Belleville bid to open New School Post Reply

[Fionag]

Parents may be interested to learn that Belleville Primary School is starting the process of putting in a bid to open a new school.

To find out more see the newsletter issued by Mr Grove (Belleville's head) yesterday (Tuesday 16th September) on the school website
http://www.belleville-school.org.uk/news/newsletters/

It is still very early days in the process but in order to proceed Belleville is asking for help from the local community in the following ways:

1) In getting a list of names of children who are due to start in Reception in 2016 & 2017 & would be interested in the new school.
(On the back of the newsletter there is a form that you can fill in and return to the school by the end of September & that information will be used as part of the bid to demonstrate there is a demand for a new school.

2) Finding a new site - the newsletter says 'We are aware that the greatest challenge will probably be to find a suitable site and buildings' but asks for suggestions to be sent to Belleville again to help in the bid.

If you are interested, Belleville is asking your to add your name to the list as soon as possible and help support the bid for a new school.

[supergirl]

Why would the meteor st site is not considered? As far as i know there are plenty of demand over there and the building could be extented up!

It was a shame in the first place that tgey hadnt thought of the necessity of doing another couple of storeys!

Other than that could idea even if not relevant to me anymore

[hellokittyerw]

excellent idea, we have already registered our interest with belleville!

[LastMumStanding]

Supergirl - as memory serves, the possibility of a larger meteor site was raised (briefly) at the time of Belleville's expansion. The council officers were of the view that a second storey would never get planning permission given the proximity of so many residential properties. External windows - overlooking/looking into these properties - would not be permitted and it would be nigh impossible to create enough light in the school from an internal atrium alone. The experience of the proposal to open a school on the Putney Park site would seem to support this view - 3 years in the pipeline and still no planning permission!

Even if the issue of planning permission at meteor could be overcome, now that the site is open and occupied, I guess the summer holidays would not be long enough to allow construction of a second level so current pupils would have to be rehoused whilst building went on. Hard to see how that could be easily achieved.

The separate string on the councils consultation on changes to admission criteria in primary schools would seem to evidence the demand for additional school places. Let's hope that enough people with children of the right age come forward to support the idea to meet this niche requirement of the application process - if past years are anything to go by, many of them won't have moved into the area yet!!

[cynic]

Speaking as a resident nearby the Meteor site:
The site of the old caretakers house for the old Vines school on Forthbridge Road was sold to developers by our smart-thinking council. The decent parcel of land was sold in by wandsworth council in 2011/2012 for £960k.
It now has 2 four bed houses (£1.3m each) and three flats (3bed, 2bed and 1 bed) e.g
http://www.kfh.co.uk/residential-proper ... d/2130810/
Very nice result for the developers!

I recall a certain Mr John Groves expressing surprise and disappointment when I told him this site adjacent to his new school site was to be sold off.

These are 2.5 storey buildings (albeit in keeping with other properties), where only a small 2storey dwelling existed before, so I wouldn't say a plan for another storey on the Meteor street school site would immediately be met with objections.

A more important factor (which sadly, though perhaps understandably the planning system would become the mechanism to vent objection to again) would be that if the Meteor st site were to be expanded in any way, I very much doubt any offer of access to the children of local residents would be proposed.

[cynic]

Also let me remind all:
the original on-site Belleville expansion plan that was thrown out by Belleville parents (back in, was it 2009?) would have cost approx £6m
Refurbing the Meteor st school site cost about £2.2m and then there's that £960k received for the caretaker's site, so overall that cost the council a mere £1.3m.

Yes ok ok to achieve that they had to sell-off a prime plot of land next to a school site about to be taken over by the most oversubscribed outstanding school in the borough vs. a 30% rise in birth rate over 5 years but hey look at how the council tax has stayed low! Well done Wandsworth

The idea the council has any kind of long-term strategy regarding the expansion of {insert decent school of your choice} is laughable, it's a year by year ongoing problem not helped at all by wandsworth selling off any assets it can get away with, (this is also not an insignificant reason why places like Belleville became academies as soon as they could)

[snowpea]

Great news, hopefully as many people as possible will register support and come 2016/17 the worry around lists. catchment problems and issues re school offers a big trek away will be eased. If we don't register the school and council won't have stong evidence they need.

[LastMumStanding]

And if everyone can keep their eyes and ears open for a suitable site......this, I'd imagine is the biggest challenge to making this new school a reality!!

[snowpea]

if they get enough people registering an interest hopefully the council will help? hmm. you'd hope.

[simonh]

The idea the council has any kind of long-term strategy regarding the expansion of {insert decent school of your choice} is laughable, it's a year by year ongoing problem not helped at all by wandsworth selling off any assets it can get away with, (this is also not an insignificant reason why places like Belleville became academies as soon as they could)

Try this:

January 2012 Report by the Director of Children’s Services on Proposals to Increase the Number of Primary School Places for September 2012

ww3.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s22556/Paper%20NO.%2012-13%20-%20Primary%20School%20Places.pdf

[Fionag]

Just a reminder that Belleville are looking for 120 names of children of reception age in 2016 &2017 that parents would consider sending to a new school that Belleville would like to open.

The deadline for names to be submitted to the school is by the end of next Tuesday 6th October.

To find out more see the newsletter issued by Mr Grove (Belleville's head) on Tuesday 16th September on the school website
http://www.belleville-school.org.uk/news/newsletters/

Obviously there is not obligation once you have signed up but it is part of the process to demonstrate there is a need for additional primary places in the area.

[Fionag]

Just a reminder that Belleville are looking for 120 names of children of reception age in 2016 &2017 that parents would consider sending to a new school that Belleville would like to open.

The deadline for names to be submitted to the school is by the end of next Tuesday 6th October.

To find out more see the newsletter issued by Mr Grove (Belleville's head) on Tuesday 16th September on the school website
http://www.belleville-school.org.uk/news/newsletters/

Obviously there is not obligation once you have signed up but it is part of the process to demonstrate there is a need for additional primary places in the area.

[atbattersea]

The irony of this situation is the number of former school sites that have been sold off/redeveloped in the locality: Latchmere Road, Siverthorne Road, Battersea Park Road, Thessaly Road… and the latest of these Eltringham Street (that's not to mention the Newton Prep site and the triangle between Battersea Park Road and Prince of Wales Drive - opposite Newton Prep - which were also state funded schools… and the former Kingsway College on Battersea Park Road - between Macduff Road and Forfar Road).

Anyway… there is currently a proposal to redevelop the Patcham Terrace site opposite Battersea Park station, along with St Marys primary school (planning aplication 2014/4665). This effectively reduces the school site size to around half what it currently is, and replaces the rest with commercial space and 18 storey residential tower blocks.

Perhaps a deal could be done between Belleville and St Marys to prevent the site being redeveloped, and thus preserve it for education?

[IsabelleB]

Hi
Anyone having any news on belleville new site? Where will it be? Would it have its own catchment area?
Thanks for sharing

[LastMumStanding]

The submission to the Dept of Education has been made. It is unclear when decisions on this round of applications to establish new schools will be made and it may not be until Jan or beyond. There is no known site as yet - finding a suitable site will likely be a big challenge. And yes it will be a separate school with its own admission criteria.