| This posted by Carl Styants on Education Swanage Facebook page (Hope you don't mind me posting here, Carl) | 3:58pm Aug 9 |
Unfortunately we were advised last week by the landowner of the former Swanage Grammar School site that his offer of part of this land for The Swanage School has been withdrawn and that the site is no longer available to us. Clearly this is very disappointing and a big setback but we have been aware that dealing with the owners carried risks and have always considered alternatives.
We can report that Swanage Town Council, a strong supporter of The Swanage School from the outset, has this week resolved to help us look at using the Lower Grammar School Field site to the north for the school, which could be built next to a new St Mary's school. We have no intention or wish of preventing St Mary's building a primary school on the site. The site is large enough to accommodate two schools and there may be opportunities to share construction management costs and amenities such as parking.
The site, originally gifted to the town by James Day, is owned by Swanage Town Council under a 150-year lease from Dorset County Council. It is under a covenant held by the De Moulham Trust.
We are striving to ensure that The Swanage School will open as planned at the start of September 2013. The additional weeks needed for a new planning application would be offset by the weeks saved by no longer needing to remove asbestos from and then demolish the old Grammar School buildings.
At the moment we are at the beginning of discussions with lots of groups and more work is happening at the highest levels of the DfE. As soon as more news is available, we will let you know.
We can report that Swanage Town Council, a strong supporter of The Swanage School from the outset, has this week resolved to help us look at using the Lower Grammar School Field site to the north for the school, which could be built next to a new St Mary's school. We have no intention or wish of preventing St Mary's building a primary school on the site. The site is large enough to accommodate two schools and there may be opportunities to share construction management costs and amenities such as parking.
The site, originally gifted to the town by James Day, is owned by Swanage Town Council under a 150-year lease from Dorset County Council. It is under a covenant held by the De Moulham Trust.
We are striving to ensure that The Swanage School will open as planned at the start of September 2013. The additional weeks needed for a new planning application would be offset by the weeks saved by no longer needing to remove asbestos from and then demolish the old Grammar School buildings.
At the moment we are at the beginning of discussions with lots of groups and more work is happening at the highest levels of the DfE. As soon as more news is available, we will let you know.
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289 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 289 of 289It can't be anywhere near 700 pupils bussed to Wareham. There are only about 320 on roll at Swanage Middle and since years 5 and 6 are staying at primary schools, just 50% of those form the extra thatbwill go to Purbeck.
There are over 2000 pupils at Thomas Hardye (Dorset's high performing secondary school) so a large school can obviously do well.
According to DCC's projections, based on birth rates, historic migration patterns and approved new housing projects, there should now be 810 11-16s in Swanage and Langton.
Not all will go to catchment schools. A few parents send their children to Sandford Middle to get their children into Lytchett, or to Uplands to get into Poole Grammar.
Fine except for hands on courses. I would not trust a plumber or electrician who trained online.
Some cannot work alone online; and need the company of others in a personal interactive way.
But...online courses can be good, too.
Anyone know how Purbeck's A levels went? Nothing about it in the Echo
18/8/12 2:37 PM
Link to Purbeck School website gives info on A level and GCSE results. Well done everyone!
http://www.purbeck.dorset.sch.uk/?p=3014
For A level, the link is at the bottom of the page.
Row erupts over results
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9494605/GCSE-results-2012-row-erupts-over-marking-of-English-exam-papers.html
The noise being made about a fall in GCSE results has a hollow ring to it, as did the similar noise about A-levels. It is simply so much white noise, stopping us hearing the real messages. One such message is a scandalous neglect of those who mark scripts – neglect in terms of pay, conditions, recruitment and the status of the job – with the arts subjects in particular producing joke results year after year. There's a great fuss being made over English this year; I can't remember a year when there wasn't at least one subject for which the results defied logic or reality, and which were ludicrously out of kilter with the ability of the candidates.
The second problem is GCSEs themselves. We must be the only country that has as its de facto school leaving certificate an exam that bores the pants off the brightest and is too hard for the weakest.
The third is exam boards that have to turn in a profit, and combine the worst elements of a privatised business with being in effect a quasi-autonomous agent of Government. A few lower grades might mean the end of a dream for some poor young people. They're not even a drop in the ocean as far as sorting our rotten examination system. Michael Gove is right. GCSEs are not fit for purpose, and a few grades here or there matter as much as whether the table cloths had been laundered when the Titanic went down.
Well done for pasting Martin Stephen's article.
That's why i did it:) thank you for noting that.
the following information is copied from Facebook and provided by Andy Speake. It shows the enhanced facilities available in Warehem. for this reason, coupled with the greater breadth of curriculum possible in a larger school, that I would send my kids to Wareham. It is not that I don't want Swanage to have its own school. rather that I believe the alternative to be better.
'David Furmage has quite rightly asked about the enhanced facilities that TPS will enjoy when it reopens as an 11-18 school in 2013/14. I have posted regarding this before, but in order to save people having to trawl through posts that are months old I have re-posted them here (I will also add them to the Parents for TPS fb page).
1) Science - We will have 13 specialist labs, plus a full size Science ICT suite and 2 20 student ICT pods (just for Science) which is what we will be able to offer for students who decide to attend TPS. There will be 3 specialist labs each for Biology, Chemistry and Physics, 2 for Geology, plus 2 multi-purpose labs. This work has started already and will be completed in December.
2) There will be 3 full sized Art rooms, plus a Sixth Form room, 3 Food rooms, 2 Textiles suites, 3 DT workshops and 1 each for Graphics and Electronics. In addition there is a 30 seat ICT suite in the Technology block plus 2 20 seat pods. We hope to provide an additional 20 seat pod plus a 'dry' classroom.
3) 7 specialist rooms each for English and Maths; 6 for Languages (Spanish will be available from 2013 and hopefully Latin too); 8 for Humanities (plus a 30 seat ICT suite on the top floor of H block).
4) There will be 2 full size Music suites (plus up to 10 practice rooms) and 2 Drama rooms; a new Dance Studio; a Computer Science/Media Studies suite plus a number of classrooms that will accommodate 'minority' subjects such as Health & Social Care.
5) The dining facilities will be doubled in size with a new servery, whilst there will be a brand new LRC plus the new Sixth Form Centre. The main entrance to the school will also be reworked.
If I have missed anything that people want to know about please ask!'
I notice the latest edition of the Gazette is out and in it an article about recent events including the reporter's thoughts on the meeting at the town hall. I'm sorry but if this is an unbiased account then I'm a monkey's uncle.
Ah. The Echo finally cottoned on to this story:
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/districts/purbeck/9889687.Swanage_school_plans_stalled_after_landowner_trust_withdraw_offer/
Not an entirely accurate report.
It IS The Echo, after all. Did you expect facts?
I am surprised it did not feature the usual 'hand on chin/looking cheesed off/disgusted' photo.
What's a dry room ? , looking in to it it's a room with a drywipe board. Am I wrong?
There is a response to the article in The Purbeck Gazette on St Marys Primary School website.
It's a shame that St Mary's will not get the opportunity for this to be seen amongst the wider population of Swanage until the next Gazette is published. I doubt that many people will read their website in comparison. I too feel that Nico's article was nothing like the 'balanced' report that she promised.
I am an onlooker, not affiliated to any of the schools under discussion. I do, however, like to see fair play and honesty..
http://www.stmarysswanage.dorset.sch.uk/PurbeckGazetteResponse.aspx
Just read that the DfE have pulled the plug on a Bradford free school (called 'One In A Million School) just a week before it was due to open. Apparently it had only managed to fill 60% of its places. It was to be a small school with an intake of 50 in y7 (350 overall).
According to the FT,parents learnt about it over the weekend and the council is now offering pupils places in alternative schools.
This is a dreadful state of affairs and must be the worst possible scenario. Not only has it been a huge waste of money (building a new school in the football ground) but problematic for parents and the council who now need to find alternative school places overnight.
So what happens if a school is built in Swanage and the demand is simply not great enough? It's happened in Beccles, Suffolk, where they only had 37 applicants too.
How many more schools are going to have millions of pounds poured into them, to fall at he last hurdle? What a waste of tax payers money! Surely the money could be better spent improving the schools already in existence.
Agree with 27/8 @11.40. I too read that article and was slightly disappointed by the almost sensational wording used by the journalist despite declaring no bias! Yeah right.
This included being "personally saddened by the attitude ......co-ordinated bullying ....ignore the needs of the secondary school...". Reported "unexplainable" and unquantifiable figures" from DCC rep - and "appalled at the turnaround ....lack of understanding ... losing secondary education.." Then goes on to declare that lack of secondary education will almost certainly result in further falls in population. Really?. Wareham is 9 miles - get a grip. It's not that far.
I am a parent and I have no bias. But this does impact my family. And I will make a choice if and when ES delivers. I sincerely hope ES will eventually get a smooth passage and a learning is taken from all this debating. And we should be grateful that the gazette has shown an interest. But wouldn't it have been better if that interest had been a bit more balanced.
Read this. It is sobering.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9502200/Anger-as-Coalition-halts-free-school-project.html
One question: how many parents have signed up (not 'expressed interest') for this school?
As a rate and tax payer, I think this is a fair question to ask at this stage. If viability is not assured, then this can be halted before money (and time) is wasted.
Thanks for that link. Another thought....what on earth are the staff who thought they had a job next week going to do now? I do hope that the new principal of the Swanage School hasn't handed in his notice where he currently works yet.
There is a big difference between an 'expression of interest' and an application for a child to attend a school. There can be no certainty that sufficient numbers will sign up for the Swanage School. I hope Purbeck are keeping enough places to accommodate the extra pupils if this all goes belly up like Bradord.
Well if the article in the Gazette is to be believed, before the Henshers 'pulled the plug'on the building, 'a full roll of children was booked in, to start in 2013'. Also there will be a get out clause for parents whose children are starting in 2013 because they will have a separate application to fill in for the free school so can still go ahead and apply through DCC for any other school.
But that is just one of the inaccuracies in the report. There can't be a full roll of children booked in as the application process for the next school year has not yet begun. There has even been some recent discussion about whether parents apply via county or separately for the free school. If the Swnage School has only just decided to have its own admissions process, then they cannot possibly know how many will actually sign up yet. They only have expressions of interest to go by.
If this school is not back on track within a matter of days, there will be little chance it will be open in September 2013. You cannot find land, funding, draw up architectural plans, apply for planning permission, new build a school, equip it, hire staff, establish curriculum and other policies, and recruit pupils - in less than a year. It simply cannot be done - as it is stipulated on the website.
2014 would make more sense, but my opinion is that this government will not be funding these schools from scratch much longer.
Can't believe the funding agreement for the school in Bradford had not even been signed off by the DfE and then they just decided not to sign it.What a bizarre way to do things. I feel very sorry for the children and parents at that school but what will this mean for the Swanage School? When will their funding agreement be signed? Will they have to wait until they have a certain amount of children on their applications list? With all the uncertainty will parents be reluctant to sign up. It's a bit of a Catch 22 situation.
I feel that it is imperative that parents know what they may (or may not) be signing up to and are prepared for the possibility that The Swanage School may not open in 2013.
Unfortunately, the Gazette and Advertiser have not done a very good job at providing all of the necessary contextual evidence. Parents need to make informed decisions but the propaganda machine doesn't help. I very much doubt that large numbers of Swanage residents read this blog to inform themselves of the issues or join in the debate.
We are in the midst of a recession. When will Gove put a halt to the collosal waste of public money and scarp the free school program?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-19423882
When the boy Gove grows up.
Or when the people of Swanage wake up and stop voting the Tories , if you's dont then stop moaning about their policies .
Er, I reckon quite a few members of ES and their supporters would have not voted for the tories but were quite happy to jump on the free school bandwagon.
Yes, interesting to speculate on who is taking who for a ride. Is it Gove bringing back grammar schools by the back door conning ES into doinf his dirty work or is it ES with their communitarian/cooperative/semi-libertarian agenda taking advantage of a barmy politician. Either way its a rum situation. Here we are with a government elected on a platform of cutting public spending apparently happily shelling out for more schools in areas with a glut of school places. You couldn't invent it - unless you were writing Yes Minister.
Before someone points out that free schools will not have selective admission policies (yet) do please try to remember that the whole point about grammar schools was social separation achieved, post 1944 Act with a dodgy exam, prior to then through fees.
I could venture that the Swanage School will accept all and sunder, until such time as it can afford to become restrictive.
Will it, for example, be able to afford to educate pupil with specific learning difficulties?
Well after carefully reading Nico's article , I decided myself to pop along to the council meeting the other night to see for myself what all the fuss was about. Well let's say I was shocked and embarrassed to live in this town. St Marys supporters gathered on mass and in my opinion bullied the mayor on the subject of giving them the school and to no one else. It was ugly beyond belief. As the mayor said a few times , this is not about religion , it's about a secondary school for Swanage. Are St Marys maybe a tad peed off that St Marks have been given the middle school which is of course and bigger site and they feel like now they want to rival this? Also why should this public land be donated as someone has already suggested when the church has enough money to buy land or even fork out 1.9 million pounds for the whole grammar school site and be done with it ? I for one do not like the way St Marys went about things. Your beliefs don't make you a better person , your behaviour does.
Saying the catholic church should buy a site is a red herring. Capital funding for VA schools comes from the local education authority, whether the schools are CofE, RC or whatever. In this instance the LEA has decided St Mary's is to have two additional years and needs a larger site. It is therefore something for DCC to fund. St Marks is not expected to buy the Middle School so why should anyone suggest another church should have to buy the site for a school itself. The freehold of the site is owned by DCC, STC have a lease but no use for the land themselves.
Was it not about 2 years ago that Swanage schools were told that they would have to go 2 tiers. So why did St Marys
not put in their claim for a bigger school then , instead of January this year. Surely they must of known they were going to need a bigger school.
Swanage does need a secondary school , otherwise can people honestly believe that in the future the population of the town will not dwindle? There's no affordable houses for a start , the hospital is a grey area aswell at the moment, and now maybe no secondary school. Why would people want to move here if this all happens? I hope the council think carefully here about this for the future of Swanage.
If you support the need for Secondary Education in Swanage PLEASE write to or e-mail the council NOW the decisions are being made.
But how can we write in our support for an idea which we know little about? Everything posted about it has been vague generalities.
I suggest you enlist the parents who have sign on to write one letter, assuring the council that they will be using this school.
My opinion is that if a site isn't sorted by the end of September, then that is that.
How will having a secondary school in Swanage attract more families to the area when there won't be any houses that they can afford? Only very affluent families will be able to come here hence a much more selective school will evolve.
Anon @ 6.50pm is right those parents that have made an application for their child to attend the new school should write to the council showing their support and they need to do it now.
The opinion that if a site isn`t found by the end of September then "that is it" unfortunately could also be right.
Ed Swanage need to get onto this now, they need to inform parents of the need to write to the council.
Anon. 9.08pm not sure how you come to the conclusion that affluent families make a selective school, Grammar schools are selective secondarys and free schools arn`t. Or do you think that children from wealthier backgrounds are somehow brighter ?
For the last 40 years children in years 9 and above have been educated at Purbeck school. This has not stopped people moving to Swanage. Could a supporter of ES please explain why years 7 and 8 doing the same would deter others from moving here. Can they point to anywhere with a 20 minute bus ride to school which has become depopulated? No of course they can't. The proposition is completely stupid.
The odd thing about this thread, is the almost total lack of comments from parents. That is a disturbing observation.
Is this really wanted; or is it being foisted on Swanage by a few well-meaning but cloud-in-the-sky idealists?
Where ARE the parents? How many have made a FIRM commitment?
From anon 9:08. yep sorry, I stand corrected, 'selective' was the wrong choice of words. What I meant was if only affluent families can afford to come and live here then the school will become more exclusive. I do NOT think children from wealthier backgrounds are brighter but I do believe many free schools are selective.
How do you know if most of the posters are not the parents?
Their comments would reflect that fact.
How do you know they are?
I am all for a secondary school in Swanage and I am a parent;)
I am also a parent and support the need for a secondary school.
But will you send your child there? Have you signed him/her up?
12.19pm says yes signed up.
I am signing up .
So.....is this school going to happen? There is less than a year to get it up and running.
So little honest information from ES makes me think they have hit the buffers. Any news, ES?
Well if you could be bothered to read their website it will tell you that admissions process is now open and that they have 2 information events, the first being on tues 18 september 7.00-9.00pm at Swanage middle school and the second on sat 29 sept 2.00-4.00pm at the Mowlem community room.
Yes 'Come to our information evenings and all will be revealed!' Doubt it, a press release would be better.
If you cant read then you cant read, or cant be bothered to read, so website, press release doesn`t really matter much does it.
This posted by Paul Angel (ES Chair of Governors) on the official ES Facebook page:
(Quote) “Hi all, lovely to see so many people at the info event last night - the next opportunity is on Sat 29th Sept, 2-4pm at The Mowlem Community Room and we'll get our prospectus online for you to download ASAP.
The big news last night was that we're pleased to announce that we will open initially at Harrow House for the first Autumn term while our new buildings are being completed.
We're working with the management team at Harrow House to finalise arrangements, but we're certain that students and parents will be impressed at their excellent teaching and sports facilities. We're currently hoping to have an open evening at Harrow House itself, probably in early December - watch this space for details!
Our own new buildings (still incorporating a large sports hall, spacious teaching wing designed to match our ambitious curriculum, dedicated science labs, specialist art space, music, drama and DT facilities) will be completed ready for us to move into for January 2014, though we're still involved in negotiations on the exact site. Again, watch this space - we're working with each of the interested parties as quickly as we can to finalise arrangements!” (end quote).
Apart from the fact that Harrow House is hardly the best environment for a modern secondary school – no science labs, no art facilities, no design\technology labs, etc., the question that immediately arises is WHERE EXACTLY WILL THE NEW SCHOOL BE BUILT? Completion for January 2014 is still a very ambitious timeframe, even if the planning application goes through without a hitch – which knowing Swanage must be considered unlikely. The original aim of Education Swanage was to re-open the old Grammar School building and help regenerate that corner of north Swanage. Now the aim seems to be “let’s build a secondary school wherever we can and regardless of whom we inconvenience or upset”. In my opinion the hype fails to conceal a sense of desperation and I for one feel very uncomfortable about this.
While this will allow the school to open on time, it will not be able to deliver the promises made. No doubt there will be a superhuman effort on the part of staff to make up for it; yet parents must ask themselves if they are willing to add sub-standard facilities to the list of very reasonable questions they may have, before entrusting their child to this experiment.
Again I would suggest the school await opening until 1) funding is secure 2) the site is acquired 3) buildings are completed 4) staff have the facilities they require to deliver a wide curriculum.
Surely a September 2014 launch would be wise? Or is there a concern that the government may drop this scheme if not started sooner?
I am afraid what Paul Angel has announced can described, at best, as a very limited option. ES has been brave and certainly committed, but this simply is not good enough unless all facilities can be provided. They will be there, eight miles away. It simply does not make sense to open something that cannot possibly deliver. Perhaps the new Head Teacher can address how he sees those challenges will be addressed. In specifics. Broad generalities are really not sufficient.
I can only speculate that Education Swanage are determined to open (anything) at the start of the 2013/14 academic year due to the fact that their whole business plan and cost model is based on the Middle School closure, i.e. with Years 6, 7 and 8 as they are now coming on board simultaneously as new Years 7, 8 and 9.
Other Free Schools have opened with single year entries (new year 7) and, if they are still to proceed, I agree it would make sense for ES to do that in September 2014.
The main concern may be that the government may not be willing to commit to funding it for a 2014 start. It may be now - or never. The chance that Mr Gove (or any minister - or government for that matter) - will be in office in 23 months' time is too nebulous to count upon, and I am quite sure that a change of government would spell the end of the free school initiative.
ES don't really do themselves any favours. Whenever anyone cross questions them they get very defensive and then consistently refer said questioners to their website. However the information is very slow in materialising. We know via their facebook group that they are pleased to announce they will open on time but in temporary accommodation. They also apparently have a prospectus. Why is this information not on their website? I would have thought it would be more important to do this than squabbling on facebook about people bumping up old posts.
I can't believe the Government are prepared to shell out millions of pounds to this project when a school in Swanage is not essential. Will their funding agreement get signed before they move into Harrow House I wonder. If not who will foot the bill for rent? We are constantly being told that services are being cut and that we are living in a time of austerity and yet a school that is not absolutely essential is being considered. Shame on Mr Gove and his band of followers.
I agree. And Dorchester is only as far away from Weymouth as Swanage is from Wareham. Why should we be paying for this extra school when they could just bus every child in Dorchester to Weymouth. Shame on DCC and their followers! And I for one cannot wait until our local hospital closes and we can all save money, ensuring that we have enough to pay bus fares or the fuel and car parking charges to attend our new 'community' hospital in Wareham.
I rest my case!
Of course any school is essential , saying it is not is just a stupid comment. And if you stand by this comment , then why not just get rid of all the schools in Swanage and ship all the kids to schools in Wareham. How about that for a saving of cash!
Why Swanage should not have a secondary school is beyond me? If it has the numbers interested in it then good on ES for bringing the idea to the table:) this is one of those big decisions Swanage has not had since the Marina subject. Hopefully this won't get turned down and we come to regret it in years to come when our population has dwindle and we end up swanage being a mass old peoples home.
In my opinion The Swanage School is a want, not a need. Saying the population will dwindle and become a mass old peoples home is a stupid comment. If this is true how come loads of people who moved away from Swanage have moved back with their families knowing their kids will spend most of their secondary education in Wareham? Having them go to Wareham two years earlier will not prevent families coming back in the future, the cost of houses might.
Another nicely balanced piece in the Gazette this month on the Through The Keyhole page.
It would appear that if you're not wholeheartedly behind Education Swanage and all their decisions, you are of course against them and anything of benefit to Swanage.
Any suggestions? the Gazette correspondent asks, I would suggest stopping writing divisive articles which do little to help the causes of any of the parties involved.
You have hit the nail on the head there gazette reader. I think this is one of the reasons why so many people prefer to stay anonymous because any attempt at saying anything against the free school is usually met with a barrage of negativity that extends beyond the school debate, eg marina, hospital and so on.
No people have moved back and have had kids , not moved back with kids. And why should just Wareham have a school in a town , just because it has for years does not mean we should have some change. Which I don't think is such a bad idea:)
Plus ES is not the only benefit for this town. Affordable housing is a must , jobs , tourist trade , hospital and of course a growing population. Though without most the above the population will dwindle.
Glad you included other contributing factors to the debate about the possibility that the younger population may dwindle. Also, I agree some people have moved back and had kids but many, including myself and a lot of my friends, have moved back with kids. You have also corroborated what I said earlier a school in Swanage is a want not a need.
Gazette Reader, it strikes me that we would all have been better off if years ago at the start of the Purbeck Review, we had simply asked Nico Johnson, David Hallister and their colleagues to come up with the solution to education in the area seeing as they are so blissfully untroubled by the facts.
I thought that I'd post this here rather than on the all praise to Education Swanage Farcebook page cuz I feel that my right to (partial) free speech may be curtailed over there.
I was just trying to imagine how the parents would be reacting if it was the Gov't who were in charge of this situation rather than Edu Swan, who, I've been led to believe, are being a little economical with the truth over their dealings with the owners of the Grammar School which led to the initial problem.
I currently live in another part of the country but I've been told that I may have to work in Poole sometime in the future. Since I have secondary school age children I have been watching the development of the plans for a school in Swanage with interest. My family comes from the area so of all the places in the world I would like to live Swanage comes quite high, but I wouldn't move there if it meant my children being bused to Purbeck School which is already too large and planning to get bigger.
The debate has reminded me of the development of a medical school in Plymouth. There was huge resistance for 2 reasons - they were planning to use a non-traditional approach to teaching and the hospitals in the South West were already used for the training of Bristol students so it was assumed that there wasn't room for 2 medical schools in the region. The only thing that made it happen was the perseverance and enthusiasm of the people with the vision to take it forward. Eight years on and it is a thriving medical school turning good quality and compassionate doctors. But the other thing that I have noticed is that the standards at Bristol have gone up too.
Personally I think the only thing that will prevent the Education Swanage project from being a similar success will be if the people and parents of Swanage fail to recognise what an amazing opportunity this is.
"what an amazing opportunity this is"
just like the marina would have been
A tad silly comparing this to the marina; that went to a local referendum and then the House of Lords - cor, sounds a bit like democracy! - this has already been agreed at the top, and it's now down to the parents to decide.
You might remember that after a long campaign by Education Swanage, including a 2000-strong petition, DCC councillors voted to allow residents to have a say on secondary education in Swanage during round two of the Purbeck Review (the first attempt having been rejected by 75 per cent). But days later the seven members of the Cabinet overturned this and removed all mention of secondary education from the consultation. The education officers had decided that parents did not want a smaller school on their doorstep and were determined that parents would not get a say.
...'this has already been agreed at the top,' Er, I don't think so, not until the funding agreement has been signed. Did you not read what happened in Bradford?
The Bradford decision centered on them not making the necessary standards - probably admission numbers.
So assuming that Edu Swan don't do anything else stupid and that temporary accommodation meets the stds then it's up to the parents.
But they didn't meet the admission numbers at Beccles either and were still allowed the go ahead by the Government. So in my opinion it is not the parents but the Government who have the ultimate say
Does anyone know how many children have actually been enrolled to date at the proposed new ‘Swanage School’ via their admissions process? That is as opposed to previously registering an interest.
By the way it strikes me as being more than a bit unfair that the Free School’s admissions process is remaining open until 31st January 2013 whilst the ones for all the other schools, including The Purbeck, close on the 31st October 2012.
ES have written on their FB group page that they can't disclose how many have applied but that they have enough to satisfy the DfE re. funding. I agree it's unfair that their application process closes after all other schools but this is what we will have to get used to, free schools can make up their own rules as they are independent.
So the latest is that The Middle School is the preferred site for ES provided DCC agree they can share with St Marks. DCC have always said that no building work will happen on the Middle School sites until after closure so as to cause as little disruption to the children as possible. However in their own inimitable way ES are ever hopeful that their school building work will get underway whilst the Middle School is still functioning. On their facebook group page they have written: 'We completely understand the undertaking made to the four Middle Schools by DCC that their final year leading up to closure would not be disrupted by building works. Indeed, many of us in ES have children at Swanage Middle School now and the integrity of their education is foremost in our thoughts. However, when this undertaking was made by DCC, the thinking was about buildings being demolished or altered whilst the schools were still operating. The situation we potentially face here is very different. The farthest corner of the SMS playing field is little used by the school and part of it could be securely fenced off, with an entirely separate and secure site access from a widened Washpond Lane, without having any material impact on the school. All of the buildings, playground and roughly 80% of the playing field would be entirely unaffected. We are asking for the opportunity to discuss this openly and constructively with DCC and with the Governing Body of Swanage Middle School. Currently we are being told it is non-negotiable but discussions remain at an early stage.'
In other words they are saying we will get our own way on this. I can't see how it will not cause disruption to the children. With noise and costruction vehicles needing access, even at Washpond lane, it is bound to have an impact on these children whose teachers are trying to make their final year at a great school as smooth as possible.
Perhaps they think that Dave Pratten will help to swing things their way since he is not only Head of Swanage Middle but on the free school governing body too. I do remember his speeches about making sure that the middle school provided the very best for the pupils until the day it closes its doors. I wonder what his take is on all of this? Surely he wouldn't support any disruption to the education of his pupils with building works now? This would be a tad hypocritical in my opinion. I am also of the opinion that he is a man of great integrity and surely now finds himself in a very difficult position.
Yes, he is a good headteacher and very dedicated to making this a great final year for his pupils so I believe he will not let anything disrupt this transitional time for them.
The number of pupils left at the Middle School must be less than 240 now there are no Year 5's (and so many parents have moved their kids to schools outside Purbeck or gone private at Yarrells, etc). The school was designed to cope with more than 500 secondary pupils so I think it's pretty daft to suggest 20% of the playing field couldn't reasonably be given up a few months early to allow the free school to be built in time. Get some perspective, people.
But it won't be built in time will it and even if there was only one child left there it would still cause disruption. The very fact that some children have already moved to grammar or gone private means the morale of the children will be lowered already without the added arrival of builders with extra noise and traffic. So I think this needs careful consideration not someone writing our concerns off by telling us to get some perspective.
Perhaps it would make sense to continue this particular debate if and when planning permission is granted for the Free School to be built on the location referred to. Surely this cannot be guaranteed, particularly in view of the road safety issues involved?
What road safety issues? Nothing compared to opening a primary school (St Mary's) in a place with no pavements!
Would not matter about no pavements , there's no pavements at St Mary's at the moment when the parents park their cars on them during the school run.
Well it looks like we wont have to wait until planning permission is or isn't granted because ES have announced that the Middle School bit of filed will be their permanent site. They obviously have absolute confidence in the Middle School governors agreeing to their request to start building before the school closes in September 2013, no surprise there then. Also they see no hurdles to the planning permission being granted, no surprise there either!
Probably a better site to be honest and nice to see that St Marks are willing to share the site. So 2 schools can live and share a site which is lovely to see instead of being selfish :)
SMS was always the only viable site. Let's be honest.
SMS of course is a good site , though its a shame the grammar school site fell through as its a site that needed a rebirth of something . Shame as its probably going to be under developed for many years to come :(
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