Battersea on course for free school in Northcote
By akadri | Monday, January 17, 2011, 19:38
Local parents are a step closer to creating a new state secondary school in south Battersea after the council exchanged contracts to buy the former Bolingbroke Hospital.
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Pictures have been mocked up for the free school to be built on the Bolingbroke Hospital site. Image reproduced courtesy of studio octopi: architects.
The council intends to lease the building to a group of local parents so they can create a new free school on the site.
The council says the school will be open to local children of all abilities and from all backgrounds. But there has been opposition to the plans, with GMB amongst the school's critics.
Council leader Edward Lister said: "The new Bolingbroke Academy will give south Battersea its own state secondary school where local parents are free to set the priorities for their children's education.
"We hope this will be the first of many free schools in Wandsworth so children from all over the borough can access this new model of education.
Executive member for education and children's services Kathy Tracey said:
"The new school will help meet growing demand for school places in this part of the borough and offer an exciting alternative to the traditional secondary school.
"As more free schools are created they will help drive up standards right across the education sector as schools compete with each other to develop the best local offer."
The new school's refurbishment and future running cost will be met by central government.
For more information on free schools visit www.education.gov.uk/freeschools.
For more information on the Bolingbroke Academy plans visit www.arkbolingbrokeacademy.org.The picture was mocked up by studio octopi: architects.
Comments
the campaign against the free school in my view artificially skews the debate. The demographics are such that the area badly needs secondary education facilities which are not provided locally. I am not a banker and my children would benefit from either not having to travel accross the borough or london for their education, or for my family to have to move to secure appropriate education. As would many others. Further the site has always been a community site - if the council had not stepped in and bought the site then it would be sold off to developers with no real return to locals. The unions are acting against the interests of the majority and their argument should be examined closely as it is based on false assumptions. Why should the unions be able to hold better schooling for our kids to ransom?. The debate has moved on.
By dag440 at 12:04 on 19/01/11
ReportIf you want to register your disagreement with the free school, its admissions policies and the money that could be spent on other local schools, we will be presenting the petition below to the Council - so far we have nearly 200 signatures online and roughly 500 on paper (at the last count):
http://tinyurl.com/6yw88fq
By LJBrownie at 23:05 on 18/01/11
Report