Renata Hamvas

Hi Midivydale, I would expect that due to the large number of siblings expected for 2013 entry that the figure would be significantly lower than for the 1km 2012 entry. Bulge classes can happen more than once, they are deemed a one off event for that particular year, but they could happen again as another stand alone event. They are a temporary rather than a permanent expansion. Sometimes they may happen 2 years on the trot and then lead into a permanent one as happened with St Anthony's and is likely to happen with Bessemer Grange and Langbourne. It is highly unlikely to happen with Ivydale due to the limited space on this site. Renata

This is the confirmed list of definite bulges. There are also others that have been earmarked that may bulge, depending on the actual numbers of actual applicants from different parts of the Borough, ie there is planned and organised space for maneuver. All primary schools in the Borough have been assessed for their ability to have temporary expansions (bulges) and permanent expansions. Renata

To confirm bulges for 2013 Bessemer Grange Albion Crawford Dog Kennel Hill Ivydale Langbourne (all 30 places) Camelot Charles Dickens Grange Keyworth (15 places) Renata

Hum, the school has jumped the gun a bit on this one, as the bulge has just been formally agreed! Mae; It is definitely a one off expansion to accommodate a very large number of siblings predicted for 2013 entry. There is no space for Ivydale school to permanently expand. It is not expected that the school will have a huge catchment area as there won't be a significantly greater than normal number of places available to families new to the school. This is an unusual situation as usually it's 2-3 years after a bulge that there are larger number of siblings. For 2014, it would depend how far away from Ivydale you live. Renata

you are able to get around this issue for the next year if you purchase an annual ticket from an SE station from now until 1st January, Renata

Hi Londonmix, I'm not sure, I suspect that is the funding for the bulge classes for 2012/13, but will get back to you once I have verification of this. James, yes, I have a copy of the report, but thank you for providing the link so that residents can read it for themselves. A Council Officer involved in Pupil Planning actually came and presented the plans for the Dulwich area at the last Dulwich Community Council (I know you weren't there but hopefully your ward colleagues filled you in on this). Langbourne was discussed there. It actually has bulged for the academic year 2012/13 ie it has two reception classes rather than one. Yes, money does go via a different pathway if a school is a Free school/Academy or an LA administered one. Free Schools are different to other Academies as they are new schools while the others are existing schools that have converted to Academy status. The funding of Free Schools does have an impact on the funding to the LA for its existing schools. Fewer pupils in LA schools means less money for those schools. I'm glad to see the post from Dulwich Hamlet Junior School. It is very important to consider the viewpoint of the schools affected by all of this. Location is still an issue. I'm also not happy that opinions about the setting up of this school is being done predominantly via this forum. There are certainly many residents with young children in my Ward who have never been on the East Dulwich Forum. It's not an inclusive process at the moment. Also would the Harris Free School(s) East Dulwich/Peckham Rye/Nunhead be feeder schools to the existing Harris Academies? How would residents feel about that type of scenario? How could it impact on other primaries in the area? Renata

A resident contacted me on Friday morning about this, I immediately contacted Council Officers about it and they promptly went out to the site. They responded to me on Friday morning that evidence that sheets of fibreglass had been cut but no evidence of asbestos cutting was at the site. Please email me with any further issues with this site. Thanks Renata

I'll try and find out the proposed cost specific to the Dulwich schools and post back. Renata

I have made enquiries and the 40 million price tag is for works including expansions of schools all across the entire borough. The money required for the ED area schools would be a small part of this. You still haven't come up with any potential site other than the hospital. Renata

To add- Dulwich Hamlet is a Junior school, I think it has one bulge, so to expand needs 3 more classrooms than that, not 7. Renata

James, I haven't said that I think demands will drop, but they may. There is a limited stock of housing that becomes available and familes once they come tend to stay, they are now less likely to move after the first child finishes primary. This means that I doubt that there will be ever increasing demand for primary school places in the Dulwich area. There are 5 primaries that may be expanding in the Peckham and Nunhead area. I am not sure what you mean about Ivydale and a massive gap, there is Hollydale, John Donne, Rye Oak, and Lewisham schools Edmund Waller, Turnham, John Stanier and the New Haberdasher's Aske' Free School catering for the greater Nunhead area (Nunhead shares its long Eastern boundary with Lewisham). Due to the location of Ivydale, really close to Lewisham, the Free School will take some pressure away from Ivydale. (I am aware of the sibling issue for 2013 and have been talking to the Head of Ivydale and Council Officers about this). I am concerned that there could be the Southwark Free School situation. Primary school based in a TRA hall. Not ideal for primary school children. Renata

OK back to the subject matter of this thread. Southwark carries out pupil place planning based on information such as, current school rolls/capacity, birth rates, underlying population projections, migration and new housing. The Southwark live birthrate has showed a gradual increase up to 2010. The 2011 level is slightly lower, at the 2009 rate. This may either be a blip and the rate could go up again, or the peak was reached in 2010. 2012 figures of course aren't available yet. The borough is split into 5 pupil planning areas. Taking into account all the above factors, the Dulwich community council area, South zone (East Dulwich, College, Village) is predicted to shortfall of around 2-2.5 classes each year between 2013 and 2016 for reception entry. The Peckham and Nunhead CC area, central zone (Peckham Rye, Peckham, Lane, Nunhead and Liversey) is predicted to have a shortfall to 2 rising to 4 classes in 2016. This is with current school sizes, no bulges etc. As a result of this, a detailed survey of all primary schools (including disused ones) in the borough was undertaken. This included looking at their condition and space and whether they could expand. This is not yet finalised as more detained analysis is being carried out. The Education Act of 2011 have removed the ability of the LA to address pupil place shortage by setting up a new school. It can only be done via a Free School route. However as no-one knows what will happen in the longer term (is the demand for primary places going to fall back and secondary become more of an issue?), a flexible solution is needed. I attended the most recent Dulwich CC where a council Officer presented the information to residents. Local schools being considered for permanent expansion include Langbourne, Bessemmer Grange and Dulwich Village/Hamlet (note acads).(There are others that would serve the Peckham and Nunhead area) Also there are likely to be some bulges too (I will update on these once they are confirmed). As I keep saying the main issue for the Dulwich area is where could a new school go? I know the hospital site keeps being raised, but it is the Health authorites, not Southwark's property. Maybe once the shake-up of health care in South London is completed it will be decided the hospital site will be used for a massive state of the art day centre/polyclinic-who knows. I am sure many of you will have read my positive feedback about the Harris Academies in my Ward. I think these are very good schools, happy parents, pupils, good attainment. There are however other possible academy provers too, in the wings and the main issue still boils down to location, location, location. Renata

Hi TE44, the latest figures are from Jan 2012. for primary 9.5% of primary pupils come in from outside the Borough, 6.3% go outside Southwark for Secondary: 21.6% of pupils come into Southwark and 22.7% of Southwark's secondary aged pupils travel outside the Borough for comparison, Lewisham 14.4% of pupils come from outside of Lewisham and 27.0% go outside the Borough Lambeth 24.4% of pupils are from outside Lambeth and 38.7% of pupils go outside the Borough It's not surprising that the proportion is far higher for Secondary than Primary. Firstly, as where schools select on distance, Secondaries are larger than primaries and tend to have much larger last place offered distances, so these will frequently cross borough boundaries if schools are quite close to them. Also many secondaries have speciality subjects and can offer 10% of places to children with aptitude for that subject, also some schools select by lottery so don't have a distance-linked criteria and of course there are church schools and the selective out of borough grammars. A smaller proportion of Southwark's pupils leave the borough compared to Lambeth or Lewisham. Renata

Hi Slimjim and Etta, you've got my attention! There has been no change to the way primary school places are allocated. It is the parents ranking of schools that matters. Schools do not know were you have placed them on the CAF form. Ignore schools that tell you that you have to put them first to get a place, that is rubbish! (I know particulary some of Secondaries say this at the open days, but it's purely to encourage parents to put them top). What happens is that you submit your form to Southwark (if you live in Southwark). They submit a list of all applicants to each primary school where people have applied (theoretically, you can apply to schools anywhere in London on your form). The school then ranks the applicants according to their admissions criteria, eg taking into account if a child is fostered, SEN, a sibling, distance and religion if applicable to that school etc. The ranked list goes back to Southwark for number crunching. In theory, the top 60 on that list may be the ones eligible for a place at that particular primary, but half of those applicants may have put another school (or more than one) higher on their list. This means that the next 30 are eligible for a place at that school. Again half of those may have a place at another school, and so the list goes down to the next 15, and so on until the school has a list of 60 pupils for whom this particular school was the highest ranking school for which they were eligible for a place. This system means that of you have a couple of long shots you really like, but think you have a small chance to get into, if you put them 1 and 2, it doesn't reduce the chance of you getting eg the school 100m away that you don't like quite as much and have put 3rd (assuming this school selects on distance). If someone else lives 600m away and puts the same school 1st, even though you have put it 3rd, you are more likely to be offered this school (if choice 1 and 2 can't). It is because of this system that someone could be offered their 6th choice, while another person putting the same school 1st doesn't get it. If you look at the Southwark brochure, there are several schools which have no last place offered distance. There may be 180 people who have applied to a particular school but if eg there are more popular schools close to it, many people may put the more popular schools higher and the less popular school may not have filled all it's places when all the place crunching is complete. You will automatically go into the waiting list of schools that couldn't offer you a place and are higher than your allocated place on your CAF form. For those schools that have no last place offered distance, you could have lived any distance away and still got a place. I do encourage that unless eg your child is a younger sibling, that you apply to 6 schools. It is better to be offered a 5th or 6th place school than Southwark to allocate a school place to your child. You and not Southwark knows where is (not as close perhaps to your home as your schools choice 1 and 2), a less popular school close to your work/transport route or Granny's house, friend's etc. Bulging needs to be considered when doing school applications. Schools usually have a much greater last place offer distance in bulge years and a smaller one that usual for 2 or 3 years after a bulge due to a greater number of siblings. Once I know which schools are earmarked for bulging I will post the list on this forum. Be aware that additional schools may bulge once the applications come in and extra spaces are needed in a particular area. All of Southwark's schools have been assessed whether they can bulge and also whether they could be expanded. Sorry this is a bit long! Renata

There is still no information about the proposed site of this Prmary school. as I have said above, IMO this is the most major problem. The Dulwich Hospital site is exactly that, a hospital site, NHS owned. Yes, there is a possibility that in the future at some point a school could be put on part of the site, but there is no guarantee of this! This is why I have questioned whether Harris are planning to put a primary on a existing school site, which is what they have done at Academy@Peckham. Renata

Council Officers have got back to me again today: The above site was visited by Environmental Enforcement Team (EET) and the Council's Regulatory Health and Safety Team on Tuesday 4th December 2012. The site has also been visited three times previously. Asbestos: There is asbestos on site in the form of asbestos cement roofing sheets to the garages being dismantled. At the time of the visit some of these roofing sheets had been removed and placed inside the garages. The asbestos roofing sheets had been removed with suitable precautions and protection in place, as per Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines. The asbestos is also to be disposed of as hazardous waste. The EET are monitoring. Fire: There is a fire burning on the premises, however it is a controlled wood fire in a metal container and in the middle of the site on cleared ground. In order to establish nuisance the environmental enforcement team officer visited the immediate adjacent property No 83 Stuart Road. No nuisance was observed. In summary, so far as was resonably practicable to assess, there is no imminent risk to safety or health or nuisance to the residents or passers by in the vicinity. As the site is technically a construction site and thus enforced by the HSE, they have also been made aware for any further intervention if they wished. In terms of planning, there was a planning application in 2005 for 2 houses, approved. In 2008 there was a new application for 3 houses and a bungalow. This was turned down, but won on appeal in early May 2009. Was anything being done on the site prior to November 2012? Lameduck, if an application is correct, doesn't breach any planning/building regs, affect residents ammenities etc it is likely to be approved. The planning department doesn't know who will be doing the building work. In fact people often buy vacant sites, get the planning permission and then sell the site on to someone else. I am still keeping this one continuously under my radar. Renata

Hi HP Saucy, this was reported to me by a resident as a potential asbestos containing site (they were concerned about the garage roofs). I reported it to council officers and they have been there to investigate what is going on. I hope to have an undate tomorrow about the site, I shall post on here when I do. Renata

For anyone looking for funding for 2013 for community groups/events, this being awarded earlier this year. This is a pot of money delegated for allocation to the community councils. http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200047/grants_and_funding/392/community_council_fund The closing date is this Friday, 14th at 12pm good luck! Renata

Hi Lameduck, a resident reported the potential asbestos issue to me and it is now being dealt with by council officers. Thanks Renata

Hi Mrs Lotte and other bringing up Secondary above. Southwark are aware of the impending demand for extra Secondary places, particularly from 2016 onwards (current year 3s). There is planning going on for this. It will involve a mixture of new schools and expansions of existing ones. One of the most difficult issues for the South of the Borough is where to put New Schools. Currently there is no site earmarked to put a new primary in the South of the Borough. As the future of healthcare in South London still lies in the balance, there is no reason to assume that the Dulwich Hospital Site will become available for a new school. It is an NHS site, not owned by the council. I am taking a cautious route on all of this. Yes, there is a forecast of increasing numbers of pupils, however, it takes more than free school providers waiting in the wings to set up new schools. They need a site to accommodate the pupils. The lack of a site near Borough station meant that Southwark Free school moved several Kms to the East from their original proposed location. Yes, they now have a school, but with I suppose a totally different set of parents than those who supported them and the school is Currently in a Tenants and Residents Hall. Not an ideal situation at all. Renata

I have been in contact with council officers in relation to the onging problem with fires (hopefully this is now sorted!) demolition is currently going on the site, so environmental health are keeping an eye on what is happening here. In terms of planning Stuart, I don't know, I will check, I am assuming that it is the 2009 plan that is being implemented. Renata

I am a little concerned about this. No mention has been made about a potential site for this school. Possibly the plan is too put a Harris Free School on one of the existing Harris sites eg Harris Girl's. this is what has happened with the Academy @ Peckham site. I know that the Dulwich Hospital site has crept into the equation a few times when schools for the area have been discussed on this forum. As I have said elsewhere on here, the land does not belong to the council. While the future of health service provision in South London is up in the air as it is a the moment, so too is the future of Dulwich Hospital and it's grounds. I do want good schools that parents want to send their children too. The council is currently working with several school providers in the Borough as all secondaries are ouside Council control as are a few of the primaries. A most of you are aware, Harris is not the only possibility for a new primary in the area. The current legislation does not enable LAs to set up new schools from scratch even where there is need. I am also treading with caution as I have concerns about the potential financial implications on other schools in the area. There is a strategy for dealing with the current issues with primary school places tht have been devised by the Council, but it has been called in for scrutiny by the LIbDem Chair. This will just delay things. In terms of secondary (which has been raised by a couple of posters), I am aware that Council Officers are planning for the increase in Secondary pupils envisaged to occur from 2016 onwards.

For those of you who use season tickets from PR or DH to Victoria/Thameslink, you will still be able to buy them from Nunhead. Renata

Hi Gstump, the hospital site doesn't belong to the council but the health service. What happens to Dulwich Hospital I think depends on what is happening generally in the area ie demands on King's and what happens at Lewisham Hospital. It is certainly a longer term issue as to what will happen to the hospital and therefore, I doubt it is something that will be sorted out in time for a school that wants to open in September 2013 as everything is still up in the air over South London healthcare provision. The survey above does indicate they are not set on an area yet! Southwark Free School was going to be near Borough Station, it ended up moving a few kms to the east. Haberdasher's Askes' are opening a bilingual English/German school in September 2013, they are taking pupils on distance,and are in Telegraph Hill. I don't know if that is of interest to you? Renata

Likely to Renata