News - New School in Wandsworth has been approved Post Reply

[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

[chelseadad]

Mumptious

Thank you for your reply above, it has been helpful for a sceptic of your school project, such as me. Could you clarify a point: when you wrote that, and I paraphrase, priority will be given to siblings as long as that category has space, isn't this exactly the point many of us have been making? It appears to me, and I am aware that I may have misunderstood, that siblings of religious entrants can be admitted under both the religious criteria AND the non-religious criteria, which leads us to the possibility (probability?) of a dominant religious make-up of your free school.

I am genuinely interested whether or not I have the right answer here, so I welcome any clarification you can offer.

[Mumptious]

Chelseadad
Thank you for your question. In this case you have misunderstood and I will gladly clarify this specific detail in our admissions policy. Firstly the sibling admissions criteria follows the faith/open place designations (50% / 50% or 15 faith places / 15 open places) and does not sit above those designations. Therefore in the case of over-subscription (which is the issue that you are raising) i.e. more than 15 Jewish siblings or open place siblings apply in one year (both scenarios are possible) then our over subscription criteria kicks in for both faith and open places. They will be applied by Wandsworth Council in the order of preference used for other similar schools.

It is also worth considering that if we were planning to open in a predominantly Jewish area (of which there isn't one in South London), the scenario that you describe could be the case but, as the Jewish community in South London is very spread out, it is very unlikely to be so.

On a personal note I understand your scepticism. I am a parent of two children who did not qualify for any of our over subscribed voluntary-aided church primary schools. Like many parents there were no school places for our children in our neighbourhood because we didn't go to church.

Also like many parents you are probably wondering why we want to open a Jewish school and welcome such a large percentage of children through open places. I know that this is a question that I am asked regularly. I feel it is important for you to know that the amazing team behind South London Jewish Primary are not all Jewish and we represent a broad make up of socio-economic backgrounds. So fundamentally we are committed to the school reflecting the diverse community that we choose to live in and giving some of the children that need it most access to a high quality primary education.

We feel that the free school (50/50) model is our chance to open a pluralist and cross-communal learning environment for all our children.

Chelseadad - may I ask if you have small children and if you have experienced issues with getting them into schools? Would consider our school as an option for them?

Best wishes
Mumptious

[archive]

test test

[chelseadad]

Mumptious

Thank you very much for your reply. I'm still a little fuzzy as, if I'm not mistaken, and I really could be, Wandsworth criteria favours siblings over locality? Hence the practice of parents moving into the catchment of a school long enough to get one child in, then moving wherever they want to because the siblings are guaranteed to enter too. But I am happy to leave the matter here, regardless.

In answer to your question, I have two small children, and we will be placing the oldest in to primary school in 2013. To be honest with you, I find the allocation of state school places on the grounds of religion (or ethnicity) to be deeply offensive. I cannot help but see it as discrimination on factors that are completely beyond the control of the child, and which is therefore unjust. Exacerbating this, Wandsworth, due to some quirk of history, has far too many religiously selective schools already (mainly Christian though, with I think, one Muslim-selecting school). Adding another, albeit currently unrepresented, religious school only makes matters worse for Wandsworth, as I think, we should be decreasing the number of religious-selective schools in the borough, not increasing them.

We are a multi-ethnic, multi-faith society. And I believe that our state schools should, indeed must, sbe resolutely secular, while allowing spaces for our children to congregate and practice any faith, along the lines of any group identity they want, while offering a study of religions and other groups that promotes tolerance and civic inclusivity. I am aware that I am in a minority (though one which is growing, I suspect). So, with that, I hope your school succeeds in educating its pupils to the highest of standards.



Regards
chelseadad