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.

The Nelson Primary story is very interesting. I think I may forward it to our governors. It is precisely because many Darell parents believe that primary is and should be very different from secondary level that the plan to academise under the auspices of Grey Court is so alarming.

If priority admissions to Grey Court are not part of the deal I don't see any benefits of academisation for Darell. Even if it was, it's still a case of 'all eggs in one basket'. I'm very suspicious of LA brokered deals that seem to be about putting pressure on individuals to take on even more management responsibility. At some point even the best heads retire.

I know! I can't understand why most of the governors seem to be so sold on it at all.

FamiliesOnline report: In reaction to the £7m of school cuts that Richmond borough will face as a result of a reduction in Government funding, several local schools are calling for the help of parents in the local campaign for Fair Funding For All Schools. Orleans, St Mary's, St Stephen's and Orleans Park Schools have joined together to form a St Margarets branch of the National Campaign for Fair Funding for All Schools

The branch held an OPEN MEETING on Monday, 13 March at 7.30pm at Winchester Hall, Turks Head TW1 1LF to raise awareness of the cuts and form an action plan. For information, contact [email protected]

The Online RTT has Hundreds of schoolchildren in Richmond and Kingston exposed to illegal levels of air pollution from diesel vehicles:

A joint investigation by Greenpeace and the Guardian found that thousands of schools across the country are within 150 metres of roads where the level of nitrogen dioxide from diesel traffic exceeds the legal limit of 40 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air). According to the data, students at Twickenham Academy in Percy Road are exposed to some of the highest levels of air pollution in Richmond, with levels peaking at 53 ug/m3.

Children at St Stephen's C of E Primary School in Winchester Road are being exposed to levels of more than 49 ug/m3 while pupils at Darell Primary and Nursery in Darell Road are near to 48 ug/m3. But tens of nursery schools in the borough are seeing the highest levels of air pollution, with Happy Hut Pre-School in Chertsey Road, Twickenham, being exposed to levels of 53 ug/m3.

Guardian report: Thousands of British children exposed to illegal levels of air pollution

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So I see Franklin House wasn't approved this time (site issues maybe?) but the Maaz special school was. Does anyone know anything about Maaz?
www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/approval-granted-131-more-free-schools

RTT coverage here
"The Auriga Academy Trust - formed by the borough's existing special schools, Clarendon and Strathmore - will run the school, with the council hoping that it will open on two council-owned sites in Twickenham. "
I wonder which Twickenham sites they have in mind.

Mereway centre?

Where was Franklin House intended to go? Is it linked to Turing House and planning to take over the current site if/when Turing House goes to Whitton? Speaking of which has there been a planning application for the new Turing House site yet?

LProsser: so many questions! here’s one answer, part of a long page published by Turing House:

Permanent Site Information:

Turing House initially opened in Teddington in 2015. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has succesfully negotiated the purchase of a permanent site within Richmond Borough, on Hospital Bridge Road in Heathfield. It is a large greenfield site with more than enough space for the new school facilities that will, subject to planning permission, be built there. We will be keeping this page updated with news as the plans progress.

Following a key decision on the sale of the land by Hounslow Council in December 2016, work can now be progressed on our planning application, ensuring that the impact on the local community and neighbouring garden centre is minimised and opportunities for community benefit are maximised.

The first step is a feasibility study, where reference designs are drawn up, surveys of the land are done and the information is put together for building contractors to prepare their bids. We’ve had a number of meetings with the architect and it’s exciting to see real plans being created. The size of the site will enable us to have excellent sporting facilities and we’ve already started to look at how these could be made available to the community.

The timing of our move to Hospital Bridge Road is subject to the planning process, with the earliest proposed date being September 2018 . .

Yes, my understanding is that FH want to move into the TH temp site. But TH don't look to be going anywhere soon!

I thought the council were supposed to be expanding Collis? Maybe Franklin House isn't needed straight away if that's in the pipeline.

I think Collis expanded to 4 forms of entry a couple of years ago although it needs rebuilding to accommodate that number of children. I have lost track of projected numbers of 4 year olds coming along but maybe no more places are needed in Teddington for the time being.

Collis is certainly taking 120 reception pupils this year. I believe the next one to expand is Hampton Junior (from 3 to 4 form entry) but not until 2019. Not sure if that's taking FH into account or not.

I think there have been 2 years of 4 classes since permanent expansion - current reception and Yr. 1 so far. My friend's youngest is in current year 6 which was a bulge year also with 4 classes so there is likely to be a knock-on effect on admissions to Teddington School in September 2018 aswell.

There have been updates on the Turing House permanent site. There have been significant delays on the Whitton site and the school is calling for the site in Fulwell (near David Lloyd) to be formally looked at, with parents asked to e mail local councillors to try and encourage something to happen with regards to this issue being settled quickly. There appears to support from local lib dem councillors, and opposition from Tory councillors, with disputes over how difficult obtaining planning on that land would be.

The council should surely find it hard to block the David Lloyd land again for a much needed school, when they are apparently in support of using metropolitan open land for expansion of an underwhelming university.

You would think so, but it seems there IS a block, and a complete disagreement across party lines, with the conservatives saying that developing the land is not possible, and the Lib Dems saying it is manageable. Both have given detail as to why. It is very hard to get to the bottom of the whole thing. Both potential MPs also support Fulwell, but it would seem that time is running out, not sure what public pressure can achieve, if anything.

I was at that meeting. They're saying they'd be happy with either site, but as HBR is taking so long to finalise they're worried there's some issue so want the Fulwell site to be looked at in parallel. It's already been so long that they're going to need some additional temporary space in Tedfington for 1 -2 years. You'd think the civil servants working on this at snails pace would realise the consequences.

I can also see issues with planning on the HBR site as there does appear to be strong local opposition, so potentially more delays. It is extremely frustrating, and doesn't make sense not to simply look properly at both options, I think doing so openly would also help the local communities in both areas really understand how / why whichever site is finally built upon is the "chosen one."

They showed some plans for HBR which look really great- the bulk of the space is outdoor sports, with a 1.5km cycle track (DH excited about that), athletics track, pitches etc. The school building itself and indoor sports building is on the space between the garden centre and railway line with access set back a bit from Hospital Bridge Road, using a mini roundabout.

They said the Fulwell site would have planning issues too because it is used by the public, with paths across it, which is why the council's planners recommended HBR instead, but at least the Fulwell site is owned by Richmond rather than Hounslow so local councillors would have more influence over progress.

how many more cohorts can they realistically accommodate at the site in Teddington? this is not going to be resolved in time for the projected move in September 2018. What does this mean for current year 5 pupils for example?

It means 2 years of different temp accommodation for current year 5 and feasibly year 4. They have identified possible sites near to current temp site, but for commercial reasons can't reveal where exactly until they have them secured. The sooner the permanent site is nailed down the better as then there is hope that Y4 will perhaps not be in temp accommodation as long. This is why the pressure is on, the delays at HBR have meant that the 2018 deadline has slipped (outside of the school's control).

The current site can only have 3 cohorts, but they said if the new temp site is close enough they can flow between them for different subjects rather than it being split by year group.