Head Teacher appointed for The Charter School East Dulwich

[Shuggy]

littlek1cker Wrote:

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... another is the area served by Lyndhurst and

> Dog Kennel Hill schools (South Camberwell ward)

Congratulations on the successful bid?I'm delighted that we are getting a new secondary school for East Dulwich. Or at least I was, until I read this. And then I questioned whither we were at all?

Surely serving the children from Lyndhurst school in Camberwell as well as those from all the primaries in East Dulwich that you went around campaigning and collecting signatures from just isn't possible?

Are you suggesting a nodal intake north of East Dulwich, towards Camberwell? Or were you just making a point about the crow-flies policy from the hospital site having to serve children to the north too?

Thanks

[dulwichDad11]

Great news on the Charter bid. Great to finally have a decision, and well done to everyone for campaigning.

I don't understand the point about primaries made by Shuggy. The site of the school that seems to be proposed (and hopefully that will be delivered) - East Dulwich Hospital - looks on the map to be about 1km distance from Dog Kennel Hill school, St John's & St Clements, and Heber primary school, and about 1.5km from Goodrich and Lyndhurst. So based on crow-fly-distance to the school, the catchment would likely include many pupils from all those schools and depending on how many apply, potententially a good many pupils living further away, and so will inevitably serve both East Dulwich and S Camberwell based on its location.

Having a nodal point that isn't on the school site can enable a catchment area to centered somewhere other than on the school, but surely many people would feel this unfair if they can't get into a school that is close to where they live.

[TimN]

Simon give the DFE press release (see below)

The Charter School East Dulwich

The ?outstanding? and heavily over-subscribed Charter School will be opening a second school in 2016 on the site of the former East Dulwich hospital. Catering for 1220 students, the school will meet the huge demand for new places in the Dulwich area. Charter School East Dulwich will encourage all students to become creative, confident and caring citizens. The school will also offer work-related learning through a partnership with King?s College Hospital, the largest local employer.

Which appeared to take you slightly by surprise, can I seek some reassurance as a year 5 parent about the vision for the school

1). Are you deliberately seeking to draw a distinction between the Academic Charter 1, and a more vocational Charter 2?

2). What have you promised or committed that has informed or shaped this press release, that heavily stresses vocational links and a work related partnership with Kings College Hospital?

3). Could I invite you to publish your bid in full so we can evaluate your proposed vision and the values that your new school hopes to embrace.

TimN

[Otta]

MsMaz Wrote:

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> Yes I agree Colabottle - apparently Charter was

> fishing for signatures of support from current

> Charter families and families already clearly in

> the Charter 1 catchment. I would definitely be

> interested in seeing a heat map of their support,

> which they haven't provided. I was on the

> supporter list, my address is East Dulwich, SE22,

> but we would be out of its catchment on distance

> only. The whole point was a new school for East

> Dulwich, as you say. If Charter catchments

> overlap, that would be ridiculous and could also,

> for example, push Charter 1 catchment more over to

> Herne Hill/Ruskin park, etc - again not the point

> of this campaign.

It's also Charter that told everyone that it was in their best interests to support both campaigns, which a lot of people probably fell for.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

No pleasing some people 😉

As many has pointed out regardless of who won the bid it still wasn't going to be possible for every child in Dulwich to get into the secondary.

I have a child at local school in Dulwich and there are children from Camberwell, Forest Hill etc who got in whilst others nearby the school didn't get in and this is based on distance catchment ! My point is , someone is always going to lose out no matter what but generally speaking , the children from all local schools should have a chance of getting in .

[Shuggy]

bras879: I was just concerned that they might be planning using a nodal point further north than the hospital site itself.

I imagine that for the first couple of years it shouldn't be hard bringing in the kids from all the schools you mentioned. But if the catchment was to shrink to the size of Charter 1 say, then I can't see how it can continue to reach Lyndhurst, which was mentioned in Littlek1cker's post, without making a nodal point to the north.

Maybe Charter 1's tiny catchment isn't the best example, and the new school will be able to serve all those in East Dulwich and South Camberwell who need it.

[Shuggy]

The attached map shows 1,500 m as the crow flies from the hospital site. A bit bigger than Charter 1 catchment but I think you're right bras879, it does seem to cover most of South Camberwell and ED without making a nodal entry elsewhere.

[mrs.lotte]

To be fair DB&B Simon did state that Charter want to listen to people's view on admission criteria and that he had hitherto thought that as the crow flies was overwhelmingly popular so if that's not necessarily the case then i would expect people to express their views and Charter to listen.

Simon I know that you are overwhelmingly busy but I am genuinely keen to support the school which my son could well attend. How is it proposed to distinguish the schools if at all? Will it have a specialisation or even a different uniform, how is it proposed that it doesn't fall into the trap as being seen as the poor relation of Dulwich Charter?

Sorry to bang on about it but the Harris consultation is today/tonight and I'm sure at least some of your 1500 supporters would like to know about it so they can express their views on the possibility of a primary school constraining the site (a primary school full of children who would likely not get into the secondary school whichever admissions criteria you use!) could you please consider emailing them?

[MsMaz]

Shuggy Wrote:

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> The attached map shows 1,500 m as the crow flies

> from the hospital site. A bit bigger than Charter

> 1 catchment but I think you're right bras879, it

> does seem to cover most of South Camberwell and ED

> without making a nodal entry elsewhere.

Thanks for showing that but do you really think it would stretch to 1.5km? - Charter's is about 1km max, isn't it? And it would definitely get smaller as years go by. Habs were thinking of shifting the main admissions east slightly to not overlap on existing Charter catchment. The overlap is enormous at the moment, so who knows what kind of catchment that will create?

[James Barber]

hi MsMaz,

Being so close together people currently from the SE of Charter1 could be expected to apply for Charter2. So Charter1 admissions are likely to expand outwards and the Charter 2 is likely to capture much more distance to the SE and radius.

[madmum]

As a mum of a child attending Lyndhurst Im am especially keen to find out if Charter 2 will defo be taking admissions Sept 2016! We live well in the 1.5km suggested catchment, I'm kinda of popping all our eggs in this basket!

I watch with great anticipation, as the thought of moving out of the area makes me shudder!

[littlek1cker]

Hi all,

I'll try and answer some of the questions in the posts above. However, we will be consulting further in the near future and as part of that process we will publish a single, authoritative account of what we are proposing in terms of vision, values, curriculum, admissions policy etc. In this document we will do our best to address all the issues that people are asking us questions about.

Admissions policy: our current draft policy, which is subject to consultation, is to use an 'as the crow flies' distance criterion measured from a nodal point on the Eastern boundary of the site, mid-way between the Northern and Southern boundaries, ie near Melbourne Grove. This has the advantage of minimising the overlap between the catchment areas of the two Charter schools and maximising coverage of the admissions 'black holes'.

It is very difficult to know at this stage how big the catchment area will be. I don't have the data to hand, but I believe that it was only three or four years ago that The Charter School's catchment area was around 1.7km, and that is a very established school, so Shuggy's very helpful map based on 1.5km is probably as good as anyone's projection even after the initial years, but we are expecting the modifications to the two catchment areas that James describes.

TimN, to address your points directly, the press release did take me by surprise, writing as I was only an hour or so after I received the news that our bid was successful, because we didn't see it in advance and it was clear about the site in a way that the more bureaucratic wording in the letter was not. Having said that, it is a fair summary of our proposal. Taking your questions in turn:

> 1). Are you deliberately seeking to draw a distinction between the Academic Charter 1, and a more vocational Charter 2?

No. This was an option we considered when developing the bid but the clear feedback we received from local families was that this was not popular. Our current proposal is to offer the same mix as in the current Charter, ie a primarily academic curriculum but with some vocational options.

2). What have you promised or committed that has informed or shaped this press release, that heavily stresses vocational links and a work related partnership with Kings College Hospital?

The current Charter school already has productive links with a number of large local employers, including Kings Health Partners (which is a collaboration which includes Kings College Hospital). We are currently in discussion with Kings Health Partners about deepening that partnership. We will publish more information about this in due course.

3). Could I invite you to publish your bid in full so we can evaluate your proposed vision and the values that your new school hopes to embrace.

We will be publishing a consultation document that will include the proposed vision and values for the new school

mrs.lotte, your questions about differentiation and not being the poor relation, these issues should be addressed in the consultation document as part of the vision. We haven't gotten around to thinking about differentiating the uniform yet.

I believe we have already e-mailed our supporters about the Harris consultation tonight but I will double check.

Phew! Sorry for the extra long post but I hope this is helpful for people.

Simon

[littlek1cker]

madmum Wrote:

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> As a mum of a child attending Lyndhurst Im am

> especially keen to find out if Charter 2 will defo

> be taking admissions Sept 2016! We live well in

> the 1.5km suggested catchment, I'm kinda of

> popping all our eggs in this basket!

>

> I watch with great anticipation, as the thought of

> moving out of the area makes me shudder!

We will be doing everything within our power to open the school in 2016 and this was a commitment we made in our application to the DfE. Obviously, there will always be some things we can't control, and the timetable is very tight, but I believe we will do it.

[Jules-and-Boo]

any idea when it's due to open?

[colabottle]

Shuggy Wrote:

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> The attached map shows 1,500 m as the crow flies

> from the hospital site. A bit bigger than Charter

> 1 catchment but I think you're right bras879, it

> does seem to cover most of South Camberwell and ED

> without making a nodal entry elsewhere.

Hi Shuggy,

Could you please confirm where this 1.5km map has come from? It is something Charter are presenting in relation to their anticipated catchment? Thanks.

[littlek1cker]

colabottle Wrote:

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> Shuggy Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > The attached map shows 1,500 m as the crow

> flies

> > from the hospital site. A bit bigger than

> Charter

> > 1 catchment but I think you're right bras879,

> it

> > does seem to cover most of South Camberwell and

> ED

> > without making a nodal entry elsewhere.

>

> Hi Shuggy,

> Could you please confirm where this 1.5km map has

> come from? It is something Charter are presenting

> in relation to their anticipated catchment?

> Thanks.

Shuggy's map wasn't generated by the Charter team.

[confusedbyitall]

Something smells wrong to me.

Of the 1500 how many were from existing pupils parents?

Why wont you publish your bid? How long before we can request it via FOI?

I have a hunch something behind the scenes has gone on, that's how you won...not by being the better provider.

You piggybacked off the steering committee and when you were not the chosen provider by them threw your toys out....of the ranch rover.

How much real community work have you done towards this?

I am gutted and annoyed Habs didn't win, they are by far the better provider.

Many thanks to the steering committee who have gone beyond the call of duty to gather the community on this. Gutted for them

[albert]

Get a new nose.

[Shuggy]

colabottle Wrote:

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> Shuggy Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> Hi Shuggy,

> Could you please confirm where this 1.5km map has

> come from? It is something Charter are presenting

> in relation to their anticipated catchment?

> Thanks.

Hi colabottle. I made the map. Nothing to do with Charter and the 1.5 km distance was purely to see how far the catchment would have to stretch to cover Lyndhurst in the north and the bulk of the ED schools to the south.

[confusedbyitall]

pro harris too hey albert???

send your kids to the fabulous harris boys/girls/Peckham then...

but its do as I say not as I do

[albert]

I am pro Harris, they provide outstanding schools for thousands of children across London. I'm pro Charter, pro Kingsdale, pro Sydenham Girls, pro Thomas the Apostle. They all try to serve the local community and, for the most part, do a bloody good job at it. We're very lucky we have such schools around us. Charter is a fantastic school and it's brilliant they're opening a second one. The school should be congratulated and encouraged, not knocked.

[colabottle]

I think the frustration people are feeling is that the Charter admissions policy potentially excludes so many of the local East Dulwich schools, which is strange given that the free school's very existence originated with the need for these very children to have a choice of a good local co-ed. The clue is in the name that Charter have given to their new school, The Charter School East Dulwich.

[colabottle]

Thanks for confirming that Shuggy and Littlek1cker

[sophiesofa]

Oh come on, you're making some ridiculous statements there. Yes, by all means request to see the bid but stop and think about what you're saying!

I was/am very pro charter but if habs had won, I'd have still congratulated them, not accused them of doing something behind the scenes.

Just support the school we're getting, it's not that hard.

confusedbyitall Wrote:

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> Something smells wrong to me.

>

> Of the 1500 how many were from existing pupils

> parents?

>

> Why wont you publish your bid? How long before we

> can request it via FOI?

>

> I have a hunch something behind the scenes has

> gone on, that's how you won...not by being the

> better provider.

>

> You piggybacked off the steering committee and

> when you were not the chosen provider by them

> threw your toys out....of the ranch rover.

> How much real community work have you done

> towards this?

>

> I am gutted and annoyed Habs didn't win, they are

> by far the better provider.

>

> Many thanks to the steering committee who have

> gone beyond the call of duty to gather the

> community on this. Gutted for them

[grabot]

It's pretty close to Goose Green, Bessemer, Heber, Saint John's and Goodrich to name a few. I think that it's good that it gives kids from Lyndhurst a chance too, they've always seemed a little disenfranchised. The school is well located.