Richmond Borough Schools Chat 8

[muminlondon2]

This thread follows on from Richmond Borough Schools Chat 7.

News and opinions on all the changes to schools in Richmond borough.

Wokingham

And another more recent FE Week update - more details on the 'grave financial problems' for the colleges involved in the UKTI-Saudi venture.

I wonder how much GEMS was paid for this (apart from a change of heart by the government towards its involvement in state schools)?

Bluestars the year 7 offers for St RR sept 2016 are exclusively category 2a, practising baptised Catholics. Lots of Catholics didn't get in.

Lottie I think that particular priest has been cause for a lot of chuckling, with very strong views on how much your country of origin contributes to his ability to recommend you as a practising Catholic for the purpose of SH admissions. I have heard of a few bemused parents from countries like Italy and Poland, where of course there are no state funded faith schools, who suddenly became aware that they had that option simply because of where they came from. However I am sure it is hard to chuckle if you don't get a primary place offer because so many local schools have faith based admissions and you were simply not able / prepared to go through whatever hoops they stipulate.

Yes, my neighbours who have sent their daughter to Sacred Heart although not Catholics as there was no other local possibility that they could get her to in time in the mornings are not laughing about the possibility that they won't get their son in there in a couple of years if there is an upsurge in places being taken by Catholics from elsewhere in the Borough who have priority over siblings of non Catholics. I think the very ferocious priest who managed to slash the number of applications from aspirant tie-loving not very Catholic parents of Teddington a few years ago has moved on now and there is another priest who must be the one who is ill and thus failing to recruit according to the newsletter - but someone with children at the school will know that.

I also thought that the whole point of the 10 community places at Sir RR primary was that they were allowed to move on to the secondary with top priority but clearly this is another example of how un-community minded that school is. Maybe those children will have other options by then though and won't be scarred for life by the rejection.

Yes there were certainly at least two non Catholic pupils who took up places in the recent (also undersubscribed) bulge class at Sacred Heart whose parents were then faced with the reality that the younger siblings were not given places because priority was given to Catholic children in spite of them applying to the school with the encouragement of the Council (who could wash their hands of any responsibility) to give them special consideration. A bit disingenuous not to mention that when inviting applications from non Catholics, and it may well be another reason they are undersubscribed. For those seeking ties (though I don't think they wear one?) Newlands are expanding their Reception as are Radnor House in Year 7 and Jack and Jill to 11 so the old 7+ is disappearing which may help the state schools that parents treated as a pre prep and emptied after Year 2 but may be contributing to the reduced pressure on Reception places, along with the provision of state places that are underwritten by dodgy offshore enterprises. Very impressed by mums sleuthing skills on that.

I am not surprised if St RR are quietly hoping that they can make the priority given to those with community places at the primary in the senior admissions criteria irrelevant. It was actually a massive precedent to allocate some inclusive places at a Catholic School at all given the stance taken by the Catholic Education Service who have refused to take part in the Free School Programme as a result of the requirement to make 50% of the places inclusive. It was only because the LEA made it a condition of the privilege of being given the site. It was however certainly used ad nauseum as evidence the school would not be quite totally exclusive of the local community in all the lobbying in Council meetings, the Press and on here so if I was an affected parent I would certainly be going through the archives to see what was said and by whom and highlighting the subsequent reality. Hard when it is your child though.

This was the diocese's original proposal for the school which they consulted on. www.rcdow.org.uk/fileupload/upload/DoWSecondarySchPI%28Final%29242012471729.pdf

In para 12 it states that the criteria for admitting children and young people to the school will be as follows:

1. Catholic looked after children and Catholic children who have been adopted (or made subject to residence or special guardianship orders) immediately following being looked after.
2. CommunityplacesforchildrenattendingthenewRichmondPrimary School and holding a community place at that school.
3. Baptised Catholic children from practising Catholic families who are resident in the parishes of Our Lady Queen of Peace, East Sheen; Sacred Heart, Teddington; St Edmund, Whitton; St Elizabeth, Richmond; St Francis de Sales, Hampton; St James, Twickenham; St Margaret, East Twickenham; St Mary Magdalen, Mortlake; St Osmund, Barnes; St Theodore, Hampton; St Thomas Aquinas, Ham and St Winefride, Kew.
4. Baptised Catholic children who are resident in the parishes listed in criterion 3 above.
5. Other baptised Catholic children.
6. Other looked after children and children who have been adopted (or made subject to residence or special guardianship orders) immediately following being looked after.
7. Children from other Christian traditions and from other faiths. Priority will be given to members of the Eastern Christian (including Orthodox) churches

Re: Richard Reynolds, a friend texted me today who is looking for teaching jobs in the independent sector - and up popped SRR on the TES alert
The alert is specifically for independents - he has never seen another state school on it, so amusing how the HT there thinks his school will appeal to those specifically looking for jobs in indies and or moving from indies..

Some schools are really desperate. This primary school is advertising for four unqualified teachers.

Several of our Richmond secondaries have been repeatedly advertising for Maths teacher(s) - ie not enough applicants so -readvertising. Only one of them is honest enough to refer to it in the plural. Usually they advertise for 'Maths teacher', but have up to four vacancies.

Hampton Academy is looking for a new name (that doesn’t include “Academy”). No such announcement for Twickenham Academy.

Richmond West Grammar school?
That'd get the parents flocking

Yes :)
Also, Ms Ruse will be interim Head of TA until July 2017. Ms Ruse is currently Deputy Head at Waldegrave. No big surprise there then. Maybe they'll wait until the perm head is in place before they change their name.

The Guardian has Primary testing regime needs greater scrutiny: 5 letters; The rights and wrongs of testing 10-year-olds on modal verbs: 8 letters; and Schools minister's cult of rigour turns children into gibbering wrecks: Michael White on Lord Gibb - he doesn’t like him!

Well they are clearly desperate and scraping the barrel, because Ms Ruse was only recently promoted ( internal shoe-in) to deputy @ Waldegrave, and not exactly universally well-though of. But clearly useful for the Waldegrave head to have her there as eyes an ears - as someone predicted on this thread not long ago.

It's not really all that long since Hampton Academy (and indeed Whitton/Twickenham) changed its name from HCC, or whatever it was. Shame Hampton School is already taken...

I have no opinion on Mrs Ruse, but do know that my DDs like her.

Hampton Hill School perhaps?

In the news the journalist who set up West London Free School Trust 'admitted he had been “arrogant” to presume schools could improve just by having high expectations and said he regrets criticising teachers, state schools and local education authorities.'

Well, the Conservatives may not have had such a good council election results day after all. Or it's a good day to bury bad news. Either way, they've abandoned forced academisation for good or outstanding schools...

And in the RTT letters page today, the senior leaders of RPA defend their school.

Yes, excellent news muminlondon2 about the plans being abandoned to force all of England's schools to become academies.

muminlondon2: this letters page was published last week - April 29. This week's RTT has not yet been published online.

A false retreat?

ChrisSquire I heard about this letter earlier in the week, so guessed it had been published last week. Until a few weeks ago I had an email every Friday with the e-edition that could easily be read through. Not had one for a couple of weeks - do you know if they have they stopped doing this?
Re the letter - I don't know why they added fuel to the fire since even if people had read the previous letter they would have forgotten about it - this comes across as unnecessarily defensive and reminding people all over again.
They mention a few results and hide the detail away on their website in the depth of the exam timetable section (where they don't include Science stats).
Maths, ICT and French dire - but ok if you have kids that loves history.
And what about all the kids who have had to repeat Y12 - wasting a year of their lives - after last years unreported AS results.
Perhaps one/some of their parents might write to the RTT with a re-riposte to this riposte...

parents, governors, the sceptical media, are going to assume the battle is won, and all that’s left to do is loot the corpses and get drunk
Interesting about the BoH - didn't know that!