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.

Shame it took them so long to recognise what local parents have been saying for years.
When I was looking round TA and HA I did really like the new HA head but it was clear she was at the start of a long journey. So glad to see her positive Ofsted. Hope TA will follow but expect their leadership issues might slow them down a bit.

No regular contributions expected at HHJS by the way. Just the usual PTA fundraising and contributions to specific trips and activities.

I do hope the "fall-back" site isn't the site in Fulwell that they've seemingly failed to put forward for TH - it would be scandalous if they've been holding that back for their own mitigation plan.

Jelly - I agree with you about HA, it feels like it's on the right path at last.

bluestars as I understand it the EFA would not allow that. Turing was approved first and the EFA has powers to compel the LEA to make the first/best site available to them, technically that included Egerton Road although clearly the RUTS school will be part of the REEC, the strategic solution for the problems faced by Richmond College, who currently occupy the site. They could only earmark the Whitton site if there was a better site available for Turing.

Lottie Though clearly TA have not had a current and relevant website as a priority it is still outlining their post 16 options, limited though those are compared with the rest of the MAT?

RTT Online has Future of Hampton special needs school undecided as site declated 'not suitable':

Parents and children of (The Newhouse Centre, in Buckingham Road, Hampton) which will close in August face an uncertain future, as a new site has not yet been decided. No new children have joined the school in the last two years. However, last month Richmond council declared its building ‘not suitable for children with behavioural needs’, deciding to close the school.

. . (Consultations continue . . )

Frustrated TW1 I remember being told that TA sixth form had only a handful of applicants this year so didn't go ahead, but I have no idea whether I read it on here or heard about it somewhere else. They could be trying to recruit enough students for this Autumn still I suppose.

I see what you mean about the TA website FrustratedofTW1. The GCSE results they're celebrating on the homepage are linked to a story from 2014!

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have published: Subnational population projections for England: 2014-based projections . . an indication of the future size and age structure of the population in the . . local authorities . . of England . . released 25 May 2016

Forecast % changes for the period period 2014 - 2024

LBRuT: popn + 14 = natural 9 + international migration 1.5 + within UK migration 3.5

Kingston: popn + 16 = natural 8 + international migration 12 + within migration UK - 4

Hounslow: popn + 13 = natural 11 + international migration 12 + within UK migration - 10

Full dataset: Subnational Population Projections for Local Authorities in England: Table 2

Guardian report May 25: London population expected to surge as north loses workers - Barrow-in-Furness predicted to lose 4.3% of its population by 2024, while Tower Hamlets is expected to grow by 25%

You didn't mention that London as a whole is seeing a lot of inward migration but the population of Tower Hamlets is rising nearly twice as fast as Richmond. I imagine that will be a priority for school places.

The fastest-growing section of the English population will be the over-65s with London also leading the way. I see lots of those in Richmond including the very famous, like 90-year old Sir Richard Attenborough.

David Attenborough. (genuflects).
And Bamber Gascoigne. And many, many retired actors we can't put a name to.

Yes, my neighbour alerted me to two retired actors living just up the road recently who had moved in from elsewhere. They have one of only two detached houses in the terraced street but I still had to google them! I've already forgotten their names!

I expect the Council is hoping that all the new property in the borough will be bought up by overseas investors who don't bother to let it out, especially not to pesky families with small children - I expect that's the way Teddington Studios will go. 10% of people leaving Hounslow for elsewhere in the UK sounds huge - I wonder if they have factored in the effects of Heathrow getting a third runway.

And then there are the 36 retired actors in Brinsworth House in Twickenham. I wonder if any of them account for the assertion that the representatives of the 93% who didn't much like the plans for the alien neo classical block of flats they want to land on Twickenham Riverside were geriatric by, the himself rather elderly from my perspective, Counsellor Samuels. www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/14504439.Council_deputy_leader_asked_to_apologise_for_allegedly_calling_riverside_protesters__geriatric_/ Anyone would think that the over 65s account for more than the 13.5% of the population they accounted for at the last census.....

LProsser: what is actually happening is the reverse: blocks of flats never intended for family life are acquiring young children as the couples living there cannot afford to to buy a family house in the areas they desire to settle in.

I hear all about this from a friend who is a resident of and now a director of the freeholder of Queens Court, Queens Road, Richmond Hill (Just round the corner from Sir D A). Prams in the hall and noisy children playing on the front lawn,etc., etc. He like the young families but some of his neighbours don’t.

No doubt they could afford a house in Whitton but, my dear, Whitton? Poor you! The loss of face would be too much.

Some people are really too concerned about what others think of them, so sad.

Indeed, re flats.
We let out a flat near a massively oversubscribed very leafy outstanding primary in East Sheen.
We have never agreed to rent to a family in there who wanted ' to rent the address'. Although we have been approached numerous times by Estate Agents offering incentives to do this.
However, we have noticed that other flats in the block have been snapped up by families with eg three small children in a 2 bed flat.

I was really talking about all the incredibly expensive new build flats that are springing up across the Borough as I assume that's where quite a lot of the 5% increase via incomers is assumed to be going to live. Not sure luxury flats are attractive to families as they seem to offer less space for the money than houses. But I see what you mean about more ordinary flats. I know quite a few people with children who can't afford houses.

RTT Online reports: Heathfield Junior School installs ‘dummy cameras’ in children’s toilets to deter vandalism:

Parents were left shocked when their children returned home and told them "cameras" had been installed in the toilets of their school. Headteacher at Heathfield Junior School, Paul Clayton, admitted “dummy cameras” aimed at deterring vandalism had been installed. Parents received no letters to inform them of the decision, however.

. . A mother of two children at the school, who did not wish to be named, said she thought though it may have been misguided she could understand why parents may not have been informed. She said:

It has actually worked, it has stopped vandalism in the toilets. Children in junior school are more than capable of reading and their parents might have told them, so that would defeat the point. They have got CCTV across the school which they use for different purposes. Obviously none of that CCTV is anywhere inappropriate. The school is an excellent school and they work really hard to communicate with the parents . .
………….
Fans of The Simpsons will know that this is one of Homer’s many vices so so this may be the source of this craze: one boy does it and dares the other sot do it and then every boy has to do it or be shunned. A search of the pupils’ smartphones might be revealing.

I was a quite harmless community governor at Heathfield a generation ago so I retain a soft spot for it. I remember it had then a very impressive head teacher to departed to run an international school in Singapore - you can bet your life that no boy dares p*ss in the handbasin in at that school!

TA Ofsted published. Obviously it's on a new path now but, wow, it sunk low...
It also confirms that no 16-19 provision will be offered from Sept 2016.

It makes very sad reading, it was clear there was a lot to do to improve but for it actually to decline since the last OFSTED? A lot of children, and parents, especially those with SEN and sixth formers, have been let down.

That's a massive indictment both of the failure of Learning Schools Trust and the failure of the DfE to scrutinise their original applications properly. For all the new head's upbeat comments, I fear she has a big hill to climb - it looks as if there are far too many teachers who lack a proper understanding of what their job is.

That makes heartbreaking reading. The children at least come out of it well, which conversely makes it all the worse. A huge job in front of the SLT. I see the Teddington head is named as executive head in that; so hopefully the combination of ex Waldegrave acting head, and Teddington exec will give a clear steer to the future. Sincere good luck to all concerned.

RTT Online has Bad student behaviour and weak leadership found in Ofsted report for Twickenham Academy destined for new management:

Twickenham Academy was inspected by Ofsted on April 21 and 22 and the report, released on Friday, May 27, revealed a number of areas that required improvement. The the Learning Schools Trust, will step away from the school in September and new executive management led by the headteachers of Teddington and Waldegrave Schools will implement a plan aimed at driving up standards. The Ofsted report, which gave an overall effectiveness rating of “inadequate”, stated: “Progress made by all groups of pupils has been consistently low over the past two years in most subjects.”

It added that too much teaching is of an inadequate standard and pupils are often not clear what they are expected to understand by the end of a lesson. The report was also critical of the “low expectations” of most teachers, and said: “They do not plan teaching to provide enough support, or extra challenge, for pupils who need it.” Strengths in humanities subjects, dance and drama were identified, however . . The potential of the multi-academy trust, which will also include Hampton Academy, was recognised in the report. It noted: “Senior leaders, and an increasing number of other staff, are now beginning to have a more realistic understanding of their school.”

Teddington school headteacher, John Wilkinson, said: “We will work with the school and the community to quickly build the confidence and determination needed so that all of the staff and students at Twickenham Academy are able to succeed and achieve strong outcomes.”

It's a huge indictment of all concerned including an LEA that focused its resources and a precious site on bringing into being an outstanding school that excludes most of the community whilst telling those parents unable to satisfy those admissions criteria and outside the catchments of the other outstanding schools even as far away as Barnes that they should go to Twickenham Academy and support them in their improvement project, reassuring them, and I have heard both the Cabinet member and Council Officials saying this to parents, it was an improving school. Implicit in all this was the aim that if they could get more middle class pupils in there, improvement would take care of itself, never mind the, to use a kind word, idiosyncratic teaching methods and the uninspiring leadership, both the LST and previous Heads (the fact that the Heads at Hampton, who above all were more insistent on adapting the teaching methods to their pupils, have left it in better shape to improve must highlight the latter). Parents have for years seen through this and found other options, but it is those with no choice who have been let down. As Sheila says the irony is that OFSTED fix the blame for this poor performance firmly on the Heads of the leadership, both the LST and the Head, not the nature of the pupil cohort.

Having said that there is a bit of a disconnect between the OFSTED reports of previous years and the recent ones. I cannot see how if things are so bad they could have been endorsing the efforts of the previous Heads at both schools just a couple of years ago. I suppose it is easier politically to highlight just how bad things are when the DofE have already abandoned the previous leadership and a knight on a white charger is waiting in the wings brandishing their MAT pennant.

Ofsted are notorious for their use of hindsight. It's not that long since the Stanbridge Earls saga when they changed their judgment of a special school from outstanding to special measures within a few months, following an adverse disability discrimination finding.

a knight on a white charger is waiting in the wings brandishing their MAT pennant

It's good that the LA has been so proactive about brokering the new MAT (including offering loans and consultancy service). This process must have taken about a year - that is when Ipswich Academy was rated Inadequate, which changed prospects for the Learning Schools Trust. Thank goodness it is lined up now - this thread was full of speculation as to why the TA head left so suddenly after Easter and it is apparent now. No fancy private sector white knight on a charger this time - just two local heads and a group of teachers and governors taking on the extra responsibility, despite existing commitments taking over 630-pupil Nelson primary, advising on the new 750-pupil secondary and setting up the biggest sixth forms in the borough at their own schools. I have a lot of respect for the individuals concerned, who must be working a lot of overtime.

On a more superficial note, what will they do about the LST logos embossed on the rendering of the buildings? Why did the DfE allow that to be part of the design?

In past year, according to Rightmove figures from the Land Registry, while house prices in St. Margarets, predominantly flats:

were similar to the year before and 12% up on 2013

over in Whitton:

sold prices in Whitton were 8% up on the previous year and 31% up on 2013

However, local residents are also being priced out of what were considered the cheapest areas:

sold prices in Hounslow Heath were 23% up on the previous year and 36% up on 2010

Whitton is a therefore good choice for aspiring families, if you can get in while you can. The schools situation is looking much more positive now. Many residents will be hoping their green environment will be preserved.