Primary school places for all in Lambeth

For the second year running Lambeth Council has been able to offer a primary school place in the borough to every child whose application was on time. Almost 90% received their first or second preference place.

This is despite a massive increase in demand for primary school places in the south of the borough over the past few years. Lambeth's met this increased demand by expanding schools and building new schools.

Maggie Harriott, Education Strategy Manager for Lambeth Council said:  "

'This is excellent news for every one of the 3193 children and their families who know where they'll be going to school in September. What's more, it means there are no families in Lambeth without an offer of a school place.'

There's been a small reduction of around 3% in first preference offers compared to last year's admissions but that's against a similar increase in overall applications in line with Lambeth's planned projections for school places.  There are a number of outstanding late applications yet to be processed but there is enough capacity in Lambeth schools to ensure all will receive an offer before the start of the next academic year.

Lambeth is one of the leading boroughs for online applications with nearly all applications made online  -   81% more than last year.

A place for everyone: Lambeth secondary schools offer every child a place for this September

For the second year running, every child whose application was on time has received an offer of a secondary school place in Lambeth, new figures have revealed.

More than 85% of parents who applied to a secondary school in the borough have been offered a place at their first or second-choice schools.

On the day that parents across London are told which secondary schools their children have been offered, Lambeth Council has revealed that it dealt with 2,419 applications this year, an increase of 147 on 2013. The proportion of applications made online rose from 50.8 per cent in 2013 to 97 per cent this year.

Overall, the number of children being offered places at their first or second-choice schools also rose this year; 1,629 children were offered a place at their first-preference school, 46 more than last year, and 442 were offered their second preference – 72 more than in 2013. The Council has confirmed that there are also enough spaces in Lambeth schools to support all late applicants.

The landmark achievement contrasts starkly with the picture in 2005, when over 570 pupils in the borough were left 'in limbo' without places allocated for their secondary education.  Parents had to fill out separate application forms for each local authority which handled admissions for their chosen schools.

There was no co-ordination of dates or offers between authorities so some parents held on to more than one offer for weeks or months until they had heard back from all the authorities they had applied to before deciding which offer to accept.  Consequently, allocation of surplus places to other children was delayed creating anxiety and uncertainty for pupils and their families.

The introduction of the Pan-London Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme in 2005 has seen the application process simplified and an increase in the number of pupils who receive an offer from one of their preferred schools.

Welcoming the figures, Cllr Rachel Heywood, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said:

"These figures are a testament to the hard work of Lambeth's education services in making sure as many children as possible can go to the schools of their choice in September. Ensuring that, for the second year in a row, every child in the borough has a place waiting for them is a tremendous achievement.

"This has always been an enormously difficult time for families, anxiously waiting to find out where their children are going to end up next. But it is clear that the days of 'gambling' a child's future on a better offer that might or might not come through the post are over.

"Our children can now look forward to the next stage of their education with confidence."

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.

Consultation on future of Oakden/ Wincott Street school site

From Councillor Pete Robbins, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People:



Dear Resident,

We would like to hear your views on the future of the site in Wincott Street SE11, which used to house the Shelley School, but has now been out of use for about a year.

One of the biggest priorities in Lambeth is to ensure we are able to meet the growing demand for school places in the borough.

In the north of the borough, where this site is, there is sufficient capacity in the schools and overall demand for places is lower than the number of places available. This has been the situation for several years. All children in Kennington can be offered a place in a good local school within walking distance of their home.

By contrast, there is currently a critical demand to provide additional primary school places in Norwood and Streatham. To meet this demand Lambeth is building a new school, expanding existing schools, and providing temporary ‘bulge’ classes where necessary – adding an extra eight forms of entry (240 places) this September. However much more is necessary.

The Shelley site is not big enough to accommodate a stand-alone primary school but we have been made aware by the governors at the Archbishop Sumner CE Primary School that they are minded to pursue the expansion of their school, and wish to do this on the former Shelley site, subject to certain criteria being met. A brief statement from the governors of the school is attached to this letter, together with some comments from the local authority.

The council cannot expect government funding for such a scheme when there are sufficient school places locally and cannot justify diverting its own very limited resources on creating new primary places in an area where there are already enough places.

We have to prioritise scarce resources to ensure that every child in Lambeth is offered a place at
primary school. In order to fund the expansion of schools in the areas of high demand we have to sell assets which are surplus to our immediate requirements. As there is no projected demand for an educational use for the Shelley site we propose to sell the site to raise funds to help every child in Lambeth have a primary school place in the future. The future use of the site would be dependent on the wishes of any purchaser and subject to planning consent.

We would be interested in receiving your comments on this proposal. All written comments should be received by 15 July 2011. If you would like to comment please contact:

Chris Sipidias
Regeneration Manager
6th floor, International House
6 Canterbury Crescent
Brixton
SW9 7QE
Tel. 020 7926 5570
Email

You can find out more about the need for primary school places in Lambeth at
www.lambeth.gov.uk/primaryschoolplaces

Yours sincerely,
Councillor Pete Robbins
Cabinet Member for Children and Young People


Views of the Governors of Archbishop Sumner CE Primary School (ABS)

As you may be aware the governing body of ABS has recently been considering the potential for
becoming a two-form entry school. This assessment is something that has been undertaken in the light of the strong view held by some members of the local community that ABS should expand.

In this regard, the governing body consulted with councillors earlier this year and formally requested that Lambeth Council delay any decision on the disposal of the Shelley site for a year, to allow for governors to more fully assess the opportunity for expansion onto the site. The governing body is aware that Lambeth Council has since agreed to dispose of the site pending consent to do so from the Secretary of State for Education.

Governors have been very carefully considering (and continue to consider) the possible effects that expansion (or remaining one-form entry) could have on our school and our local community.
The governing body resolved on 4 May 2011 that it is minded to pursue expansion to two-form
entry onto the Shelley site provided that the satisfaction of specific criteria can be achieved.
I include these below to avoid any potential for misinterpretation of ABS' recently agreed position on school expansion.

The governing body has resolved that it is minded to pursue expansion to two-form entry provided that the following conditions can be satisfied:
• the governing body is satisfied throughout any process towards expansion that expansion
continues to present ABS with the best opportunity to continue to raise standards and is fully
consistent with our ethos, mission and values
• that expansion is onto the Shelley site and
• that the Shelley site is established as suitable for a full extra form of entry
• that sufficient funding is available for expansion and that sourcing funding for expansion does not require ABS to reconsider its previous decision to not pursue academy status
• that the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education is supportive of the pursuit of expansion under these conditions throughout the process

The governing body has not voted in favour of expansion in general but rather that it is minded to expand only under the conditions outlined above. If during any process towards expansion it is established that any of these conditions cannot be satisfied then the governing body reserves the right to not pursue expansion to two-form entry any further.


Comments from the local authority

Archbishop Sumner CE school (ABS) is a well regarded and popular school, rated outstanding by
Ofsted, and as such would be a prime candidate for expansion were there a shortage of spaces in
the area. Projections of demand indicate there will be sufficient places in this part of Lambeth for at least the next five years. It is possible that there will be a significant increase in demand in the
Vauxhall and Nine Elms area after this time, with the proposed developments in the area, but initial investigation has shown that the potential new housing created as part of this development is further away than Lambeth’s target maximum travel distance. In addition, there is a new two form of entry primary school proposed for Lambeth and a new four form of entry primary school proposed for Wandsworth as part of this development.

Lambeth officers are involved in ongoing research and planning to ensure that the pupil places that will be required as part of this, and other local developments will be met, either as part of developer contributions toward education or via lobbying government for additional funding for the expansion of schools, in areas where additional places are needed.

The buildings on the Shelley site are in poor condition and unsuitable in their current form for use as a primary school, which is the reason why the site is no longer used as a school. It is very unlikely that government funding criteria would be met for such new buildings in the foreseeable future. In addition, a short review of a feasibility study commissioned in 2007 has shown that although the school has recently built an extension onto its playground, if there were a need to expand the school to provide additional pupil places in the medium term future, this could be accommodated on the existing site, with some reconfiguration. This may affect the current buildings on the site, though some of them could be retained.

Since the potential for funding to be released via government sources is severely restricted, the
Council has to look for ways to raise additional funding to invest in its ongoing, borough wide
expansion programme. Release of assets which are not currently used, and which cost the Council money to maintain, is one way of doing this. The Council is of the view that disposal of the currently unused Shelley site is the most appropriate way of raising additional capital to support the provision of additional pupil places, in parts of the borough where this is urgently needed.

Councillors respond to schools protest

Today a group of parents are protesting outside the Shelley site, asking that Lambeth Council expands Archbishop Sumner School onto the site. This is councillors' response:

Lambeth councillors understand the frustration of parents who missed out on securing a place for their child in their first choice primary school today. Unfortunately, the system always results in disappointment for some, as the most oversubscribed schools will never have enough places for everybody who wants one.

Lambeth’s priorities are to ensure we have enough places in our schools to ensure every child is offered a place, and to ensure every school is reaching the highest possible standard.

Archbishop Sumner, like many other schools in Lambeth, is oversubscribed because of its outstanding Ofsted results. However, other good primary schools in North Lambeth are not oversubscribed and have places to offer.

This is in stark contrast to the south of the borough, where an explosion in pupil numbers in Norwood and Streatham has put huge pressure on primary school places. To meet this demand Lambeth is building a new school, expanding existing schools, and providing temporary ‘bulge’ classes where necessary – adding an extra eight forms of entry this September alone (240 places). Even despite this investment, there are many children who will be forced to travel a great distance to attend primary school. By contrast, overall demand for places in North Lambeth is again lower than supply, as it has been for several years.

Lambeth obviously has to prioritise its scarce resources to ensure that every child in Lambeth is offered a place at primary school. Whilst we are sympathetic to the wishes of parents in Kennington who would like to expand Archbishop Sumner, the council cannot justify diverting our very limited resources on creating new primary places in an area where there is spare capacity. We are struggling to fund the expansion of places in the south of the borough as it is, and it would be wrong to divert funding away from this priority.

In order to fund the expansion of schools in the south of the borough, we have to sell assets which are surplus to immediate requirements. The Department of Education asked Lambeth to sell the site in 2006, as part of the agreement to provide funding towards the new Michael Tippett school, but it has since been used for the Olive School until July 2010. As there is no projected demand for an educational use for the Shelley site, it is right that we sell the site to raise vital funds to ensure every child in Lambeth can have a primary school place.

Our priority in Kennington is to work to ensure every school reaches the outstanding level that Archbishop Sumner has. Lambeth Council does not tolerate underachievement in our schools, and works hard to drive up standards. Recent Ofsted inspections of schools in North Lambeth show that all the schools in the area are at least satisfactory with good or outstanding prospects for improvement. Today all children in Kennington have been allocated a place in a successful local school within walking distance of their home.

Cllr Pete Robbins

Cabinet Member for Children & Young People

Cllr Lorna Campbell, Cllr Mark Harrison, Cllr Steve Morgan

Councillors for Prince’s ward

Kennington parents meeting on primary schools

Kennington parents held a passionate and helpful meeting last night in St Anselm's Church on the subject of primary school places.

Parents were concerned that two local schools, Henry Fawcett (pictured) and Vauxhall, had recently been through special measures, and that Archbishop Sumner's is oversubscribed.

In attendance were headteachers from Henry Fawcett and Archibishop Sumner's; Cllr Pete Robbins, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People; Kate Hoey MP; Cathy Twist, Lambeth Council's Assistant Director for Standards; and Mark Harrison, Councillor for Prince's ward and Chair of Lambeth's CYPS Scrutiny Committee.

An important point made at the meeting is that the Council intervened decisively at both Henry Fawcett and Vauxhall, and both schools are now out of special measures and are showing excellent improvements. The Associate Headteacher of Henry Fawcett invited parents to visit the school to see the improvements for themeselves and speak to her and the staff.

There was a strong feeling that Archbishop Sumner's should be expanded. Pete Robbins promised that this would be considered, and expansion onto the site of the Olive School on Oakden Street has not been ruled out. However, the extreme pressure on primary places in the south of the borough means that money for expansion of primary schools has to be focused there over the coming year.

Finally there was a discussion about admissions policy. Lambeth can only follow guidelines on admissions that are set nationally. Parents express a preference, and can't always be guaranteed a school of their choice. An important change this year is that primary admissions will be changed to a London-wide system, so parents can apply for primary schools in other boroughs and are not restricted to one borough.

Councillors slam Tory/Lib Dem school building cuts in Lambeth

Labour councillors Lorna Campbell, Mark Harrison and Steve Morgan have slammed the recent admission by Tory Education secretary Michael Gove that he is cutting more than £200 million in Lambeth schools funding, just days before contracts were due to be agreed and building work was to begin.

Local schools including Archbishop Tenison's and Lilian Baylis had been promised rebuilt or refurbished school buildings under the Building Schools for the Future project, but the Tory/Lib Dem coalition government has now dashed their hopes. Michael Gove has now cancelled Lambeth’s entire programme, affecting thousands of pupils at eleven secondary schools. The cancelled investment in schools was desperately needed, both to renew or rebuild tired buildings, and also to provide much needed extra places in the borough, including a new school for Brixton. The creation of hundreds of local construction jobs will also be dashed.

Labour councillor Mark Harrison said: “Teachers and pupils at Archbishop Tenison's school had been promised millions in funding to bring their school up to modern standards. Now the Tory/Lib Dem government have destroyed their dream of modern buildings by cancelling Building Schools for the Future in Lambeth outright, affecting the life chances of hundreds of local children Kennington and Vauxhall. Lilian Baylis school was about to start work on an expansion to their site but this has now been put on hold.

“Lambeth is still desperately short of places for secondary school age children, despite Labour building three new schools from scratch in the last few years. Labour’s plans for school rebuilding would have created the extra places our borough need – but the Tories and Lib Dems will leave our children having to travel miles out of the borough to get to school.

“What’s more, Lambeth has already spent more than £6 million on preparing planning permissions and producing designs for the eleven new schools – local taxpayers will be outraged that the coalition government’s decision will see that money go to waste.”

Lambeth Labour are now leading a ‘Save Our Schools’ campaign, to shame the Tory/Lib Dem government into reversing their short-sighted decision. They are urging local parents and children to write to Education secretary Michael Gove telling him how their decision will affect their education, and urging him to restore the funding Lambeth needs. He can be contacted at:

The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Secretary of State for Education
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3BT

Or email: ministers@education.gsi.gov.uk

Pictured: Lilian Baylis School's expansion is now on hold, whilst other schools' plans have been cancelled altogether