With the Surrey County Council pushing its case that there are surpluses in primary places as a reason for the closure of Shortwood Infant School then they should probably ready this….
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(Evening Standard)
Overlooked: Dr Liz Taylor with son William, who has been denied a school place in Camden
The parents of more than 130 children without a place at primary school were today demanding answers from education chiefs
A summit between the group and Camden council was called after 133 children due to start primary school in the borough were left without a place. A further 74 were told there was no room at their four choices and have been allocated a space elsewhere.
The shortage of primary school places is a city-wide trend prompted by a baby boom and fuelled by the credit crunch, which has made parents opt for state schools over private. Liberal Democrat councillor Alexis Rowell said the borough needed government funding for a new school.
“Parents looking for a state-funded non-faith school face a stark choice — pay, drive to the other end of Camden, pretend to be religious or move away,” he said. Sadat Simmons, 37, from Finchley Road, applied to four schools for her daughter Samira, four, but did not get an offer and has to join a three month waiting list for an alternative.
She said: “It is incredibly frustrating and disappointing. We did everything we could and still we end up with nothing. They must have known there was a shortage of places.”
Guluzar Kartal, 34, also from Finchley Road, was told to apply to schools in Holborn, King’s Cross or Kentish Town for her daughter because there was little chance of getting a place at the five schools within half a mile of her door. “To be told you are not being accepted by schools around the corner is shocking,” she said.
Dr Liz Taylor, whose son William also failed to get a place, said: “I have visited 13 schools. I discovered a big black hole in primary school provision.”
London Councils, which lobbies for the 32 boroughs, revealed a shortage of 2,250 places for September, which will rise to 5,000 next year. In some areas temporary buildings and larger class sizes have been introduced.
Camden council is running a working group with parents of the children affected to investigate solutions. A spokesman for the council said: “We will continue to work with parents to offer advice and support to help them secure a school place.
“This is part of a London-wide issue and Camden has joined the London Councils campaign to ensure this is addressed and that central government is lobbied for further funding.”
The Department for Schools, Children and Families said: “Local authorities are under a duty to make sure every child of compulsory school age has a suitable place.
“We have already agreed and allocated funding for schools for 2008-2011 based on pupil projections, but London Councils is looking into whether these were accurate.”
Reader views (15)
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The shame of it is that whilst the local authority has been granting permission to carve up houses into flats, they have not added any more services for the long suffering tax payer. The inability for a major metopolitain bourough like Camden to provide high quality, local and convenient education is a disgrace-the senior mangers should be impeached! We pay taxes so the state can provide us with services-if we cannnot use those services it rasies the question of “why pay taxes?”
- David Hamilton, London England
ALAN PREEN, the answer is, we take what is offered, or move house, to the nearest good school if we can afford too that is, and why????? because some of these immigrant kids as you put it!!!!!take what is given without question, why??? they thirst for education and are grateful, tommorows Doctor’s Lawyer’s Accounant’s Teachers, and those who can afford it go PRIVATE, LOOK AT STATISTICS IN UK.
- Sorraya, croydon
Rachel and Gary are correct. Why do we pay taxes? Not to prop up poorly run scotish banks or pay MP’s expences but for health and th national health system
- Ge, Cornwall
How many immigranr kids, legal or otherwise, have places at these schools while English kids are denied their rights?
- Alan Preen, McLean, Texas, USA.
These children were born in London. There is a baby boom among all social groups. These things are cyclical. Most people would not want to pay for half empty schools but that will occur at times in the cycle, local government will always have problems getting the number of places exactly right. London was shedding population, now people have chosen to move back into London and they do not leave for the suburbs when their children are school age. Yes build a new school. Where? Land is expensive, whose house and garden do you compulsorily purchase to create the space?
Even if a new school is built it will still be over a mile away from some of the families seeking places now.
- Daphne, London UK
Rather than ranting about Church schools, why not direct your energies towards campaigning for better state school provision in your area?
- Kitty, London
Crash Gordon said it clearly “Education, Education, Eductation”. Again he missed his own targets… Why is he still in his un-elected position of power?!??
- Steveo, London NW1
I support Gary’s comment in that if we have all this money to support the banks, where an earth was all our taxes for the Schools and Health Services over the past years. It is simply disgraceful that a wealthy country such as ourselves cannot fully fund school places for all children regardless of ability of disability, and including primary, secondary and university education.
- Rachel Brett, Abbots Langley, UK
To justify their preferential admission of children of observant parents, church schools claim that they admit children of all religions and none. I admit that, in a sense of “inclusive”, Church schools are inclusive. But what a weak sense of “inclusive”! By becoming observant, I can hugely increase the chance that my child a school place in Camden from a virtual impossibility (our flat is surrounded by small church schools and too far from any community school to have a chance of admission) to a virtual certainty. I can also save £3,400 per child per church service I attend if my alternative is private schooling. (6 months of churchgoing are needed to obtain the letter from the priest/vicar needed for the admissions committee to consider my child “religious”.) Paradoxically, the church schools here will take a “religious child” from Durham before taking a local “nonreligious” child. Why is a parent’s observance considered an appropriate basis for increasing a child’s chance?
Furthermore, church schools violate children’s right to an objective education on different religious belief systems. While church schools do teach children about other religions, they present some of the most controversial propositions that have been expressed (Jesus is the son of God) as though they were axioms. Should I tell my five-year old to suspend judgment during school prayers and to consider if her teachers’ pronouncements are justified?
- Dr Neema Sofaer, Camden, London, UK
I am one of the parents described in the article. I live in Belsize Park and wasn’t offered a place for my son at any of the four choices we made. I applied to the four nearest community school in order of distance from our home. We are not religious people and I wasn’t prepared to go to church as some of my friends have (some of them are not even Christian) and so I was not offered anything. The primary school system is completely bound up with religious institutions, primarily the church, in Camden, and it is almost impossible for non religious people to find a place in nearby schools. We were forced to go private which is proving to be very hard for us financially but we felt that we had no choice. We were finally offered a place at a school on the other side of the borough which was inaccessible and clearly had a number of problems – hence there were places available.
- Katy B., London
It is stated that we have payed for these services, No we have not, the school buildings if new were probably built on a PFI contract, a 30 year mortgage to you and me, and the funds used to pay the monthly mortgage are being borrowed. Oh the joy of good old fashioned spin aka propoganda.
- Steve M, London
We often hear about human rights, what about these children’s rights, rights we the working tax payers have paid for and expect as a right – not with a bit of luck. The government has pumped billions into the banks against the publics wishes yet education and health they are cutting billions. I understand the Government has claimed back 1. 4 billion pounds from the English NHS and plan to cut the English NHS budget by 2 billion next year. The public have paid for these services and expect them.
- Gary, Brentwood
The system is geared to encourage larger families with benefits etc. But the infrastructure isn’t? We have censors taken every decade or so, but it is clearly too long between. There is the council tax forms and from this we can see that Camden Council does not take a blind bit of notice regarding population figures or school performance figures, otherwise there would have been more than adequate places available. When statistics are taken, they should be used and cross referenced, sadly as is the case in many corporations? Incompatible computer systems abound and in this day and age that is not acceptable and should be rectified.
The data is out there. So why is it not used and acted on?
- P. C., rainham. essex.
Their pupil projections will always be wrong on accountof the influx of immigration that is rampant in this country. Has anyone counted how many immigrant children are brought into the school system every year.. I bet it’s millions.
- Lin, LONDON ENGLAND
Education – Another failure for Labour. Well done.
Bring on the election.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke
Filed under: Key Social Issues for small schools, Media and Press, Why is Shortwood undersubscribed? Whats your opinion? Tagged: | staines school closure proposal surrey council shortwood infant school
