Online Petition for Proposed New Girls Senior School Locked

[Broomwood]

As many of you will know, Broomwood Hall has acquired premises which will allow it to open a small senior school for girls (up to 120 girls aged 13 to 16) at the far end of our garden at 74 Nightingale Lane. We are petitioning for the decision by Wandsworth on change of use to be overturned. There will be a Public Inquiry on 28 and 29 April at which we will make our case that the loss of 13 bedsits at Rayne House is more than compensated for by providing a secondary school for the benefit of our local community. If you support the need for a local secondary school can I please urge you to sign our on-line petition on:

http://www.broomwood.co.uk/senior-schoo ... e-petition

This petition is open to all comers, not just Broomwood parents so feel free to share the link with others who see the need for more local places at senior school level; all signatories are welcome. You are also invited to join us at the Public Inquiry on 28 and 29 April at 213 Balham High Road SW17 7BQ.

Carole Jenkinson
Head of Broomwood Hall Upper School

[livegreen]

Hi,

You state this will of benefit to our community. Could you clarify whether school will be a community school open and available to all OR will be only available for wealthy families who want to pay for education?
Would also be interested to know what the provision for SEN, dyslexia etc and finally would it be selective in any way , other than fees?
Thanks

[Pud1]

I agree. I don't see how it benefits the community.

[ChilledMum@Balham]

I too fail to understand how Broomwood can benefit our community. This proposed new school is for benefit of select rich and white families and not for the wider diverse community that we live in. I appreciate that as a private school, they are free to admit any one they wish and don't have to provide an ounce of transparency about its selection criteria. But at the same time, Broomwood may want to refrain from seeking support as a 'community school'

[rooting4tooting]

Many independent schools have at least partial charity status for tax reasons and to keep this status have to follow government guidelines on scholarship admissions. I think perhaps 50% of pupils should come from parents with a joint income of below 50k a year and property assets either owned or occupied of less than 300k.

[Pud1]

I could be wrong, but I don't think that's the case for 50% of the pupils at Broomwood.

[Fulltimemother]

Just to let everyone know the other side of this story. The site that Broomwood Hall has bought, Rayne House in Sudbrooke Road, is a block of small, low-cost flats, which as we all know, are extremely hard to come by in this area of crazy house prices. The Wandsworth planning committee judged that it was more important to keep these as flats, than to open a new school - that is in line with their overall policy. Broomwood Hall still want their school and have appealed - that's why there'll be a public inquiry on the 28th and 29th April.

Huge numbers of local residents opposed Broomwood's original planning application and are opposing the appeal. Many of us are very concerned about the extra volume of traffic and parking which would result from a new secondary school opening. There's enough car chaos at times as it is, without yet another Broomwood school in this primarily residential area - as you'll know if you've ever tried to drive down Nightingale Lane, Rusham Road or Ramsden Road at drop-off/pick-up on a wet day! Mistake you only make once!

So please do come to the public inquiry, but feel free to oppose the appeal if you think Rayne House ought to remain as bedsit flats - you won't be alone!

[livegreen]

Rooting4tooting

That is not correct.

It is true that some independent schools offer bursaries and scholarships but they are rarely aimed at poor families. Nowadays bursaries and scholarships offer a few discounted fees to talented children from families who still pay large fees which are out of reach for the majority of families.
They tend to be token gestures at best and not aimed at disadvantaged children.
Broomwood is being disingenuous to claim it will benefit the community.

[LouParker]

Is there a petition to save the affordable flats?

[MGMidget]

Rooting for Tooting said:

"Many independent schools have at least partial charity status for tax reasons and to keep this status have to follow government guidelines on scholarship admissions."

I don't think Broomwood has charity status so isn't obligated to follow government guidelines on scholarship admissions.

I don't have children at Broomwood but to be fair to them they are a part of the community in this locality, there are plenty of children attending their schools living in the local community. Not a 'community' school within the Wandsworth Borough Council list but still a part of the community. Very few (if any) local schools offer free access to everyone, they all have entry requirements of one sort or another (whether that's distance criteria, sibling priority, first come first served or passing a test or interview).

[babyintuition]

Rayne House has 25 homes within it. I would suggest watching BBC1 No Place to Call Home and the next Panorama on London Homes in Crisis, before supporting Broomwood School turning this block of flats, in to yet another school for their ever expanding business within our local community.

[hellokittyerw]

Wouldn't the new school potentially free up 120 places in local state schools?
Just a thought...(i'm not really familiar with Rayne House or Broomwood hall)

[schoolgatesmum]

I do support the need for a new secondary school in the area - the knock on effect of not enough primary school places will soon be seen in secondary schools. I'm not sure how an exclusive expensive girls' secondary school is going to alleviate this problem though. The type of people who will go to Broomwood secondary school are not the type of local people who would use a state secondary school (very few people move from a private primary to a state secondary). Only 7% of the population go to private school so not a big percentage. I think this petition is very misleading as it is not clear that it will be a fee paying school - it just says independent (which most schools are now that the majority are academies). I for one would prefer affordable housing as opposed to a profit making exclusive school. I am very tempted to come to the public inquiry and I will not be signing a petition (unless someone starts one to save Rayne House).

[schoolgatesmum]

The more I think about this the crosser I get. What is the biggest problem facing London at the moment - a shortage of exclusive private school places or a shortage of affordable housing? I may not agree with a lot that Wandsworth Council does but I'm with them on this one. 25 afforadable homes or 120 exclusive school places - it's a no brainer to me.

[AbbevilleMummy]

To those saying that the school will not benefit the community, I have to disagree. The families who choose to send their children to private secondary schools are part of the community too after all.

There are a great number of families in this area who aspire to send their children to independent secondary schools (I would hazard a guess that it is far greater than the 7% national average) and there are very few independent secondaries locally. I'm not a fan of single sex schools at all, but would much prefer to send my daughter to a local independent than ship her down to Dulwich or into town.

I do understand the conflict with the need for affordable housing though.