Shelley site retained for Archbishop Sumner 'bulge class'

The council has recently been consulting on the future of the old Shelley School site in Oakden Street.

At the Children and Young People's Service Scrutiny Sub-Committee last Tuesday the council announced their plans for the site. They have decided to 'use the site in the short term to provide a bulge class (or classes) through Archbishop Sumner, to help address the projected serious shortage of places across the borough in 2012. This will allow further analysis and a further year’s trends to assess the optimum solution and not preclude any of the other options.'

Cllr Pete Robbins said: 'This year Lambeth has received a record number of applications for places at our primary schools, including a huge number of late applications which make expansion planning very difficult.

The huge government cuts to school capital funding mean Lambeth is increasingly reliant on temporary 'bulge' classes. While the rise in demand is again concentrated in the south of the borough, there are an increasingly limited number of schools in Norwood and Streatham with sites that are suitable for bulge classes. Therefore, given Archbishop Sumner's ambition to expand, and the strong local desire to see the Shelley site retained for educational use, it was decided that it would be appropriate to make the site available to Archbishop Sumner to provide a bulge class in 2012.

Our first priority continues to be securing the £50m we need to provide a permanent place for every child in Lambeth, and we will continue to make our case to education secretary Michael Gove to provide the investment local children deserve.'

You can view the minutes from the committee meeting here.

If you have any questions about this decision or would like more information the council officer responsible can be contacted at:

Chris Sipidias, Regeneration Manager Children and Young People’s Service, 020 7926 5570.