Did U attend the Harris ED Primary school meeting last night?

[kmoon249]

i was too sick to attend myself, but if its not asking to much, could someone who did attend last night's meeting pls give a general summary.

was it well attended? were site locations mentioned? latest news?

Many, many thanks

k

[cmacnew]

Ditto. Husband working late and toddler + 3 week old + bedtime = couldn't make it but I'm very keen to hear what was said.

Cheers

[jonbateson]

I attended, although I was late so missed the very beginning. I was impressed overall by the presentation from Harris. There were a lot of political questions posed which were directed to councillors instead as the point of the meeting (others may disagree) was to share info on the school concept.

It will be a two form entry (total of 60 children per year group), building to a population of 420 over 6 years.

Initial staffing will be sufficient for 60 children, again building year on year, this does include fully qualified teachers/ PPA cover/ teaching assistants etc.

Key aims include creating a school where children feel happy and safe.

They will follow the national curriculum and there will be a focus on cross curricular, engaging learning. What they are aiming for is best practice rather than trying to do something totally different to the norm.

The site is confirmed as the hospital site as discussed in other threads. They seem quite positive with regard to opening on time, but may have temporary buildings on site at first.

Applications will follow the normal first priorities of children with a statement where the school is named on the paperwork/ looked after children/ siblings

Then, on distance, possibly from a series of nodal points around ED to cover the "black spots" there will be 3/4 of these, one being the front door of the school as with other schools. There will be some consultation on where the other points should be and 15 school places available for each nodal point.

The head teacher will be appointed in the autumn and they are hoping to hold a meeting where this person will be in attendance. Also, parents may view the Harris primary at Peckham, to get some ideas of how it might be (obv not the same as visiting the actual school).

For more info look on the website HarrispRimaryfreeschooleastdulwich.co.uk

As a teacher, I was happy with what I heard and whilst there are issues surrounding the site etc, we need more primary places and there are few other options, especially if you live in a black spot. I am aware that some people may have strong opinions on this, but I am just reporting the meeting, ask requested from the initial post.

Maria

[Chocky]

I attended too and the previous post is an accurate account of the meeting; although I didn't get the impression that the site had been "confirmed". Dulwich Hospital was cited as the preferred site but Harris Federation said that they didn't expect to be able to confirm the site until October 2013.

[jonbateson]

Sorry I meant that in the way you wrote it chocky, to mean this is where they are aiming for.

[kmoon249]

thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post. I really appreciate it.

[Indiana]

Yes - thanks too - I missed the meeting so very useful information.

[Jane Fletcher]

Hi,

I am Jane Fletcher, Principal of the Harris Girls' Academy in East Dulwich. We were delighted to host the event earlier this week to talk about the new Primary School.

Just to let you know, we are also hosting this year's East Dulwich Literary Festival. It runs from Monday 24th June to Friday 28th, with tickets available from Rye Books. Details of the events are here: http://www.harrisdulwichgirls.org.uk/4/news/article/128/shakespeare-and-me-literary-festival-2013. It would be great to see some of you there.

Best wishes,

Jane

[MsMaz]

I couldn't attend meeting, too. I don't like the idea of 'nodal points' in black spots for a school over on ED hospital site. For me, the whole point of primary school is for children to be at one of their nearest schools so that:

1) They can walk there

2) Their friends live in the same close neighbourhood as them, so that they feel part of their local school community

[Chocky]

I agree with you, MsMaz. I'm in a black spot too.

I want my children to walk to their primary school. I don't drive so we'd have to take 2 buses to the Dulwich Hospital site. And I want them to live within a reasonable distance to most of their school friends.

If all primaries used nodal points e.g. by stretching their catchment towards black spots and away from overlapping catchments, to create a jigsaw, then it might work. Those in black spots might get their children into nearer schools. But for one school to use nodal points and the rest to use circular catchments which overlap with other schools' catchments, isn't really a viable solution to the primary place shortage.

[jonbateson]

If there are 15 places (in the first year) allocated to each nodal point, there should be 15 children living within a short distance of each other.

The catchment areas aren't going to be changed as The other schools in the area are local authority and need to adhere to the authority regulations on admissions, the free schools and academies have a bit more of a free hand in deciding their own admissions system.

I agree that it is not ideal, especially with regard to getting to school in the mornings etc but at the moment, I can't see there being any other options short of building a new school at the end of the road, which clearly isn't going to happen. The catchments of the other local schools aren't going to be changed with the arrival of a free school but there may be a knock on effect across the area that may benefit those just outside the catchment of other schools. For us though, the only chance of getting a place at a school in ed is if the nodal points are used and if one of those is close to us.

[LondonMix]

I?m not sure what would be a better policy for helping people on black spots out. In an ideal word, primary schools would be evenly distributed throughout an area. However, some blackspots have no space to create a new school so having a local school isn?t really an option. The nodal system at least gives those in blackspots on opportunity to attend a local school in the area rather than having to go way out into the borough if they don?t get any of their 6 choices.