2nd Harris East Dulwich Primary School

[James Barber]

How many extra reception pupils will this result in?

Will admissions be based on the current Ivydale school close to the Lewisham border or will it be a totally different school based on distance from Stuart Road?

[midivydale]

Hi Renata,

Is it possible at all to get some more information?

[buggie]

James, your phrasing makes it sound like the two are miles apart (the distance can more accurately be measured in yards), and with Turnham School as far from the border on the Lewisham side, is there an Honor Oak ward councillor equally getting their knickers in a twist about this?!

[Mugglesworth]

James, the proposal is that Ivydale should move from 2FE to 4FE so 60 additional reception places. In reality, Ivydale has coped with an additional bulge class in each of the last two years so the leap will not be that great. Being spread over two sites means that children will not feel they are in a massive 720-pupil primary. The knack will be in minimising movement between sites during the school day.

As Renata says, everything is at an early stage and Ivydale governors have yet to move this beyond "agreement to engage in consultation with Southwark".

[James Barber]

Hi buggie,

They are clearly close but with the catchment areas for some schools being 250-400m even short distances can make a huge difference.

Hi Mugglesworth,

Coping with the odd bulge class is quite different from adding permanently 420 more children to a school. Ivydale having 840 pupild is getting secondary school size.

It would be better to open a new school on Stuart Road with 60 pupils per year. Same overall pupil numbers but a better experience for the children and better chance of creating an outstanding school.

[ticket2ride]

Does the area really need another school from the Harris chain?

They seem to be expanding aggressivley, despite most parents not wanting them. Parents and Camden Juniors Carshalton and at Roke in Croydon have not been happy with the conversion of their schools as seen in this story:

Harris Chain Fails to Win Over Parents

"Girls were having their pinafores unzipped to check they had a logoed Harris top underneath." What nice people they have there at those Harris schools!

It is clear that the Secretary of State for Education favours the Tory Party donor Lord Harris. It also appears that he has lesser politicians doing his bidding as well.

Very sad.

[James Barber]

Hi ticket2ride,

We've 249 local families supporting two new Harris primary schools being built locally in East Dulwich area. The agreed vision is schools aiming for progress and results in the top 10% for England & Wales. Selection on distance.

Do we need them? We appear to have a stark choice. Expanding existing schools above the ideal size for the children and getting/keeping great experiences and results OR more schools. Tony Blair introduced that the only way to build new schools is via Academy/Free schools. Harris have an amazing track record of creating new schools. No local authority can match them.

I can't say where Harris have been parachuted in it's looked great - such as the two examples you've given. And yes the Harris Federation have been helpful to the SoS in such contentious situations. But that's not what is happening locally. Harris are not being asked to take over existing schools.

To be honest I'm not bothered whether Harris funded by a Tory supporter or within reason any other type of political supporter. It's about ensuring great school places for local children not about political preferences.