ackroyd

My post related to a number of posts in this thread that commented on and raised concerns about ensuring that any new school had a pupil intake that was diverse and representative of the local community. Some comments seemed to indicate that to get into The Charter you had to be able to "buy into the area" which I found worrying as I wouldn't want a provider that didn't support an inclusive approach. So I was reassured by the data on The Charter intake and then also by the the data in the Guardian article posted: 'The inclusive culture and ethos of the school extend beyond its gates and result in outstanding promotion of community cohesion.' A fifth of pupils at the school are on free school meals - the national average is 15.9%. Ofsted has noted that the school has a diverse intake. More than half the pupils at the school are from ethnic minorities, compared with a national average of 22.4%. Like other posts on here, I think its really important that the new school (whoever ends up running it) be an inclusive diverse school for all of our local young people.

Bornagain thank you for the link to the data about The Charter. After various comments that have been posted here it was helpful to look at some data about the schools performance and the pupil population of the school. There have been comments and concerns raised about the diversity of the school and the links that you posted along with the map would seem to indicate that the pupil intake is diverse and reflective of the local community, which is reassuring.

I am also extremely pleased that there will be a new state secondary school in the area. As has been said by many on here, it is much needed. I think it's a positive thing if there is more than one bid and hope that this will encourage all bidders to consult widely with the local community to ensure that the bids truly reflect local need. Also hope that all parties will conduct a fair, transparent and professional process that will result in strong bids focused on the needs of the young people in our local community. Then leave it up to the DfE to decide which is the best one to take forward.

On the question of diversity. I would have thought that the location of the proposed site of the new school and an admissions policy based on distance would result in a diverse student intake. As the existing Charter school is so close to the proposed site it would be interesting (if it is available) to look at the data for The Charter School. I would think that the data would show a great deal of diversity in terms of their student population and one that accurately reflects the local community

Personally no, because I wouldn't feel that it had amounted to nothing. I would consider it a normal part of such a process. The steering group would (and will) still be able to submit their bid in the way they want with the partners that they want. But I do respect that is my personal view others might see it differently.

re the steering groups time: I suppose that's just all part of the process and presumably they wanted to give serious and rigorous thought to the various options they were considering in order to come to what they felt was the right conclusion. That inevitably takes time.

I agree with Scruffy Mummy re the Steering Group not being a waste of time. All views and inputs from the community are hugely valuable whether it is via the Steering Group, The Charter or any other avenue and are surely going to help the process of getting a great school up and running - whoever ends up doing it. And as far as the Steering Group bid, I can't see why they would not be able to put forward their submission regardless of what any other interested party may decide to do. As far as admissions policies are concerned I don't know how the various options would or would not affect any new school on that site. But in terms of diversity, considering the location wouldn't a policy based on distance would result in quite a diverse student population? I really hope that alongside "healthy competition" that people will keep the main purpose in sight - the needs of the young people in our community.

I don't understand Otto's comments about "teams being knocked out". If I understand correctly there is not a limit on the number of groups that may submit a bid and it is the DfE that then considers each submission and makes a decision against various criteria as to which (if any) they consider best meet that criteria. Therefore at this stage there are no "first" or "second" places. The process of more than one organisation submitting bids and tenders for the same project happens all the time in the Corporate, Public and NGO sectors. Surely what is important is that the bids are objectively assessed against appropriate criteria in a robust and transparent way and then a decision made as to which is the best one to take forward. The focus in some of the comments on here seem to have become about either political or personal "wins", when surely the focus should be the fantastic news that it looks as though there may be at least 2 submissions for a new secondary school in the area. Obviously if more than one bid is submitted then the unsuccessful one/s will be disappointed, but focusing on this seems to miss the key point that everyone seems to be agreement on which is that we absolutely need an additional secondary school in the area.

I completely agree with Derek and ShaleneV. Why is this being seen as a "bitter battle"? From some of the rather petty comments on here there seems to be political point scoring going on by some parties when the real focus should be on the very positive news that it sounds as if at least 2 bids will be submitted and that the community should win either way if a high quality new school opens. At the end of the day isn't that what parents, young people and the community want?