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:
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?
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: