s CE Primary – 10 (498m)
St Stephen’s 12 (399m)
Bishop Perrin – 12 (103m)

The primary school figures are very interesting...particularly regarding to the proposed site of Deer Park School at the unsuitable Manor Circus site as it would appear that other schools in that proximity are not under the huge pressure as Cllr Hodgins continues to state.

Yes, also true looking at cut-off distances for non-church schools in the Richmond area and comparing with last year (in brackets).

Marshgate 778m (661m)
Vineyard 990m (755m)
Darell - preferences met
The Russell - preferences met.

I thought the deal for parents and schools in putting up with the inconvenience of expansions was to help the wider community? Not have some predatory free school plonked in your back garden which serves the business interests of its sponsors.

Bishop Perrin – 12 (103m)

Re the last year's secondary applications and cut-offs - (sorry to be thick) - is that for the 2015 intake, or 2014?

Sorry - just realised if Turing is on the list must be 2015

The most exclusive CE primaries on the Middlesex side are the ones nearest to the Turing House admissions points. Some TH parents must have their children in those schools and still signed up to the RISC campaign - maybe they can exert some more collective pressure? At this rate StRR is proportionately more inclusive than Archdeacon Cambridge.

Maybe it is time that the 3 groups having problems with the proposed 3 Free Schools ..Turing, Deer Park and the failed site in East Twickenham for Richmond Bridge..got together. They all seem to have very similar problems with Richmond Council and the EFA ..... Lack of proper consultation, lack of transparency and secrecy about what is going on.

Not to mention Kingston Community School. That's supposed to extend to secondary from 2017 with three forms (???) of entry. Currently 5 out of 7 non-faith comprehensives in Kingston have no waiting lists - i.e. vacancies. Yet they're still piling into Grey Court. Total application figures below from Kingston 2016 admissions brochure:

Chessington (253) no waiting list
Coombe Boys (572) no waiting list
Coombe Girls (904) 2.265km
Hollyfield (808) 4.125km
Holy Cross (603) faith criteria, no open places.
Kingston Academy (760) all applicants offered
Richard Challoner (498) faith criteria, no open places
Southborough (349) no waiting list
Tolworth Girls (617) no waiting list
Tiffin Girls (1,273) superselective
Tiffin Boys (1,799) superselective

However, that DOES mean Kingston Academy is still a possibility for Teddington or Richmond pupils. Both schools are in temporary classrooms/buildings initially.