There has been plenty of heat and not much illumination regarding the necessity to have a second/ additional nodal point to the east of the Hospital Site to offset the overlap between the current Charter School at Red Post Hill and the proposed second Charter School at Dulwich Grove. Maps of supporters / registered parents are very important tools to determine the demand for places and the support for any new school. It is equally important to look at the need for new school places based on the distribution of children at ward level. It is also vital to understand the current secondary school place outcomes for local children. This information is available via the London Schools Atlas, which is compiled from the London School Census. In September 2014, I set about analyzing the 2013 School Census Data at ward level for south Southwark. I am not a statistician, but I have policy research background, the data actually only requires simple collation and a bit of basic maths at ward level. This data was compiled and submitted to Southwark Council?s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, who are conducting an enquiry into the Southwark?s School Places Planning Strategy. I have decided to post this data to demonstrate that the case for a potential second nodal point to the east of the site is based on both the analysis of both pupil demographic profiles and the secondary school place outcomes for local children. The data shows that all wards in south Southwark now have much higher numbers of children of primary school age than the secondary school age group. These children currently at primary school will start to move up to secondary school from Sept 2016. Whilst this is not untypical of London?s growing population, the increase in numbers is in some instances exceptionally high. There has been a greater percentage increase in the number of primary school pupils living in the wards of East Dulwich, The Lane, Peckham Rye and Nunhead. The data also shows that it is children from these wards (not fortunate enough to be in a co-ed school catchment area or picked via lottery admissions) have very fractured outcomes in terms of their destination secondary schools, with many children getting scattered across lots of schools across South London. There is a significant difference in the choices and outcomes for children not only between wards but also within wards. It is of course a matter for the Charter School Educational Trust what local data they consider relevant. They will also assess the findings of their consultation process in order to determine the admissions policies in response to local need. The new Charter school is in fact only part of the wider issue of addressing the overall future need for school places in Southwark. The data attached might be considered a useful part of this process and it would not be difficult to repeat the exercise using 2014 data and subsequently 2015 data when it is available. Ward maps can be found listed here. http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/200531/review_of_polling_districts_polling_places_and_polling_stations
