News - New School in Wandsworth has been approved Post Reply

[dandelion53]

So, the first 15 places are allocated on the basis of faith. Then the remaining 15 places are allocated according to Wandsworth criteria which is siblings and then distance. So siblings of children who got places under the faith criteria will also be allocated some of these places and eventually once the school is up and running to Yr 6, there will be a lot of siblings applying and only a few (if any) places allocated on distance. Unless I'm wrong and siblings who only qualify under the faith criteria will be excluded from the 50% 'community' places??

I think there will be more than enough Jewish families living within driving distance in south London to more or less fill the school and exclude the local community who live within walking distance.

[anootka]

Those interested parents come mainly from SW18 and SW19, I certainly will not be driving my child to school for the next 7 years.

[NYE31]

A friend told me that a new primary school will be part of the Springfield hospital redevelopment on Burntwood lane. I don't know anymore but should be good news for those in the area.

[Mumptious]

I would like to reiterate an important point in the ethos of SLJPS as detailed on our website and as part of our application to the DfE... "the school is inclusive, welcoming children of all backgrounds on a non-selective basis. We aspire to create a strong sense of community in the school’s life and to pursue excellence in delivering a primary education."

We are committed to the admissions model stated in our ethos (please refer to our FAQs on our website http://sljps.org.uk/?page_id=18) and we would ask that we try to avoid speculating on what people believe will or will not happen with admissions. We want the whole community (regardless of their faith) to know that this is a school for their children and to apply for places and speculation which is not based on fact will help no one. Our priority is to find the right site for a school that will serve a whole community that really needs it.

[Firefly]

You say it's inclusive but half the places are not inclusive are they. Half the places are excluding anyone who is not Jewish.

The other half will prioritise siblings (as per Wandsworth) which inevitably will mean that some will be taken by the siblings of the children that entered the school not on distance but because of their faith.

I am not against faith schools and you may write whatever statement you want on the school website but the school is not FAIRLY inclusive is it?

[carrakane]

As a local family, I am sad to read that some people think opening a faith school is discrimination. The UK is full of faith schools and there is no way around that. Where this school ends up, it will be about the LOCAL community too! Think about your local CofE school, there are many local kids in it, not just church places. This will be the same for the Jewish School.

All the groups that applied for the Free Schools worked VERY hard to make them happen. If anyone feels that their area needs more schools - put together a group and apply for a Free School! Or see if you can help out a group that is already working on a proposal! Several people involved with the Jewish School application were LOCAL residents from a variety of faiths. I would hope more people can look at the positives a new school can bring, rather than focusing on negative feelings.

[Vives09]

Well said carrakane! A lot of the feedback seems very negative - a school is a school and will ease the pressure on places in the area. This one seems to have a lot of energetic and positive support which can only be good all round as far as I can see!

[chelseadad]

Carrakane & Vives09:

Those of us who complain about this religiously selective (a key point here) school are doing so because, particularly in Wandsworth, we have an over-representation of faith schools (In one part of Wandsworth 9 of the 16 schools in the vicinity select on faith). With this school particularly, as has been pointed out, the 50% places determined on Wandsworth admissions policy will mean that, before long, the schools composition will be largely determined by it's religious configuration and not the local, due to the sibling policy.

Now you may disagree with us, but those of us who object do so because we need more good schools for Wandsworth residents. This school, does little to address our problem, and in the medium term may do more harm than good. I remain opposed.

[chelseadad]

Off-topic: I heard a rumour that there is an official challenge to Belleville's Forthbridge site admissions policy. Does anyone know if this is true or not?

[Mumptious]

Why is it assumed that children what make up the 50% non-faith places will not have siblings too?

[anootka]

Petal,
To answer your question yes all Jewish parents in South West London send their children to either Catholic, C of E or state primary schools. And even though state schools are not religious they still celebrate all Chritian holidays.
I agree there are not enough schools in sw London. All schools.

[Vives09]

Catholic and C of E schools with no children of other faiths? Of course Jewish and Muslim children go to them too, even if they are in a minority, and most are very happy at them (and, btw, do a lot to promote tolerance and open-mindedness in those school populations).

Why shouldn't the same be true in this school?

[papinian]

I have mixed views on the south London Jewish school. I am a supporter of faith schools. I think there have been many good faith school initiatives in south London. One example is St Cyprian's Greek Orthodox Primary School in Thornton Heath which gives an opportunity for the Greek and Greek Cypriot community in south London to have a school where their religion and Greek language is taught. To me, this isn't a lot different from the role the Ecole de Wix has for French speakers in Clapham.

Any new state primary school will absorb pupils that would otherwise have gone to other state or private primary schools. Assuming that the large majority of those pupils would have been going to state primary schools, places in those other state primary schools are available for other parents.

However, I am concerned by the response from Mumptious above. A poster asked a legitimate question as to whether, as regards the 50% community places, siblings of existing pupils will have priority over all others and, if so, doesn't this mean that the faith percentage will become a lot higher than 50% as siblings of pupils admitted on the faith basis will take up a portion of the 50% community places, even over non-faith applicants who live nearer the school. Rather than explain how this will work, or set out the detailed admissions rules, Mumptious asked that "we try to avoid speculating on what people believe will or will not happen with admissions". Well, if the admissions criteria were set out then we wouldn't need to speculate would we? And why aren't the admissions criteria set out on the website that Mumptious linked to?

Where I am from in Dublin, many non-Jewish children attend the only Jewish school, which is accepted by the Jewish community as otherwise they would not have the numbers to keep it open. That fosters a very open and tolerant atmosphere. I would encourage Mumptious and those involved in the south London Jewish school to look at this and other models for Jewish schools as some of those in north London have had some rather distasteful practices to say the least - one having been condemned by the courts as practising racial discrimination.

[putneydad]

Related to the original subject, but not to the current discussion on the Jewish school: Wandsworth Council's plans for a new school on the Putney Hospital site are under threat. See this topic for more details:

http://www.nappyvalleynet.com/new-prima ... 22776.html

[Mumptious]

Papinian
Firstly thank you for your long and detailed response on this matter. It is much appreciated. I am sorry if I came across as negative in anyway it was never my intention and I was simply trying to respond to the negative feeling or misinformation on what we feel is a positive and exciting time for education in Wandsworth.

My apologies also that our full and detailed admissions policy is not currently posted in full detail on the website. It is as we speak being approved by the Dept for Education and the local authority. As soon as it is complete it will be reposted to the website and I will gladly post it here for all to see. It should also shortly be available via the Wandsworth Council website and primary schools admissions brochure.

Finally my apologies if it appeared that I didn't answer the previous poster's query. Our application to the DfE was based on a 50 / 50 model and we have no plan to deviate from this. Being able to offer this model is what makes the free school process so special. In summary the schools admissions policy is simple 50% of places will go to children from the Jewish Community and 50% of non-faith places will go to children allocated by the usual local authority criteria such as distance, cared for children, etc... Priority will be given to siblings but only when available places within a category permits.

Finally on the subject of working with other schools (Jewish, non-faith and other faith) I would like to clarify that we have spent a significant amount of time working directly with a wide range of schools across the UK including Jewish schools in London, Birmingham and Glasgow (some of the top performing primary schools in the UK) where the make up of pupils is in some years 25% Jewish places and 75% non-faith places. A model of cross-communal religious tolerance is one that we are totally committed to. The amazing group of people working tirelessly to open this school are local people from a wide range of backgrounds and faiths and are committed to building a school that reflects the unique environment we enjoy here in South London.

I hope that I have clarified some of the points that you raise and that you accept my sincere apologies for any earlier confusion.
Best wishes
Mumptious