Broomwood Hall - Garrad's Road Prep Closure Post Reply

[LP73]

Dear NVN parents,

It was with horror and disappointment that we were made aware just before 1700 on Friday evening that Broomwood Hall, Garrad's Road (GR) would be closing their doors to pre prep in 2020. GR will become a senior school and that is all we know!! Perhaps the owners of BH think that planning permission will be granted at GR due the lack of senior schools in the area, when it has previously been rejected???

When we accepted a place at GR for our child, we happily paid the deposit and would have been happy to pay for the high fees in order to receive a small nurturing environment for our children. Now we are being offered the option to start in September at Ramsden Road (RR) - how will they cope with extra numbers when it is already a busy school which appears to have no extra space, or keep our spot at GR where our child can go for a year before having to move to RR.
We accepted a place at GR due to the size, location and nurturing environment and had we not had this option we would have selected a different school altogether. We have already rejected offers from other schools and with not much notice what do we do?

The area of RR is already congested with drop off's and pick ups so goodness knows that the local residents will make of this? What will happen to the teachers? Will some leave due to the decision, as everything suggests they did not know about this and it has come as a great shock to all. What will happen to the level of education, will class sizes increase greatly? The wonderful head left GR last year, was this the reason? A reason why the head has not been replaced?

Do they intend to build with children at school or do all building works at GR during the school holiday? The school is so small so how would a senior school expect to work there??

I believe that current parents at GR were invited to a meeting at 0900 today (wonderful notice for working parents), we have been invited to a meeting on Thursday morning. What happened at the meeting today?

I am very interested to hear from both parents of children who are due to start in September 2019 and current parents of children at both GR and RR and what their thoughts are.

I do hope that owners will make an appearance as the meetings and not leave all of this to Mrs Jenkinson to sort out!!
 With thanks in advance.

[Goldhawk]

I'm not surprised as they have been trying to open a new senior school for some time but were refused permission to convert a property on Sudbrooke Rd

Garrards Rd was previously less popular than the Ramsden Road site - I'm not sure if that is still the case

Press info here https://www.northwoodschools.com/northw ... ior-school

 

[LP73]

You may not be surprised but many new parents like ourselves are. No mention of this when we paid our deposit not long ago. The parents currently there (thanks to those who have contacted me directly) are shocked and unhappy. 
Garrad's Road is very popular and a totally different school to RR.

Looking at how poor the communication has been to current and new parents there is no way I would sign up to the senior school.

[Goldhawk]

I would suggest calling any of the other schools you rejected and seeing if you can join their waitlists

You certainly have grounds to get out of the contract you signed and to get your deposit back

 

[SW16mum]

They had planning permission refused for building work in 2015 and 2016. There’s been no local consultation about any changes. I would expect that they would have to at least consult in a travel plan given the lack of public transport close to the school. I known SCHS have been lobbying for more 315 buses in the morning and evening peak. The site is not that big and i am sure they would need to do a significant amount of work to make the change. Science labs, larger dining space etc would all be needed. Maybe it’s worth calling Lambeth planning to see if they are making a submission. It seems unlikely that they will be able to make the switch without doing work that would need permission.

[mum2two]

I think Goldhawk is right. The Garrads Road branch loses lots of kids at the end of year 2 as parents opt to do 7+ entry for the Dulwich schools that go all the way through so as to avoid 11+. Have also been ongoing problems integrating the two sites together and maintainjng consistency between them.

I can't imagine how they could fit all the facilities a senior school would need into that site though. It is tiny - 8 small classrooms and 2 of those are in temporary outbuildings. Very small dining hall, small library and not much else. All their previous planning applications to extend the buildings have been roundly refused.

Awful situation to be in LP73 - I have friends with the same problem who have found both DUCKS and SCPS are willing to let them make late applications so might be worth a call.

[LP73]

Thanks so much for all of your advice, we will be looking at other options and attending the meeting tomorrow.
We feel so very sad by the way it has been handled and the lack of response still!!

GR is not set up to be a senior school as it is so very small. Such a sad situation.

[LP73]

Apologies the meeting on Thursday.

I’ve just been told that when RR tried for planning permission in the enquiry to support their last application to open a senior school (in a building they had bought behind the Nightingale Lane site) one objection raised was that RR site already had more pupils than it was allowed to under its planning conditions.
How can they then add the extra classes and years?

[sloaney donkey]

Broomwood hall ... huh

I strongly suggest a sternly worded letter to the registrar

[Goldhawk]

How was the meeting?

[MagnoliaMum]

I'm so sorry, LP73 and the other parents you mention, that you've been treated so badly. That is shocking, particularly as Broomwood Hall took your deposit and let you give up other school places when they must have been planning this! I do hope that you're able to find a satisfactory solution for your child.

I'd be interested to know what came out of the meeting please? I'm one of a huge group of local residents who opposed the development of the secondary school on Sudbrooke Road, mainly because we were concerned at the increase of traffic and congestion in the areas around Ramsden Road and Nightingale Lane, as you correctly mentioned. Obviously we're worried about the school numbers increasing further with kids who will have to be driven in - sympathetic as we are to you personally! Did you get a sense that a lot of Garrad's Road parents will be taking up the offer to come to the other site? How are they proposing to squeeze in all the extra children? What do the Ramsden Road parents think?

Whilst I understand that there is a shortage of secondary schools, I do think Broomwood Hall are being greedy and trampling over their own customers in setting this up so quickly - a longer tapering period would have given everyone more time to make informed decisions and for the affected children not to be so messed around.