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.

Not sure about anti-social behaviour or crime but I know plenty of people who live/have lived there and it's just never come up in conversation. One way or another, all reports suggest it has gone down quite dramatically and there are strong community groups.

www.hamandpetersham.com/police-liaison

www.richmond.gov.uk/ham_and_petersham_village

maps.met.police.uk/access.php?area=E05000519&ct=7&sort=area&order=d

MrsSalvo mum obviously it isn't going to raise standards or improve results overall, and certainly should not be a part of the strategies aimed at improving standards. However MrsSalvo highlighted KCS mentoring as a particular benefit at Greycourt whereas it isn't actually unique in the borough. The LEH /Hampton scheme involves Year 12 A Maths, English and Science students working with a Year 11 student on the A/A and C/D boundary each week for the year up until the exams helping them with concepts they are struggling with and also hopefully sharing motivation. It is of potential benefit to both sides in terms of broadening their perspectives. And whilst I am sure the private schools could always do more, as we have discussed before there is quite a bit more to the LEH /Hampton programmes than you suggest here Mum but that is another issue we would be rehashing and obviously private and state alike have their concerns about the governments interference strategies, see para 2 of the Head's Introduction issuu.com/kingstongrammarschool/docs/kgs_newsletter_april_2015_website?e=10622141/12691983

Rose33 Ham has some of the most expensive roads in the borough and some of the cheapest housing. It is a nice place to bring up children and perhaps a bit better for being a bit more mixed than, say the area between Richmond Hill and the Green, which can feel a bit homogenous (unless that is what you want). It is sandwiched between the river and the park which can't be a bad thing and there are lots of interesting paths In between . The main downside is the transport links. That extra slog at the beginning and end of the day to get to mainland and tube links is what makes the house prices more reasonable in the middle where people are more likely to be commuting to town.

mum the Catholic Education Service has never made any secret of it's intention to undermine the 50% cap on faith admissions, it is why it didn't co-operate on the Free School programme. Though I think it is clear from the links we have seen in the past that they would regard any degree of inclusivity as unacceptable in areas where Catholic Schools are oversubscribed. The 10 inclusive places in the St RR Primary were only conceded, painfully, in the context of a 5 form entry exclusive senior school, and 20 exclusive Primary places in an area where there was neither the need or desire for them.

And were we to indulge in conspiracy theories who knows what deals were done and undertakings made, in the end between the Strathmore share of the funding and the money now granted from central government the diocese don't look like having to cough up very much of the £5m they originally were going to contribute to the costs of the new school.

At the risk of repeating myself the Hampton/LEH offering may offer more to Hampton Academy than to the other state school partners where it seems to be limited to cherry picking a very few tip top pupils to go to the occasional maths or public speaking day. I take a special interest in LEH as you know being an old girl who now has a child in a state school linked to it and link-ups are reported on in the weekly school news. Would love my daughter to be invited there for the day so she can see what I endured but it hasn't happened as there are so many bright kids in the top sets including genius children of maths teachers!

Rose33 I would definitely recommend Ham as a place to live. In addition to the reasons the others have mentioned above there are some great community organisations. Ham and Petersham is the only part of the Borough that has sufficient social capital to get everyone together to organise a Neighbourhood Forum which will enable them to avoid the "Village" plan nonsense and get some hard cash for community projects out of the planning system. See www.hamunitedgroup.org.uk and www.hamandpetershamforum.org. It's also incomparably the nicest place anywhere around SW London if you value being surrounded by green space and trees and fresher air!

LProsser I am not actually a fan of LEH, no more likely than you to respond to those letters asking to contribute to sending a child there for a potentially stressful confidence sapping education. I just feel that there should be a fair representation of what goes on, it is not quite so homogenously elitist /self serving as some chose to perceive, and there are staff and pupils who genuinely want to get involved in sharing resources etc. The new Head is however reportedly not quite so focused on results so maybe if your daughter does get a day there it will be less of an endurance test Of course you were lucky, or planned well enough, that your daughter had a chance of a place at Teddington. There are quite a few at LEH because they did not have the chance of similar state school places and who welcome the opportunity to get involved in partnership activities because it is a chance to be in a more grounded atmosphere.

Re 'coasting': Education Guardian prints a variety of opinions; this is I think nearest the mark:

Tricia Kelleher, principal, Stephen Perse Foundation, an independent school in Cambridge: I think it’s just a neat title to give to schools that they want to make into academies.

Rose33: you'll find 9 references to Grey Court in the 182 so far messages on this thread:
local.mumsnet.com/Talk/local_richmond_upon_thames/a2374655-Richmond-Borough-Schools-Chat-7

and 42 references in the previous 1000 message thread:
local.mumsnet.com/Talk/local_richmond_upon_thames/a2229111-Richmond-Borough-Schools-Chat-6

and then you can look in Richmond-Borough-Schools-Chat-5/4/3/2/1!

Dennis O'Sullivan, the headteacher of a secondary school in Hertfordshire, has written a blogpost detailing the cuts he will have to make over the coming three years:

A Letter To Our Prime Minister:

Dear Mr Cameron, Try a little Tenderness
As you form a new government you may find a letter in the Department for Education offices: “Sorry, Schools have no money left.” Your civil servants will tell you the detail of how a school like mine needs to find £500,000 in savings on an income of just under £6,000,000 in each of the next three years . .

See also the LRB blogpost A Headteacher Writes May 25 for a discussion of the figures.

His letter is all about saving - how about thinking more creatively. Shorter terms in the in the winter months, and longer in the spring - the autumn term is far too long anyway. Collaborate with other schools for ancillary services, think of ways of generating income. The when he has actually bothered to do something about it could then whinge about any shortfall.

Education Bill is an ‘extraordinary attack’ on free speech, says campaigner according to Schoolsweek. This is based on a LSN blog by Henry Stewart.

He states:
'The clause also forces governors and local authorities to work with the sponsor chosen by the Secretary of State. They will have no choice of sponsor but will have one imposed upon them. Again, this is not freedom. It is one person, the Secretary of State, making arbitrary decisions regardless of the wishes of governors, schools staff, parents and local authorities. It is rule by central diktat.'

Just a reminder of how our local conservatives were particularly concerned about the democratic rights of parents when they supported the governors of Hampton Community College in their concerns over suitability of sponsor.

Interesting Mum and a tribute to the Head there that she has apparently (anecdotally) managed to overcome those doubts to some extent and win the respect and support of some of the community though apparently through a willingness to tailor the proposition to a greater extent than at TA, obviously the structural problems with the educational proposition which Councillor Samuels outlines so articulately remain.

I agree with you that the imposition of sponsors that have no local support is undemocratic and also letting down communities who should have schools rooted in their needs, not someone else's educational ideas, faith or profit.

Sue Demont, who I think will be retiring, did actually manage to get the school back to 'satisfactory' before it was converted. This led a group of parents to question why it needed to be academised since it was already improving. The question is whether the sponsor has added any value since then - or whether without the head the school might have slipped back, as Ipswich Academy. She has provided continuity as you say.

Note also this in the RTT today:

Richmond Park Academy to put on extra class

“headteacher Lesley Kirby ‘decided to approach the local authority and ask for an additional class for the next cohort ... ‘As headteacher, I do not have control over admissions.’”

But the LA doesn't decide RPA's admissions number either. That's actually rather misleading reporting, or disingenuous of the head to pretend it was all up to the LA. The governing body decided the change and consulted with the LA, who would have given feedback on waiting lists there was demand/need for places. It could not decide the PAN of an academy.

But still, good news for those in Barnes?

There's a small piece in the RTT today about RPA increasing its intake by 30 places from September, although it's not clear if its permanent or temporary. It'll be interesting to see how that impacts Twickenham Academy, which was otherwise rumoured to be full this year.

Sorry mum - just realised you've posted this already!

I think it's temporary but according to the School Admissions Code

'own admission authorities are not required to consult on their PAN where they propose either to increase or to keep their PAN ... If at any time following determination of a PAN an admission authority decides that it is able to admit above its PAN, it must notify the local authority in good time'

It'll be interesting to see how that impacts Twickenham Academy

I don't see how it will make any difference to Twickenham Academy. We have had anecdotal reports that some people were offered TA in Barnes but
(a) we don't know how many
(b) since most would have been at the Lowther end of Barnes if they had not been within the cut-off distance, there's no evidence they would have travelled to Whitton (7 miles, two buses, RI rating) as opposed to Ark Putney (2.5 miles, one bus, good Ofsted) or a nearer school in Hammersmith or just stayed on waiting lists for RPA, Christ's, Grey Court etc.
(c) others within the cut-off who had not listed RPA very high would not have accepted TA either. The majority of pupils in Barnes go private at secondary so those who never preferred RPA in the first place may have applied to Tiffin or faith schools as a back-up to a private offer.

The good news for RPA is that if it is making those offers now, no one knows the application preferences yet. At the end of the month they may be discussed at the admissions forum but the deadline for acceptances may have passed. Neat move.

Turing House would definitely have the biggest impact as their 2015 admissions point is 1 mile away rather than 7 miles away. But if TA had to offer to Barnes children it would not even have been full after all preferences had been met.

Kingston Guardian Online has Welcome to your new school: Borough's first free secondary school to open as 'temporary learning village' in car park:

. . Students at Kingston's new secondary free school will spend their first year in temporary classrooms based in a car park . . Kingston Educational Trust has finally submitted a planning application for five single story classrooms on the site of the North Kingston Centre in Richmond Road . . the old North Kingston Centre - where the school was meant to be based - will not be used for the first academic year at least . . the proposed "temporary learning village" would be run from a rear car park where Richmond and Kingston Accessible Transport was previously based.
……..
Plus some trenchant comments!

mum it is good news for the Lowther parents who have been pressing for this since the offers went out. I think they are hoping it becomes permanent as the problem will not go away, in fact is likely to become a greater problem, in future years and a relationship has grown up between the two schools. The disappointment was very much rooted in the expectations raised by that relationship of a place at a secondary school that served their community. I don't know why it has taken so long except I think that Paul Hodgins was anticipating the waiting list to move the 40 places it would take to accommodate the Lowther parents, presumably 40 being the number on the waiting list within a distance cut off that would accommodate all the Lowther parents.

Lowther does not have many parents able / willing to go private and as you say they would not have accepted a TA offer because of the journey whatever their feelings about the educational proposition.

It'll be interesting to see how that impacts Twickenham Academy
Also interesting that a couple of years ago RPA complained bitterly about Christ's being able to offer an extra class at a time when RPA was undersubscribed. If TA is undersubscribed ( even tho' shows better progress stats that RPA) and Barnes people don't want to take up offers to go there, is hypocritical of RPA to 'poach' pupils when that is precisely what they accused Christ's of doing.

Paul Hodgins isn't even a governor at RPA according to this list, so why would it be up to him? (In fact they don't appear to have LA governors any more - maybe as a result of the LA suggesting a switch from AET?!) The school can increase its PAN permanently without consultation or temporarily just by notifying the LA.

Lowther has 30 in this year's Y6 and some may have been offered places from their own home borough if they come from Hammersmith. The cut-off is 2km now that it has expanded so is even more likely to be the case in future years. RPA may be more popular than other nearby Hammersmith schools at the moment.

Chris's link does explain why there's still a waiting list for RPA - because Kingston Academy isn't set up in its permanent home, Kingston pupils may already be switching into Grey Court's list, and being closer more likely to bag the places, meaning the list won't move at all for Richmond pupils this year. That's a shame.

MrsSalvo do you really think Barnes pupils would even consider going as far as TA? They were never TA's pupils to be poached - if they're still waiting for state places, RPA is at least nearer, although Ark Putney or Fulham Cross etc. may be nearer still for some of them.

RTT Online has Extra intake at Richmond Park Academy:

. . Richmond Park Academy (RPA) has announced it will increase its intake from September 2015 to accommodate more students . . headteacher Lesley Kirby . . decided to approach the local authority and ask for an additional class for the next cohort. The school has created an extra 30 places for year 7 in the 2015-16 academic year. Ms Kirby said: “As headteacher, I do not have control over admissions. (by creating) an extra 30 places for year 7 in the 2015-16 academic year . .
.........
No comments so far.

RTT Online has Thomson House opens on its permanent site:

. . The two-form entry Thomson House School had previously operated out of a converted church in Vernon Road, but has now moved to a new site in Sheen Lane where the year 3 classrooms and library will be located . . Headteacher Amanda Letch said: "Thomson House School has arrived - a school built by the community for the community, of which we are extremely proud."

The first free school Ofsted inspection for the borough has been published: St Mary's Hampton CE Primary 'good'.

The London CE Diocese is the sponsor, but the LA gets a special mention:

'The local authority and the diocese have provided consistently good support since the school opened. The diocese provides valuable training and guidance. The local authority has helped leaders to establish partnerships with other local schools that are effective in helping the school to improve the quality of teaching further.'