Campaign for a Secondary School at the site of Bolingbroke Hospital, Battersea

Council backs parents' new school bid

2010-02-07T13:21:00.002Z

The council is backing a group of Battersea parents who want to set up their own state-funded school. It has responded to calls for a state-funded, non-selective secular secondary school by a group called the Neighbourhood School Campaign (NSC), which says existing schools are either too far away, over-subscribed or faith-based. The NSC had identified the old Bolingbroke Hospital as a possible site, though this is owned by St George's Hospital NHS Trust, not Wandsworth Council.

The council has been lobbying politicians from both major parties to gain their support for a new system of state-funded, parent-run schools. It has written to Schools Minister Vernon Coaker and has persuaded shadow education spokesman Michael Gove to meet local parents and discuss how 'free schools' could work.

The council is also urging parents in other parts of the borough interested in running their own state schools to get in touch. NSC member Ron Rooney has three children at Honeywell School and is worried about where they will go once they leave.

There is massive growing demand for a neighbourhood secondary school based in this area with over 1000 parents already supporting the campaign.

The school will need to be funded from central government; additionally we are investigating and meeting with potential sponsors/partners. The council could help identify, secure through purchase or provide a site in the area. We have identified the site of the former Bolingbroke Hospital as a possible solution. We believe it should remain in public hands and serve the local community.

Mum of four Katy Newman said: "We want to achieve a continuing local state education available to all local children. This will keep families of all backgrounds in the area and will contribute to the current community spirit."

The parents are being supported by the New Schools Network charity. This offers free support to groups looking to establish non-selective state schools.

Council leader Edward Lister said:

We have an excellent range of state-maintained secondary schools at the moment which achieve some of the best results in London.

The council's policy has always been to encourage choice and diversity but current school funding legislation makes it diffcult to expand the number of places to offer more choice. With a more radical approach to the way schools are funded we could free up the system so that it positively encourages new local alternatives - whether these are led by parents' groups or private companies.

Updated letter from Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman Jane Ellison

2009-11-29T07:30:00.009Z

Dear Mr Dutton

.......Thanks also for letting me know that you are backing the idea of a new secondary school in the south Battersea area. I am a governor at Honeywell School and obviously speak regularly with many local parents so I am well aware of the enthusiasm for this idea which I certainly do support. You will probably be aware of The Neighbourhood School Campaign. With colleagues I have been meeting the organisers regularly over the last two months to discuss all aspects of the prospects for a new school. My focus has been firstly on understanding the policy framework under which this idea might be brought to fruition and secondly on the practicalities around using the site everyone is currently talking about, the former Bolingbroke hospital site in Wakehurst Road.

Current Government policy makes it very difficult to start a new school where increased parental choice is the main driver - if it wasn't it might have happened here already. The focus of the last 13 years has generally been on starting new schools where there is a failing school and central funding to local Councils has been based on established need, reflecting the overall number of places available. This has undoubtedly placed a constraint on innovation, although there has been some interesting work in the field of academies.

However there is a prospect of a significant and exciting change of emphasis as Michael Gove, the Conservatives' Shadow Education Secretary, is now developing a policy framework that would encourage groups of parents, amongst others, to set up their own schools. Although the detail is still being worked through, it seems likely that, in the event that the Conservative party is entrusted with power at the General Election next year, it will be easier to set up new schools and the ways of funding them would be more flexible. I have spoken to Michael a number of times about our situation in Battersea and am also in touch with the New Schools Network, a charity set up to help potential new school providers in practical ways. I am following all this policy development closely - if I am fortunate enough to be elected next year I would want to be able to move quickly into action.

The second, more local, issue which I am trying to address is the question of where a new school in the south Battersea area would go. Many people have identified the former Bolingbroke hospital as a potential site and there is much enthusiasm amongst local parents for using it in this way. I have campaigned for over three years to keep some element of healthcare on this site and, in the last year, when it became obvious that local health chiefs would not use the whole site for healthcare I have stated publicly that the Bolingbroke should be put to some other public use. The building of the hospital in the 19th century was funded by local donations and public subscription and, in my view, we have an obligation to our forebears to use it for the good of the people of this area. Our survey - to which the response has been exceptional - will help us to understand the strength of local feeling about the various uses to which the site might be put; there is certainly strong, though not universal, support for a local secondary school. In fact, it has been useful to understand what some of the concerns might be and we will be sharing this
information with the school campaign team.

However, as we said in the survey, the site is not owned by Wandsworth Council, it is owned by St George's NHS Trust and they have been quite clear since declaring it 'surplus to their requirements' that they want to sell the site on the open market, with planning permission, to realise as much for the NHS/Treasury as they can. So any group wanting to set up a new school on the Bolingbroke site will first have to acquire it and the current (book) valuation is around £7.8m, based on the assumption of a largely residential development. There will be a small 1700sqm part of the site earmarked for local health use but this will be a matter of negotiation between our local Primary Care Trust and any potential new owners. I was pleased to see that the Neighbourhood School Campaign acknowledged this on their website as many local people have fought very hard for this small concession.

Although we hope to influence St George's plans I have consistently emphasised to everyone campaigning for a new school at the Bolingbroke that we all need to start investigating now what sources of funding might be available to purchase or lease the site as well as continuing to be open to the prospects of another site being identified in the area.

Apologies for the rather long reply but there are so many aspects to this exciting idea for a new school. Please be assured I am doing all I can as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for our area to make it a realistic possibility and am working closely with your local councillors and other senior colleagues. If I am elected as MP for Battersea next year all local parents will have my support in trying to get the best possible education for their children whether at one of our
good existing schools or at new schools.

Kind regards

Jane

Letter from Wandsworth MP Martin Linton

2009-11-27T19:30:00.003Z

Come and have a tea or a coffee with Martin Linton and John O’Farrell
Saturday 12th December, 11am-1pm, Northcote Library, Northcote Road

I am writing to ask you to join me and other residents for a coffee morning on Saturday 12th December at 11am-1pm This is a good chance for me to hear from residents what their main concerns are over a cup of tea or coffee.

I would like to find out your view about the possibility of having a school on the site of Bolingbroke Hospital. I have been working with the excellent Neighbourhood School Campaign and want to make sure I am doing all I can to support parental choice. This is the largest area in the borough without a secondary school, although it has the two biggest primary schools, Belleville and Honeywell.

But please feel free to come and ask about any issue – local, national or international. I have been very involved in campaigns around Clapham Junction – for a tube link, against the towers, for station improvements – and would value your views.

As well as John, I hope we will be joined by a police officer from your safer neighbourhood police team who will be able to discuss crime and anti-social behaviour issues in your area.

John O’Farrell is a comedy writer whose best selling novel ‘May Contain Nuts’ has brought some light relief to many London parents going through the agonies of trying to get their child into a good secondary school. Not only has he written about it, but John also fought and won a campaign for a new secondary school, Lambeth Academy, where he is now Chair of Govenors. John is going to share his experiences as a parent, a campaigner and hopefully give us a laugh.

I am looking forward to seeing you at the coffee morning at Northcote Library on December 12th. Accompanied children welcome.

Yours, Martin Linton

Letter from Councillor Edward Lister, Leader of the Council

2009-11-22T14:08:00.009Z

From: Lister, Edward (Cllr)
Sent: 20 November 2009 6:25 PM
Subject: RE: Education in South Battersea

Dear Sir

Thank you for your recent email on the subject of a new secondary school in south Battersea.

This is an issue we have already been exploring following representations from your Ward Councillors and the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Battersea, Jane Ellison.

Under current Government policy we have very little chance of securing agreement to another state-funded school in the area. The Schools Minister, Vernon Coaker, has indeed written to us in the last week declining any additional funding. His argument is that the borough has a good range of schools which, between them, have sufficient places for all local pupils.

The Council is now considering the options for a new style of non fee-paying secondary school which would be promoted by parents or other interested providers. This model is currently being developed by the Shadow Education Secretary, Michael Gove. The aim would be to put the financial structures in place that would make it possible for groups of parents or other interested organisations to set up their own schools. Finding premises would still be a challenge but this model could have many fewer pupils than its traditional state-run counterpart.

This is a very exciting proposition and one which could transform the way schools are run in this country. I see no reason why a parent-driven school in an area of known demand like south Battersea would not fit this agenda.

It would be wrong of me to raise expectations that an immediate solution is at hand, but I can assure you that the Council is committed to finding a way round the current constraints that could help to open up new schooling opportunities in the future.

I am sure this debate is going to attract a lot of interest and I would be very interested to hear your own views. I shall of course keep you informed of our progress.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Edward Lister, Leader of the Council

The Neighbourhood School Campaign

2009-11-18T21:17:00.004Z

The following is taken from the Neighbourhood School Campaign website. Please take time to visit the site and fill in the online petition.

The problem

There is no state secondary school in South Battersea, the seven square miles which is well served for primary schools; Alderbrook, Highview and the two largest primary schools in Wandsworth, Belleville and Honeywell.

* No school. No choice

If parents in South Battersea cannot, or choose not to pay to educate their children at secondary level, their options are limited; especially as distance is one of the first things schools use to exclude applicants. No surprise then that Wandsworth has the worst record in London for satisfying parental choice.

* No school. No chance

Last year, our closest secondary, Chestnut Grove, received 777 applications for 150 places. The next closest, Salesian College, is only an option for Catholics. So Year 6 pupils leaving Belleville and Honeywell are forced to scatter far and wide, and over the past four years, have ended up at 49 different schools.

* No school. No community

In a borough that’s growing fast (the birth rate in Wandsworth has risen by 51% over the past eight years) the problem is only going to get worse. Going forward, we’re likely to need 20% more school places; forcing more parents to settle for less, more children to travel further, and more families to leave South Battersea in search of a good state school.

The solution

A new neighbourhood school for all - state-funded, secular, non-selective and easy to get to. In short a small, socially inclusive secondary school where:

* The head teacher knows the name of every student
* Great teaching and tough discipline go hand in hand
* Parents have a real say in the way things are done
* The brightest students are stretched and strugglers thrive
* Every student is surrounded by friends who live locally
* Good resources underpin a broad, balanced curriculum
* Endless opportunities are offered and taken up
* Self-respect and respect for authority are top of the agenda
* Standards and performance levels are correspondingly high.

The benefits

A school like this, full of happy, healthy students who enjoy their childhood and their education, will turn out confident, well-rounded individuals who go on to make a positive contribution to our community, and to society at large.

The location

This problem is real and our solution realistic, if we can secure a site. The site we are interested in is the one that used to house the Bolingbroke Hospital. The present structure was built with public money, and we believe it should remain in public hands. As a neighbourhood secondary school, it would work hard for local families. And if a new NHS clinic or community areas were needed, space could certainly be made in the development plans.

In this way, the Bolingbroke Hospital site would continue to serve the whole community and benefit all the project stakeholders; locals, parents, politicians, the NHS Trust and of course, the children!

Northcote Conservative Action Team

2009-11-18T21:15:00.001Z

A survey about the future of the former Bolingbroke hospital has been set up by Jane Ellison, Conservative Parliamentary spokesman and the Northcote Conservative Action Team. The survey looks ahead at what the next few years might have in store for the Grade II listed building on Wakehurst Road. Read more here and complete her online survey.

English Heritage saves Bolingbroke Hospital

2009-11-18T07:46:00.000Z

To read the Wandsworth Guardian's article click here