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New East Dulwich Secondary School

This project we started as East Dulwich Lib Dems in 2012 is really coming to life.

Last week the first two areas of Dulwich Hospital land were transferred to the Education finance Agency. Areas 1 & 2 with combined 2 acres or 0.80 hectares. This represents 9.6% of the whole sitesl and – so still a long way to go and Area 3 is planned to be handed over in 2019. Please see this map:

Dulwich Disposal site map

This letter confirms this happening – I almost need to pinch myself:

Dulwich Hospital trasfer letter FINAL

We now all need to work with the Charter East Dulwich project team and NHS to make this all happen smoothly for local residents, patients, and school community.

GOOD LUCK – Gipsy Hill Federation New Secondary School Application

In the last Labour government over 250,000 schools places were removed from the system. They must have thought this a sensible plan. But it has contributed to the massive shortage of school places building up since 2009/10.

Locally I have initiated and led new free school campaign that bring an extra 3,100 school places to Dulwich & West Norwood. Not a free school in the area has not had lots of local Lib Dem involvement. Some of these have been directly opposed by Labour councils.

But we still have a looming shortage of secondary school places in West Norwood/Gipsy Hill area. That’s why I support the Gipsy Hill Federation of primary schools to create a new secondary school. They made an earlier application that didn’t succeed. They’re about to submit their second application – GOOD LUCK. We’re all rooting for you to succeed and bring outstanding secondary school places to the area.

2015 Secondary School Admissions

Today is secondary school admissions being announcement day – from 5pm online and letters overnight. 2,637 on time secondary scghool place applications, 42 higher than last year.

Summary of preferences allocated to Southwark residents Secondary 09-15

Slight reduction in people being offered their first preference 59.6% (61.4% in 2014), first three preference 86.5% (88.5% in 2014), 93.2% first 6 preferences (94.4% in 2014), 6.8% none of their choices (5.7% 2014). So 179 children not allocated any school their parents and they wished for and 355 families didn’t get one of their first three choices.

If anyone needs help please get in touch. It is amazing how much of s shake down happens and families ultimately getting acceptable school places.
Secondary Transfer 2015 QA Information Pack

All going well the following year families will have an extra local secondary school to choose from.

Secondary School Results

Good to see the overall secondary school league tables showing Southwark in such a positive light.

Some new stunningly good GCSE new entries – Harris Boys Academy East Dulwich with 71% with 5 good GCSE’s including Maths and English.

Very good A-Level results as well.

Well done everoyne who made this and all the other schools results so good this year. Also great positive trends.

New Gipsy Hill Federation Secondary School

Yesterday evening I met Sir Craig Tunstall, executive head of the highly regarded Gipsy Hill Federation, to discuss his plans for a new secondary school in the area. The plans for a secondary school follow overwhelming support from over 2,000 local parents at the federation’s primary schools, who want their children to continue their education within the Gipsy Hill Federation. It already is oversubscribed by 130% and all going well will open 2016.

For the last five years my number one priority has been ensuring local families have a great school for their child.

This has meant initiating and leading several campaign for new free schools. I’ve also helped with lots of practically help other free school campaign. At the last count five new local free schools.

The government’s free school policy is practically the ‘only show in town’ to build new school so despite my initial serious personal misgiving I’ve put those aside and pressed on to ensure we have lots of great local school place. We’re avoiding the worst of the national school admissions crisis. Phew!

Our next priority has to be helping create lots of new quality nursery places. We simply don’t have enough locally.

Do you know of any great new locations for a new nursery?

Postage Stamp Secondary School

Since starting the secondary school debate and campaign in East Dulwich the key has always been where to put it. The only obvious space is the two-thirds of the Dulwich Hospital site that are no longer required for health facilities.

So the site for both secondary schoo,l campaigns is key.
I’ve written an open letter to Southwark Council Leader about this – Open Letter to Southwark Council Leader Peter John 25 July 2014

As things stand with Southwark Council marking out most of the Dulwich Hospital Site for housing the land values are so extremely high only a tiny portion of the site will be affordable for a new secondary school.

Southwark Council need to explain how it will avoid this situation, or as I’ve previously requested change the planning expectations for the hopsital site.

So far instead of practically trying to sort this out they’ve been raising the spectre of a Harris primary school also going on the site.

Without the council leader getting a grip, apart from the universally agreed replacement health provision, we will have both a secondary school and primary school on ridiculoulsy squeezed postage stamp sized spaces plus housing.

Choosing Our Secondary School Provider

Since launching the campaign for a new East Dulwich secondary school we’ve had many suggestions for who could provide it. East Dulwich councillors worked our socks of to find supportive families. The total of families is now at 540.

We thought it important that parents make that decision of who the provider should be. WE expect this school to be around for not just decades but centuries to come. This was the driving force for us creating the Parents Steering Group – I wish we’d done it sooner.

The following document explains the thinking behind choosing Haberdashers’s Aske’s over The Charter School. We had thought the decision would be much tougher than it proved to be. In the end despite so many on the Steering Group thinking they were clear cut for The Charter School it was unanimous for Haberdashers’ after all the evidence was reviewed and studied at length.

Please do read the document. Email me your thoughts. We didn’t take this decision lightly.

FinalSchoolSelectionQandA

Call For New Secondary School

Do you support a new East Dulwich secondary school?

If you have children due to start secondary school Sept 2016 or 2017 please email me your support for a new exemplary secondary school stating your name, child’s date of birth and your home post code to:

james.barber@southwark.gov.uk

Background:

Locally East Dulwich councillors have been working to solve the Primary school reception places gap. By September 2016 the gap would have risen to 215-235 reception places. We’ve supported one free school that’s opened by finding a site for it and provided the evidence and suggested sites for another two free schools. Together they should provide 170 of the required places and Southwark Council are providing places in neighboring areas relieving demand on Dulwich schools by about 45 places.

But after primary school where will these extra children go – do we need a new exemplary secondary school to provide enough local places?

The bulge in primary school places started in 2009. Those children will need secondary school places 2016. We also know that currently few families are being offered the secondary school places they want. Instead many are being offered places in New Cross, Crayford, Walworth and that’s before the 2009 primary bulge takes effect.

Council officials tell us we have plenty of places. But they plan secondary school places on a borough wide basis. But most families think much more locally than that.

To test the numbers the Lib Dem leader asked the Labour council leader about school places (page 19 second paragraph). If you ignore the political ping pong he stated “The forecasts show continuing demand for secondary places and suggest that in the medium term from 2016 additional secondary places may be needed in the borough.”

These jigsaw pieces tell me we need a new secondary school in the Dulwich area opening September 2016.

This date is useful because the East Dulwich Harris Boys Academy will have had two sets of GCSE result by then and should be even more popular with the anticipated great results. So it wouldn’t suffer from a new competing local school. The Charter School and Kingsdale School are both already immensely popular so shouldn’t suffer any rival new school.

Where and what?

Residents don’t need another single sex school because we now have one of each . So a new school would need to be co-ed.

The Dulwich Hospital site is the only Dulwich land with sufficient space for a secondary school. A secondary school would still leave plenty of space for the proposed primary school and proposed medical facilities.

So which provider?

With your support we will attract a great provider and convince Southwark Council to plan places in a more family orientated way.

Do you support a new East Dulwich secondary school?

james.barber@southwark.gov.uk

Dulwich Secondary School Places

Locally East Dulwich councillors have been working to solve the Primary school reception places gap. By September 2016 the gap would have risen to 215-235 reception places. We’ve supported one free school that’s opened by finding a site for it and provided the evidence and sugested sites for another two free schools. Together they should provide 170 of the required places and Southwark Council are providing another 45 useful places for our area.

But after primary school where will these extra children go – surely we need more secondary school places?

Council officials tell us not. But they plan secondary school places on a borough wide basis. But most families think much more locally than that.

These jigsaw pieces say we need a new secondary school in the Dulwich area from September 2016.

This date is useful because the East Dulwich Harris Boys Academy will have had two sets of GCSE result by then and should be even more popular with the anticipated results. So it wouldnt suffer from a new local school.

Where and what?

Residents don’t need another single sex school because we now have one of each . So a new school would need to be co-ed.

The Dulwich Hospital site is the only Dulwich land with sufficient space for a secondary school. A secondary school would there would still leave space for the proposed primary school and proposed medical facilities.

So which provider?

Secondary School Admissions

Today parents will hear about secondary school place applications – online today or via 1st class post tomorrow.

For the whole of Southwark 58.7% of parents have received their first choice. A smidgen up on last years 55.9%. But this represents the fifth worst performance in the whole country.

Overall for London 71%, Lambeth and Lewisham managed 66%, Merton 65% and Wansworth 56%.

Overall 6.9% of Southwark parents were allocated a school they hadn’t chosen, down a little from last years 8%.

But it’s likely that across London more families obtained their first choice – last year 66% across London leaving Southwark some distance behind.

We’re trying to find out this data specifically for East Dulwich.

Any of 6 stated preferences – Southwark parents and carers had 93% success obtaining one of their up to 6 stated preferences whereas the average for London last year (we don’t yet have this years) was 95% with 88% offered one of their top 3 choices. So Southwark still has a long way to g o and with a pending secondary school places crisis is likely to get considerably worse. That’s why we think our area needs another excellent secondary school.

If you didn’t get the school you wanted a large number of places aren’t accepted and become free so a lot of shuffling of places is still to come so please don’t despair. Parents can go on waiting lists for schools they’d prefer a lot of movement usually occurs between now and September.

If you need support you can either contact the Councils School Preference Advisor Liam White liam.white@southwark.gov.uk they’ll also be drop-in sessions TBA.

OR if you need any help or support around secondary admissions (or any other issue) please either call or email me or one of my colleagues:

James Barber james.barber@southwark.gov.uk 07900 227366
Jonathan Mitchell jonathan.mitchell@southwark.gov.uk 07903 967911
Rosie Shimell Rosie.Shimell@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 3488

We’re available for home visits and have reserved time over this weekend and next week specifically for this.