Head Teacher appointed for The Charter School East Dulwich

[littlek1cker]

We received some good news yesterday. Our application to open a new Charter School East Dulwich has been shortlisted for interview with the Department for Education. This means we have cleared the first hurdle and will be attending an interview at the beginning of February.

A really big thank you to the more than 1,300 families who signed up to demonstrate local support our application and help us get to this stage. If you haven't signed up yet and would like to add your name, you can help us build momentum in the run up to our interview by doing so here: http://www.charter.southwark.sch.uk/news/?pid=3&nid=6&storyid=168

The Charter School has applied to open a inclusive community co-ed non-faith secondary school on the Dulwich Hospital site in 2016. The NHS are building a new health centre on part of the site and vacating the rest.

Simon Tucker

Charter School East Dulwich Working Group

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Great news ! Thanks for the update .

[dulwichDad11]

This is great news, littlek1cker. Good luck at the interview.

[Vik]

Brilliant news, best of luck!

[intexasatthe moment]

Excellent news .Hope you are succesful .

[Sol]

Congratulations!

What are the posibilities of this school being ready for 2016? I believe they have not agreed to sell the land yet.

[bonaome]

The NHS have not been approached yet about the land yet in regards to the bid. The bid must first be successful, then the Education Funding Authority (EFA) will try to find a suitable site. Argument is that there is only one suitable site - Dulwich Community Hospital.

NHS may or may not sell the land to the EFA. Even if they do, they have said, I believe, that they cannot release any of the land for building on until 2017. So the new school would need temporary accommodation for the first few years. No one seems to know where that might be, or no one is willing to say ...? Unless someone here knows different?

If the NHS sell the land to EFA, EFA have a priority at the moment for building a primary school for Nunhead on the site - though hopefully local consultation will show that the primary is not needed and not a suitable location to meet demand in Nunhead.

It's well worth having a look at the relevant communications here http://www.tessajowell.net/campaigns/

It's great news that the Charter team are through to the next step and I wish everyone involved good luck getting the bid through and getting the school built.

[Coach Beth]

I just noticed that there is a great deal of information on the thread on the main discussion board about the idea of having temporary site.

[littlek1cker]

Thanks for all the good wishes.

We are confident that we will be able to open the school in September 2016. This is when we need more secondary places in the area and we want to meet this need. Besides, some members of the working group have children who will need a school place for 2016 so we are very motivated!

The school will, though, have to open in temporary accommodation for the first two years. We are investigating a number of possibilities for a temporary site but at the moment it looks likely that the temporary accommodation could be on the hospital site itself, which would make things easier for everyone.

The DfE/EFA are in discussion with the DH/NHS to acquire the site in anticipation of its use for a primary and a secondary at the moment. The NHS has not yet formally agreed the sale because they have to write a full business case before taking that decision, but it now looks like little more than a formality. They are also looking at ways to accelerate vacation of the site. This would require some of the NHS facilities to move twice: once to consolidate in part of the current buildings and again to move into the new build when it is ready.

As Coach Beth says, there is much more information on the thread on the main discussion board.

[littlek1cker]

We are holding two drop-in sessions this week where you can hear more about our proposed Charter school and get an update on the progress of our bid.

Tonight Monday 19th, 5.30 -7.30pm, we will be in the Albrighton Centre, Albrighton Road, SE22 8AH.

On Wednesday 21st, 6.30-7.30pm, we will be in the East Dulwich Community Centre, 46-64 Darrell Road, London SE22 9NL.

If you have a child currently in Year 5 or below and want to find out more, please drop-in whenever's convenient within those times and we will be happy to answer your questions.

[littlek1cker]

I'm delighted to say that The Charter School East Dulwich has been approved.

We are absolutely thrilled with the news. I want to thank the nearly 1,500 local parents who signed up to support our bid and all local parents who supported the idea of opening a new school in East Dulwich. Many local people gave up a great deal of their time to get us to this point, and whether it was actively supporting our bid, making the case for a new school, campaigning for the use of the Dulwich Hospital site or signing the petition to only have one school on the hospital site; it has all helped and been appreciated. This is really good news for local parents. Several of the parents with children at the same primary school as my children received the bad news that their children did not get into any of the six schools they applied to. Now we can get on and build the extra capacity we need to stop this happening for 2016 and beyond.

There is still a long way to go of course. The announcement today is just for in principle approval of the school and is entirely separate from agreement about the site. There will also be further consultation locally as our plans progress.

The Charter School Education Trust will be issuing a press release this morning and I'll post a link when it's up.

Simon Tucker

The Charter School East Dulwich Working Group

[clux]

What a shame you are not willing to think about families living in the blackhole of catchment areas.

[James Barber]

Congratulations Simon and the wider Charter East Dulwich team.

Either application winning - Charter or Haberdashers - East Dulwich wins. So well done.

My biggest fear had been neither or both bids being approved.

And a thank you to the losing team. Both bids involved a huge amount of time and effort and it is now time for everyone to come together and support the Charter School East Dulwich into being.

It is exactly 12 month ago that Southwark Council finally conceded that a new secondary school serving the wider East Dulwich area was desperately needed. So great that the first anniversary of that a new free school is approved to proceed.

The Prime Minister announced the approval to proceed and the decision clearly stated it would be on the Dulwich Hospital site. I've lined up the land via the Right to Contest application I made just over a year ago and granted last month.

[littlek1cker]

clux,

We are very much thinking about families who fall into current black holes regarding admissions.

[littlek1cker]

James,

Thank you for your post. I completely agree that now is the time for everyone to come together. It is a great credit to the local communities in East Dulwich and South Camberwell that so many people gave up so much of their time to support the two bids that went into DfE. I'd also like to say thank you to the Habs parents steering group and to you James for all your hard work to make this happen, as well as to Peter John, Victoria Mills and other local councillors from all parties and council officers, the local MPs and others who provided support for both bids.

However, the letter we have received from DfE does NOT make it clear that the new school will be allowed to open on the Dulwich Hospital site. That is explicitly still to be determined. So I don't know if you have seen something that I haven't James?

[James Barber]

Many thanks Simon.

The DfE press release - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-announces-landmark-wave-of-free-schools

states:

"

The Charter School East Dulwich

The ?outstanding? and heavily over-subscribed Charter School will be opening a second school in 2016 on the site of the former East Dulwich hospital. Catering for 1220 students, the school will meet the huge demand for new places in the Dulwich area. Charter School East Dulwich will encourage all students to become creative, confident and caring citizens. The school will also offer work-related learning through a partnership with King?s College Hospital, the largest local employer.

"

I've put a lot of effort into getting the spare Dulwich Hospital land reallocated. So you better be going there !

[littlek1cker]

James,

It seems that the DfE are more forthcoming in a general press release than they were in their letter to us. I'm even happier now! We are definitely committed to the hospital site. In fact, we told DfE that we would be extremely unlikely to consider any other site even if they magicked one up.

[Otta]

Wonder whether the Kings thing clinched it. That is a good idea.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

It's a Brilliant idea Otta as I didn't even know about it at the time .

[hpsaucey]

littlek1cker Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> clux,

>

> We are very much thinking about families who fall

> into current black holes regarding admissions.

This is good to hear. Can I ask which black holes you're considering?

Cheers.

HP

[samstopit]

Congratulations Charter. It's great that we will be getting a new secondary school to open in 2016 and that can only be a good thing for our community.

As part of the Habs steering group, I share the concerns about your proposed admissions policy which have been expressed by others already. I'm attaching the 'heat map' which the Habs steering group have circulated on here before which shows that there is huge unmet need for a co-ed secondary school to the East of Lordship Lane. The Habs campaign, as you know, was focused on meeting this unmet need, and proposed a nodal point which would put families in East Dulwich / Peckham Rye in catchment. Those families would not be at all likely to get a place if the new school was operating a purely crows flies admissions policy, particularly those will be applying for a place in 2018 / 2019 when the need for secondary school places is projected to spike in the south of the borough.

Please could you let us know how and when you will be consulting on your admissions process.

[Vik]

Well done to all that put so much time and effort into this, brilliant news!

[littlek1cker]

Just to reiterate, we will listen carefully to what local families say about admissions policy.

I'm very conscious that we have been given the privilege of opening a new school to serve the local community and we have a responsibility to get it right. We are aware that if you live in some parts of the borough you have very little choice for secondary schools, particularly if you are not keen on faith schools or single sex schools. The area east of Lordship Lane is one black spot that has been highlighted on this forum, another is the area served by Lyndhurst and Dog Kennel Hill schools (South Camberwell ward) which according to council data has the highest number of young people not getting into any of their six chosen schools and is also one of the areas of greatest deprivation. There are others. We will try and develop our admissions policy in a non-partisan way recognising that there is a lot at stake for all concerned.

We'll let everyone know the timetable for consultation in the near future. Bear in mind that most of us are volunteer local parents and the good news is still just sinking in!

samstopit Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Congratulations Charter. It's great that we will

> be getting a new secondary school to open in 2016

> and that can only be a good thing for our

> community.

>

> As part of the Habs steering group, I share the

> concerns about your proposed admissions policy

> which have been expressed by others already. I'm

> attaching the 'heat map' which the Habs steering

> group have circulated on here before which shows

> that there is huge unmet need for a co-ed

> secondary school to the East of Lordship Lane. The

> Habs campaign, as you know, was focused on meeting

> this unmet need, and proposed a nodal point which

> would put families in East Dulwich / Peckham Rye

> in catchment. Those families would not be at all

> likely to get a place if the new school was

> operating a purely crows flies admissions policy,

> particularly those will be applying for a place in

> 2018 / 2019 when the need for secondary school

> places is projected to spike in the south of the

> borough.

>

> Please could you let us know how and when you will

> be consulting on your admissions process.

[DuncanW]

Congratulations to all those involved in the Charter bid - This is great news.

Well done and thank you also to those who led and contributed to the Habs bid. This was my preferred choice, but only by a a narrow margin.

With regards to the admissions criteria, I'm not sure I have understood the argument for a nodal criteria properly. In terms of there being a black hole to the east of Lordship Lane, are these areas not now served by the two Harris schools? I understand that although these schools are both rated outstanding, they are not everyone's first choice for varying reasons. So if it's about choice, how does the choice of one family impact on the choice/options of another family who would like that school (the new Charter), live close to it, but miss out in favour of someone who lives further from the school but closer to a notional nodal point? Am I missing something?

Edited to correct typo

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

That is a good point DuncanW.