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.

Lots of coverage of the Turing House site in the RTT. Links to page PDFs below:

School of shock
Turing House opinions
Letter: Big ‘no’ to Turing House

Richmond residents have had enough over these proposed free schools and their unsuitable sites, lack of consultation, lack of transparency and all the secrecy from Richmond Council and the EFA. This will be remembered when the next elections take place. Councillors are here to represent the local people and not hide facts from them.

Urgh that headline is dreadful. Is the editor on strike again?
The EFA seems incompetent at handling local issues and the council seems to enjoy watching them mess up because they get to say "we told you so". If only they would work together in the interest of the students they would all do a lot better.

Today received a letter from the developer that has bought Udney Park fields from Imperial. Seems to have gone to all nearby residents. Promises to keep some open space, consultation and just a bit of development! Hmmm!

RTT Online has Richmond pupils sitting top of the class:

Richmond’s primary school pupils have topped the national league tables in 2015’s Key Stage Two (SATs) results. Richmond had the highest percentage of pupils achieving top grades of level five or above, with 66 per cent gaining a level five in reading, 50 per cent in writing and 60 per cent in maths. Results revealed today show the borough finished second best in the country overall, with 88 per cent of pupils achieving expected levels, just behind Kensington and Chelsea’s 90 per cent. . .

RTT Online has Turing House School of shock:

. . The move has sparked almost 2,000 people . . to sign a petition against the Whitton location for the school . . The petition’s creator, who asked not to be named, said not enough consideration had been given to the people who live in Whitton. He said:

“The road infrastructure is inadequate as it is with constant gridlock at rush hour. The roads are narrow surrounding the site. There are six schools within the immediate vicinity of the Whitton site, not to mention the Heathlands School, less than a mile over in Hounslow, with 1,800 pupils. The only viable entrance would cut across Heathfield recreation ground, another open green space. Twickenham Academy, just 1,000 feet down the road from the proposed site, is undersubscribed by about 200 pupils and would be destabilised, just when it is beginning to improve.”

He suggested alternative locations, including Fulwell Golf Club and the section of land behind David Lloyd leisure centre in Hampton, as more suitable. . .

The Guardian has: One in four families move house to secure school place – survey: Parents are willing to pay well above average to be within catchment area of sought-after schools, with one in six buying or renting a second property:

. . Using data from the Land Registry . . the survey found that respondents were willing to pay 18% more for a property near their favoured school . . Parents in London . . were . . likely to pay a . . premium of (16 %) . . In one high-profile case in north London, a couple bribed a builder who was renovating a house near a highly desirable school to forward mail to their real address. But they later lost a school place after they were caught out by neighbours.

In most cases, local authorities require evidence of council tax payment and electoral-roll registration as proof of address – meaning there is little to stop parents renting or buying a property and using it as a basis to apply, so long as they are not paying council tax on a second residence . .

There is an interesting variety of view in the comments.

Interesting spin - Richmond tops the numbers getting the highest levels, but RBKC is the top for making expected levels of progress.
Surely 'expected levels of progress' is the minimum the DC should achieve.

MrsS: not necessarily; it depends on what you think ‘expected’ means. OED offers several distinct meanings, including:

‘I. Senses relating to anticipating.

1. trans. To regard as probable or imminent; to envisage; to anticipate. . . 2013 Wall St. Jrnl. 7 Dec. a2/3 Another bout of freezing rain was expected Saturday.

. . 3. trans.
a. To require (something) in fulfilment of a justifiable or reasonable expectation . . ‘
. . 1968 H. S. Thompson Let. 8 Feb. in Fear & Loathing in Amer. (2000) 35 The coat is far below the standards I've come to expect from quality mail-order suppliers . . ’

Having been trained as a statistician I naturally think sense 1 is what is meant whereas you, as a concerned parent, naturally adopt the stronger sense 3.

We would have to look back to where the technical phrase ‘expected levels of progress’ was first use to discover which was intended.

Today’s print RTT has three letters, a full page, re Turing House (p 20): Clash of opinions over Turing House from Jackie Terry, Janet Hilton for the school and Marie-Therese Williams.

RTT Online has New Twickenham primary school receives green light to open - but only for one year:

‘A new primary school in Twickenham will open on Monday after being granted a one-year temporary dispensation. GEMS Twickenham Primary Academy, based in Colne Road, applied last October for full planning permission at the Heathgate House site near Twickenham Green before subsequently withdrawing the bid.

Furious residents fought the planning application claiming the school would create traffic "chaos" but dispensation was granted to Gems Learning Trust from Lord Nash, parliamentary under secretary of state for schools, to open the free school temporarily . . The school opens its doors to 46 reception pupils on Monday, with seven staff already working at the school, including principal Pippa Hogg Andrews . . A formal planning application to remain at the site on a permanent basis will be submitted next month . . ‘

Ofsted report for Holy Trinity CE Primary School has been published - Outstanding.

A free school in Crawley, Gatwick Free School, was refused planning permission despite having occupied a building temporarily for a year.

This is run by a trust formed of two sponsors, including the Place Group - one of the companies involved in the Bellevue Place Education Trust running Deer Park School - and a company called Mosaica Education.

'A report written by council officers claimed the school was not in the "right place" and, once at full capacity, would cause congestion and parking problems.'

Out of interest, Mosaica Education has, controversially, charged UK schools for the use of its patented curriculum and reportedly called in the receiver last year in the US).

The traffic problem sounds exactly what will happen with Deer Park School if it opens on the A316. Obviously if and when it opens there will only be a small number of pupils. BUT once they reach the proposed total of 420 pupils then the whole of that area will be gridlocked with traffic, particularly in the morning rush hour. It is amazing that the people responsible for this decision cannot see this....but of course the EFA purchased the site and probably none of the decision makers are local people.

The Standard has Lidl: Supermarket to open dozens of new stores in London's 'Waitrose country':

"Cut-price grocer Lidl is planning an audacious assault on . . London with dozens of new supermarkets in some of the capital??s most desirable neighbourhoods . . (it) is looking for 281 new locations within the M25 . . the chain . . has previously shunned London??s middle-class neighbourhoods where higher rents have made it harder to make the low-cost model viable. However the company . . has made huge efforts to make the brand more attractive to wealthier shoppers by initiatives such as stocking more expensive . . wines such as a £39.99 Saint-Julien Grand Cru Classe.

The scale of Lidl??s ambitions was revealed in a brochure for commercial property agents entitled: We??re in the market for property. It says (they are) looking for ??standalone?? sites of between 10,000 and 28,000 sq ft. . . the property wish list of 281 features many affluent addresses including Chiswick, . . Barnes, . . and Wandsworth that were previously uncharted territory for Lidl . . "
---
The omission of Richmond suggests that they plan to go ahead on the East Twickenham site, perhaps launching it as Richmond Bridge Lidl to emphasise its proximity and leading on the good value wines - as it can be hard to get Richmondites to cross the bridge.

The site's strong point is that it lies on 6 bus routes, so that up to 30 buses an hour pass it in the day

I notice that the office premises above Ryde House are still being advertised as "To Let" and they have changed agents to Cluttons. Presumably no negotiations to make it a school are going on. I presume the Lidl would go in the ground floor left hand side of the arch?

LProsser: the plans are at www.richmondroad.lidl.co.uk/download-plans/; e.g.: www.richmondroad.lidl.co.uk/download/download-plans(5)/LIDL-Richmond-Road-View3.jpg.

The layout is different and the current buildings will be replaced.

This weeks print RTT has (p 3) Milestone enterprise campus plans submitted (sic): the outline planning application was published on August 27 (Planning application no. 15/3038/OUT) with over 160 individual documents and plans (it was submitted in June and has now been validated by the planners):

. . the redevelopment of the site to provide:

1. A new campus for education and enterprise purposes, comprising; Replacement College . . to accommodate up to 3,400 FTE day time students . .
2. A new Secondary School of up to 7,000 sqm for up to 750 students;
3. A new Special Educational Needs (SEN) School of up to 4,000sqm for up to 115 students;
4. A new ancillary 'Technical Hub' for Haymarket Media of up to 1,700sqm;
5. Replacement on-site sports centre . .
6. The upgrading of existing Craneford Way playing fields for use by the college, schools and local community; . . and 9) A new residential development of up to 180 units together with associated parking for up to 190 vehicles, open space and landscaping. --- If the planners stick to the usual 21 day period for comments and objections the deadline is Friday October 18. Only 7 comments so far.

The local residents are organised as the Heatham Alliance which has a currently dormant Facebook page.

Crawley is Labour controlled isn't it? No wonder the gvt are getting a difficult ride there. But doesn't it get escalated to gvt anyway if they appeal the planning decision?
In any case I don't believe our council is brimming with ideas for sites it would buy if it was given the EFA's cash. If they are they should be sharing them with the EFA now in the interests of local kids.

Another Outstanding Ofsted report was published this week - Thomson House. There is a lot of praise for the governing body, which includes Matthew Paul, the head of commissioning for Achieving for Children (e.g. Richmond/Kingston LAs), as well as other locally based governors. They have also been working closely with a school improvement partner from the LA.

Labour has a one-seat majority on Crawley council. You'd think they can't risk making unpopular decisions - but like Deer Park School the Gatwick school may have few local connections and no parental support.

Stoke Poges's Conservative council also rejected permanent planning permission after a free school had already opened. The government was going to overrule them but backtracked, and a decision was to be made on 8 September. I can't find the follow-up.

Thomson House was set up by people with local connections who actually wanted a school in their area and I believe local people were actually consulted.

Agree with muminlondon2 that Deer Park School is being set up by people who do NOT live in the local area and has little or no local support from parents living in the immediate area. Consultation has been minimal and residents concerns ignored.

Changes afoot at TA and HA? Looking at the agenda for the latest LST board meeting from Sept 4th. Three of their directors have resigned and been replaced, and one of the replacements is a school improvement heavyweight:www.gov.uk/government/people/michael-cladingbowl

The Thompson House Ofsted report is obviously excellent, but you have to question whether the inspection was entirely representative given that "During the inspection, pupils were involved in a whole-school project week learning about their local area. Classes were ??off timetable.?? Pupils?? learning focused on art, design, gardening and off-site environmental studies." Also at the time they had only two year groups which did not contain full classes of 30; and:

"The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.
The proportion of disabled pupils or those who have special educational needs is below average.
The proportion of disadvantaged pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium funding is well below average. The pupil premium is additional government funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and looked-after children.
Children enter the Reception classes with knowledge and skill levels that are frequently above those typical for their age."

On any interpretation this is a very advantaged school and if they didn't get an Outstanding grading from Ofsted they'd have to be pretty amazingly incompetent.

What are they supposed to do? Ship in token 'poor' people to make up a quota ?
Hardly surprising given the location what the demographic is.
And since they can't be anything more than outstanding, very churlish to write off the achievement in that way.
Schools in leafy Richmond have struggled to get outstanding so it sis not simple a matter of having a population of well-off pupils - it is about leadership and the teaching and learning environment.
Those schools in Richmond that are not yet outstanding - what is their excuse?