'Charter East Dulwich' Consultation - call for unity

[DuncanW]

"When SPACE Southwark were set up, the nodal point's location was never decided because the chosen provider would need to consult and listen to the community, as Charter are now doing. SPACE (who remember initiated the secondary school campaign) has always been about representing the community, and it was felt that a nodal point to the East, along with a second nodal point on the school might have been the fairest way of doing it, but the decision around admissions would always have been made by the provider after consultation."

I had understood from the above in your OP that SPACE was in favour of moving the nodal point eastwards. And that SPACE is an organised group. What am I missing?

[Trine Adams]

SPACE worked to secure the hospital site and spoke with Charter regarding a second nodal point (which wouldn't detract from DKH) but would reduce the overlap with the current Charter, thus freeing up more school spaces in the whole area to the North, East and South of the current Charter; this was before the now consultation. They are happy to speak with anyone about what they suggested to Charter yet I know of no campaign, posters, letters to the community or local schools, postings or false rumors.

[rightlight]

I'm still not clear about these "false" rumours.

[Trine Adams]

For clarification on the work that SPACE Southwark do, have a look at their Facebook page.

[Trine Adams]

Hi Rightlight, there is no campaign or movement fighting for a move of the admissions nodal to the Actress Pub on crystal palace Road! Letters and an email sent to DKH and The Villa parents stated that there is...and there isn't.

rightlight Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm still not clear about these "false" rumours.

[rightlight]

It seems a bit more like false accusations.

[Trine Adams]

False rumors, false accusations..... Either way, inflammatory and misleading.

rightlight Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It seems a bit more like false accusations.

[LondonMix]

There are a number of factual errors that I am responding to primarily to prevent misinformation from spreading.

My responses are in CAPS (I'm not shouting though!)

Mick Mac Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have responded to the consultation as below: (I

> don't think the nodal point will help those east

> of LL, who really do need a school for girls at

> least.

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF GIRLS SCHOOL PLACES IN THE EAST OR THE SOUTH OF SE22. HARRIS ED GIRLS IS STILL BASED ON DISTANCE FOR 1KM NEAR THE SCHOOL. SYDENHAM GIRLS SCHOOL FURTHEST DISTANCE OFFER WAS BETWEEN 3,392- 6,453 FOR THE BAND WITH THE SHORTEST AND LONGEST DISTANCE(Girls / postcode SE26 4RD). THIS SCHOOL IS ACTUALLY CLOSER TO MANY OF THOSE LIVING IN THE SOUTH OF ED THAN THE HOSPITAL SITE. THERE ARE ALSO MANY CO-ED OPTIONS IN SOUTHWARK AND LEWISHAM BASED ON DISTANCE OFFERS LAST YEAR. THERE IS NO ARGUMENT THAT EVEN THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BAND IN SYDENHAM GIRLS WOULD COVER ALL OF THE SOUTH OF ED.

Whilst others now have two Charter schools

> to choose from is rather unfair or missing the

> point of anew school...)

THE POINT OF THE NEW SCHOOL IS TO DEAL WITH A SURGE IN DEMAND FOR PLACES IN THE SOUTH OF THE BOROUGH FROM 2016. THE SCHOOL SITE IS WELL LOCATED TO SERVE THE SOUTH OF THE BOROUGH. IT IS ALSO ACCESSIBLE TO THE AREAS THAT SUPPORTED THE CAMPAIGN.

>

> "I do not support the chosen nodal point in Jarvis

> Road, being too far north of the central SE22

> area. The area south east of Lordship Lane,

> (southern end of Friern Road etc) which suffers

> from a lack of girls secondary school availability

> (1km to Harris Girls) and is an area that

> campaigned hard for a new school is not served

> well by this nodal point. However there is now a

> duplication of Charter school opportunity

> elsewhere.

>

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF GIRLS PLACES IN THE SOUTH OF SE22. SIGNING UP TO THE CAMPAIGN CONFERS NO RIGHT FOR PRIORITY ADMISSION TO THE SCHOOL LEGALLY (NOR IN MY OPINION MORALLY). THOSE WHO WEREN'T ASKED OR AREN'T SOCIALLY ENGAGED BUT WHOSE CHILDREN LIVE CLOSER TO THE SCHOOL STILL HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO ATTEND IF THEY WANT TO AHEAD OF THOSE FURTHER AWAY BASED ON THE ADMISSIONS CODE WHICH IS WHAT APPLIES TO ALL SCHOOLS.

> We, as a family, are currently outside of the

> catchment for Charter 1 and based upon the Jarvis

> Road nodal point, are now likely to be outside the

> catchment for Charter 2 also, while others now

> have a choice of two Charter schools !

>

> When I spoke about this duplication at one of the

> open evenings the panel failed to accept the point

> - the panel response was that another school can

> only result in more school places for East

> Dulwich.

>

> Then please consider this example;

>

> 10 children living near Charter 1 (who would have

> gotten into Charter 1 previously anyway), but are

> closer to Charter 2, are each offered a place at

> both schools.

> The children choose the nearer school, being

> Charter 2, this obviously frees up 10 places at

> Charter 1 (not Charter 2...)

> Hence the catchment of Charter 1 is expanded by 10

> places, but on all sides from its nodal point, to

> benefit Herne Hill, Dulwich Village, North

> Dulwich, Denmark Hill etc, and East Dulwich -

> hence in the case of people in both Charter

> catchments areas, the other areas surrounding

> Charter 1 have actually also benefitted from these

> 10 Charter 2 places and ED as a result only

> benefits marginally.

THE PANEL IS CORRECT.

ITS VERY HARD TO EXPLAIN THE MATH IN WORDS. THE BEST WAY I CAN THINK OF TO EXPLAIN IT IS TO IMAGINE YOU HAD A SCHOOL AND CHILDREN WERE STOOD IN QUEUE WITH 250 TO LEFT OF THE SCHOOL AND 250 TO THE RIGHT OF THE SCHOOL EACH 1 FOOT APART.

THE SCHOOL (SCHOOL 1) HAS 200 PLACES SO ITS CATCHMENT IS 200FT DIAMETER / 100FOOT RADIUS AND THERE ARE 150 CHILDREN TO THE RIGHT AND 150 TO THE LEFT WITH NO PLACE.

NOW IMAGINE A NEW SCHOOL (SCHOOL 2) WITH 200 PLACES WAS BUILT IN THE RIGHT QUEUE ADJACENT TO CHILD 100 ON THE RIGHT. NOW, ALL THE 100 CHILDREN BETWEEN THE TWO SCHOOLS GET INTO ONE OR THE OTHER (LETS SAY IN EQUAL NUMBERS), SO 50 PLACES IN EACH SCHOOL BUT WITH A 100 FOOT OFFER RADIUS.

SCHOOL 1 CAN STILL OFFER 150 PLACES TO ITS LEFT AND SCHOOL 2 CAN OFFER 150 PLACES TO ITS RIGHT. THE OVERLAP EXPANDS THE CATCHMENT OF BOTH SCHOOLS OUT SO THAT 400 CHILDREN IN A STRAIGHT LINE WITHOUT ANY GAPS GET IN, MOSTLY TO THE RIGHT OF SCHOOL 2 AND THE LEFT OF SCHOOL 1. THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC EAST WEST ADJUSTMENT OF THE OVERLAP.

SOMEONE MIGHT ARGUE THAT THE REMAINING 150 PLACES WILL IN PART BE OFFERED ON BOTH SIDES OF EITHER SCHOOL. IT DOESN'T MATTER. THE OFFERS WILL STILL EXPAND PROPORTIONALLY TO RIGHT AND LEFT UNTIL ALL 400 PLACES ARE OFFERED IN A STRAIGHT LINE (IF THAT'S UNCLEAR I CAN TRY TO EXPLAIN WHY).

> My proposal is that either

> 1) The Charter 2 school and the Charter 1 school

> have separately defined and non-overlapping

> catchment areas, or

> 2) a child within the catchment for Charter 1 is

> required to accept the offer at Charter 1 and free

> the place at Charter 2 for those in SE22 who

> previously did not have access to a Charter school

> - hence the school then serves the purpose of

> enhancing school places in East Dulwich and not

> Herne Hill etc which are already well catered for

> by Charter 1, or

FIRST, NO CHILD CAN ACCEPT A PLACE AT TWO SCHOOLS SO THIS HAPPENS AUTOMATICALLY AS PER MY EXAMPLE OF ABOVE WITHOUT ANY SPECIFIC POLICY REMEDY.

> 3) the nodal point is moved to central se22 where

> it would be most beneficial, irrespective of where

> the school grounds actually are, with some

> accommodation made to the needs of Camberwell also

> which I think was mentioned as having an equal

> need to central East Dulwich."

A NODAL POINT CANNOT BE LEGALLY JUSTIFIED UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES AND FOR THIS REASON. THE GUIDANCE IS CLEAR THAT CHILDREN FURTHER AWAY FROM A SCHOOL SHOULD NOT GET PRIORITY AHEAD OF THOSE CLOSER TO IT (EXCEPT WITH BANDING AND LOTTERIES). NODAL POINTS CAN ONLY BE INTRODUCED WHEN CHILDREN HAVE LITTLE OR NO PRIORITY ACCESS TO ANY OTHER SCHOOL. THAT SIMPLY IS NOT THE CASE IN THE SOUTH OF ED. NOT LIKING YOUR OPTION(S) IS NOT THE SAME AS NOT HAVING ANY.

[championofthehill]

Thank you, LondonMix, for clarifying some of these emotive issues.

I have a few more questions - for anyone who cares to answer.

What exactly is SPACE Southwark? All I can come up with is "a group of East Dulwich schools"? Which schools are involved?

There was (still is?) a campaign to move the nodal point for the school to near the Actress Pub? Is this really not true? I heard on pretty good authority that it was?

When the OP calls for unity, what does she mean? That we all get behind the Charter School's proposal?

And by community, does she speak for the whole of East Dulwich? And if so, surely that includes DKH school?

I have just had a look at the link to DKH's website, and really can't see what they have done wrong? Children at this school have a very small chance of getting places at secondary schools of their choice. Surely it's right for the school to encourage parents to get involved in the consultation process when a school is being built on their doorstep?

[Derek_Hill]

*** I am posting this on behalf of Liz Brown, Chair of The Charter School Education Trust. ***

Dear All,

As a result of comments made on this Forum and also offline, I just want to clarify a couple of points in relation to the proposed Charter School East Dulwich -

1. The nodal point we are currently proposing - Jarvis Road on the site of the Dulwich Community Hospital - is not an intentional change from our original bid. During the development of the Trusts? bid we ran a large number of consultation events at which we said that the proposed nodal point would be on the Eastern site boundary, mid way between the Northern and Southern boundaries, so as to minimise the overlap with the current Charter School catchment without moving the nodal point off-site. This was incorporated into our bid to the DfE.

When we were eventually informed of the boundaries of the parcel of land we will receive from the NHS, it was clear that the Eastern boundary of our school site would only run about one third of the way down the boundary of the whole hospital site because the new health centre would occupy the remaining two thirds of that Eastern boundary.We interpreted mid-way between the Northern and Southern ends of our boundary as being Jarvis Road, ie mid-way along that part of our boundary along Melbourne Grove. This also had the side benefit of being a physical place that people could easily identify.

Some have commented that The Trust had previously proposed positioning an admissions nodal point somewhere in East Dulwich away from the site of the proposed new school. I wish to clarify that the Trust has never made such a proposal. Instead, right from the inception of its bid process the Trust has been consistent in proposing an admissions policy based on distance from the school site using an ?as the crow flies? methodology.

The form used by the Trust to gather parental support for its bid was clear about this point and can be accessed on the link below for those who wish to review the form.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qfqzp2uqzsfa3m8/Expression%20of%20Interest%20Form%20TCSED.pdf?dl=0

And the FAQ document posted on the Trust?s website during the bid process contains similar information and can be accessed on this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4mkjpxgg0iukmfe/FAQs%20Update.pdf?dl=0

2. Some people have expressed concerns that members of our working party may have a conflict of interest, as they have children in local primary schools. The involvement of local parents is an inherent part of the free school concept. Those parents on the Working Party set up by the Trust to help with the process have worked tirelessly for the new school over the last year or so and their expertise, commitment and integrity have been a major part of our success so far. As far as decision making is concerned, the parents on the working party with children in local primary schools to the north and east of the new school are not members or Trustees of The Charter School Educational Trust. As was explained at the consultation meetings, it is the Trust that will receive the report on all the consultation findings (from the project management firm that is putting it together) and it is the Trust that will then make the necessary decisions, taking into account feedback from the consultation process. Furthermore, in line with our Trust's normal procedures, we always check for potential conflict of interest at Trust Meetings, and any trustee with a potential conflict of interest related to any agenda item excludes themselves from voting on this item.

Regards

Liz Brown

Chair of The Charter School Educational Trust

[Please note that this is a one-off posting for clarification]

[tomskip]

I thought the issue of The Charter School excluding children from the Dog Kennel Hill area was all sorted out in 2012?

[nicetomeetyou]

Trine Adams Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Rightlight, there is no campaign or movement

> fighting for a move of the admissions nodal to the

> Actress Pub on crystal palace Road! Letters and an

> email sent to DKH and The Villa parents stated

> that there is...and there isn't.

>

Such arrogance. You don't speak for the whole of the ED community. I know several people who supported the Habs bid and have been trying to influence Charter along precisely these lines. Of course there are a large number of ED residents proposing an alternative nodal point - anyone who went to the consultations (I went to two of them) heard them loud and clear. I've heard many people call for a nodal point into central ED "proper" to the east of Lordship Lane - ie, near the Actress pub. This would be the preferred option for many families in Peckham Rye and Nunhead and you can see why. Our friends at SPACE Southwark are specifically from schools in ED, Dulwich, Peckham Rye and Nunhead, so it would certainly be top of mind for them (see EDrant's 3:39pm post on page 4 of this thread).

And also - the schools you mention and their parents were (are) completely and utterly justified in advocating for what makes sense to them and their families. All the Camberwell primaries would suffer if the nodal point shifted or there was a second nodal point. The intake at DKH is roughly a 450m radius. The school is just over 650m from Jarvis Road. That means some students are up to 1100m away from the proposed nodal point. (Lyndhurst is 1.25km away, but with a similar intake radius, so some of their kids are a lot closer and would have a shot as well.) Adding a second nodal point anywhere would likely cut the intake radius of both nodal points in half. That would absolutely put a huge number of these kids at risk of not having Charter 2 as a choice, and they already have a tough time with Charter 1 because of their well documented admissions policy issues. Several DKH parents supported the Habs bid over Charter specifically because of the lingering ill feeling.

Trine, please stop arrogantly assuming you know what everyone in the community is doing and thinking.

[LilyofTheValley]

nicetomeetyou Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Trine Adams Wrote:

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

> -----

> > Hi Rightlight, there is no campaign or movement

> > fighting for a move of the admissions nodal to

> the

> > Actress Pub on crystal palace Road! Letters and

> an

> > email sent to DKH and The Villa parents stated

> > that there is...and there isn't.

> >

>

> Such arrogance. You don't speak for the whole of

> the ED community. I know several people who

> supported the Habs bid and have been trying to

> influence Charter along precisely these lines. Of

> course there are a large number of ED residents

> proposing an alternative nodal point - anyone who

> went to the consultations (I went to two of them)

> heard them loud and clear. I've heard many people

> call for a nodal point into central ED "proper" to

> the east of Lordship Lane - ie, near the Actress

> pub. This would be the preferred option for many

> families in Peckham Rye and Nunhead and you can

> see why. Our friends at SPACE Southwark are

> specifically from schools in ED, Dulwich, Peckham

> Rye and Nunhead, so it would certainly be top of

> mind for them (see EDrant's 3:39pm post on page 4

> of this thread).

>

> And also - the schools you mention and their

> parents were (are) completely and utterly

> justified in advocating for what makes sense to

> them and their families. All the Camberwell

> primaries would suffer if the nodal point shifted

> or there was a second nodal point. The intake at

> DKH is roughly a 450m radius. The school is just

> over 650m from Jarvis Road. That means some

> students are up to 1100m away from the proposed

> nodal point. (Lyndhurst is 1.25km away, but with a

> similar intake radius, so some of their kids are a

> lot closer and would have a shot as well.) Adding

> a second nodal point anywhere would likely cut the

> intake radius of both nodal points in half. That

> would absolutely put a huge number of these kids

> at risk of not having Charter 2 as a choice, and

> they already have a tough time with Charter 1

> because of their well documented admissions policy

> issues. Several DKH parents supported the Habs bid

> over Charter specifically because of the lingering

> ill feeling.

>

> Trine, please stop arrogantly assuming you know

> what everyone in the community is doing and

> thinking.

I've been to three of the consultation meetings and think that nicetomeetyou gives a fair description. A parent who was formerly associated with the Habs bid tried to persuade me that I should back attempts to move the nodal point to the Actress..... I have to say I felt well and truly lobbied.

[kristymac1]

championofthehill Wrote:

---------------------------------------------

> There was (still is?) a campaign to move the nodal

> point for the school to near the Actress Pub? Is

> this really not true? I heard on pretty good

> authority that it was?

>

There has NEVER been a campaign to move the nodal point to near the Actress, this was an entirely fabricated price of BS, started by an (at best) ill-judged email by a Brunswick Park Councillor to a local primary school. A shameful piece of self-serving propaganda which has contributed massively to the horribly divisive situation we now have.

[largeginandtonic]

Kristy, you don't need to look very far to find evidence of a push for this sort of nodal point - read the two posts above yours!

[largeginandtonic]

Trine Adams Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> SPACE worked to secure the hospital site and spoke

> with Charter regarding a second nodal point (which

> wouldn't detract from DKH) but would reduce the

> overlap with the current Charter, thus freeing up

> more school spaces in the whole area to the North,

> East and South of the current Charter; this was

> before the now consultation. They are happy to

> speak with anyone about what they suggested to

> Charter yet I know of no campaign, posters,

> letters to the community or local schools,

> postings or false rumors.

And this confirms that SPACE also asked for that second nodal point!

[redjam]

It is ironic that amongst the name-calling, accusations and semi-hysterical posts by some people on here, no one appears to have noticed the update from Liz Brown from the Charter School Trust (posted at 9pm by Derek_Hill above). This makes it clear that no off-site nodal point has ever been proposed by Charter so, we can infer, is never likely to happen. So everyone is coming to blows over a distance of, what, say 100 metres? I am honestly baffled by it all.

It is doubly ironic that this thread has descended into a slanging match again when it started as a call for unity. I went to a concert at the Royal Festival Hall tonight where hundreds of primary-school children from all over Southwark were dancing and singing their hearts out, all working together irrespective of which area they came from. It was truly uplifting. I think we could all learn a bit of a lesson from them.

Let's all just remember how lucky we are that this school is coming at all and get a little perspective. It will benefit everyone, even those whose children don't get in directly. I confidently predict most kids in the East Dulwich postcode who want to get in will do so, going by Charter's own estimate (they have said - v. rough estimate, obviously - they expect the catchment to extend 1.4km either side of the site). So will most kids in South Camberwell. In a year's time, everyone is going to be wondering what on earth this fuss was all about.

[hpsaucey]

redjam Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It is ironic that amongst the name-calling,

> accusations and semi-hysterical posts by some

> people on here, no one appears to have noticed the

> update from Liz Brown from the Charter School

> Trust (posted at 9pm by Derek_Hill above). This

> makes it clear that no off-site nodal point has

> ever been proposed by Charter so, we can infer, is

> never likely to happen. So everyone is coming to

> blows over a distance of, what, say 100 metres? I

> am honestly baffled by it all.

>

> It is doubly ironic that this thread has descended

> into a slanging match again when it started as a

> call for unity. I went to a concert at the Royal

> Festival Hall tonight where hundreds of

> primary-school children from all over Southwark

> were dancing and singing their hearts out, all

> working together irrespective of which area they

> came from. It was truly uplifting. I think we

> could all learn a bit of a lesson from them.

>

> Let's all just remember how lucky we are that this

> school is coming at all and get a little

> perspective. It will benefit everyone, even those

> whose children don't get in directly. I

> confidently predict most kids in the East Dulwich

> postcode who want to get in will do so, going by

> Charter's own estimate (they have said - v. rough

> estimate, obviously - they expect the catchment to

> extend 1.4km either side of the site). So will

> most kids in South Camberwell. In a year's time,

> everyone is going to be wondering what on earth

> this fuss was all about.

Going slightly off topic for a minute - I was also at Southwark Splash this evening- all the children and other performers were absolutely amazing in what was a joyful community event! They should all be extremely proud of themselves.

HP

[kristymac1]

largeginandtonic Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Kristy, you don't need to look very far to find

> evidence of a push for this sort of nodal point -

> read the two posts above yours!

I know there are lots of people who want different things, but for a local Councillor to wrongfully inform local schools, whipping up fear and hysterical feelings is, imo, totally wrong, and even more worrying that she is directly affected by the admissions criteria.

There are many people who won't have the chance of getting in, from lots of surrounding areas, that's just the way it is. But I'd like to see a proper consultation considering the views of everyone with an equal opportunity to respond and any data gathered during the whole process - that's just fair isn't it?

[redjam]

kristymac1 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> But I'd like to see a

> proper consultation considering the views of

> everyone with an equal opportunity to respond and

> any data gathered during the whole process -

> that's just fair isn't it?

Um, but that's exactly what they're doing. How is it unfair?

And from what I've seen of some of the emails and letters flying round my school recently, there seems to be a lot of whipping up fear and hysteria from both sides...

[Mick Mac]

redjam Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Let's all just remember how lucky we are that this

> school is coming at all and get a little

> perspective.

Well that comment is all very positive and we are all for extra school places. However they need to be properly targeted.

You mention the expected catchment to be 1.4km. The proposed nodal point at Jarvis Road is 1.328 km from my house (just south of junction of Goodrich and Friern) therefore we are absolutely borderine.

Take the same distance 1.328 km west of the nodal point and this comfortably covers all of Holmdene Avenue, Effindale Road, Frankfurt Road etc - reflecting them as closer to the school nodal point and giving a girl living there a better chance of getting a place in this new school than my address, on a crow-fly distance basis.

Is this what this new "East Dulwich" school was supposed to achieve?

This also demonstrates that the area that now has the choice of two Charter schools (incl Herne Hill - lucky them) is absolutely huge.

you can use the attached link to measure distances between points on a map.

http://www.freemaptools.com/measure-distance.htm

[shouldn't this thread be on the main ED General section rather than the Family room where not everyone sees it]

No-one likes to see a poorly targeted project - I'm afraid this is what this has become.

I am repeating my proposed solutions:

> 1) The Charter 2 school and the Charter 1 school

> have separately defined and non-overlapping

> catchment areas, or

> 2) a child within the catchment for Charter 1 is

> required to accept the offer at Charter 1 and free

> the place at Charter 2 for those in SE22 who

> previously did not have access to a Charter school

> - hence the school then serves the purpose of

> enhancing school places in East Dulwich and not

> Herne Hill etc which are already well catered for

> by Charter 1, or

> 3) the nodal point is moved to central se22 where

> it would be most beneficial, irrespective of where

> the school grounds actually are, with some

> accommodation made to the needs of Camberwell also

> which I think was mentioned as having an equal

> need to central East Dulwich."

[redjam]

First of all, as I made clear, the 1.4km is an estimate. It might be more or less.

Mick Mac - I do sympathise, and I know how hugely stressful it is if you're 'borderline'. We were borderline for Charter 1 so I do understand your concerns and have been through those awful conversations (do we move or not, etc). But to go through your solutions:

1) Even if some lucky children are in both catchment areas, they can only take one place. And ironically Charter 2 is actually trying to help this by moving the admission point as far away from Charter 1 as possible.

2) I'm not sure I quite understand this - are you saying everyone within the catchment for Charter 1 must be forced to take up a place there?! Er?

3) As the post from Charter above makes clear, a nodal point off-site is not gonna happen folks. We need to get over it. The original Charter bid has never proposed this, and those of us who supported the bid did so knowing that they had always stated it was 'as the crow flies' from the school.

So if people want to knock themselves out fighting about 100 yards to the north or east, by all means go ahead (and I don't mean to sound flippant as I do realise this makes a big difference to those on the edges of East Dulwich). But in the end that comes down to whether you think the kids at the fringes of East Dulwich 'deserve' to get a space more than the kids at the fringes of South Camberwell. I don't see why they do, myself. Either way, I suspect people will be surprised by how far the catchment will go in the first few years until the school is established.

[LilyofTheValley]

kristymac1 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> >

> There has NEVER been a campaign to move the nodal

> point to near the Actress, this was an entirely

> fabricated price of BS, started by an (at best)

> ill-judged email by a Brunswick Park Councillor to

> a local primary school. A shameful piece of

> self-serving propaganda which has contributed

> massively to the horribly divisive situation we

> now have.

In the interest of fairness I wanted to share the following newsletter that was recently sent to all members of the Hummy Mummy group. It is an organised appeal to get other parents to challenge the admission policy of the proposed new Charter School - it explicitly requests that they promote splitting the nodal point and moving one nodal point off the school site. The email details exactly what to say to support this view. A number of people on this thread seem fixed in their belief that there has not been any lobbying to move the nodal point.

Immediately below I quote from the relevant section of the newsletter - but I have also pasted the entire contents of the newsletter so interested parties can see the context and that is genuine.

"An urgent request from Lynlea, one of our East Dulwich mums:

Dear all,

This email is particularly for parents living in East Dulwich. You may feel a way off secondary schools but trust me it will come around quickly so this may well affect you.

A new Charter School East Dulwich (secondary school) is planned to open for September 2016 and will be using the East Dulwich Hospital site - some of the site being kept for NHS purposes.

This of course is great news however the current Charters admission policy proposes the nodal point (the point from which distances are measured from for admissions) at Jarvis Road, which is on Melbourne Grove to the far North end of the site ? ie the furthest point away from East Dulwich it could be.

This is worrying and surprising because the school came about as the result of a campaign for a new East Dulwich School by East Dulwich parents due to the need brought about by increasing number of children in the area. Nobody will want to have to send their children to schools miles away.

If distance is measured from the proposed point ? Jarvis Road ? that makes it much less likely that children particularly from the top end of East Dulwich will stand a chance of getting a place.

THE CONSULTATION CLOSES 5pm THIS FRIDAY, 26 June.

The online consultation can be found here.

Please take a minute to fill in the survey. It won't take long. Please make sure you express your support for the new school ? which still has lots of hurdles to overcome before it can open ? in all of the questions except question 3 on admissions:

3. Do you support the proposed Admissions Policy for The Charter School East Dulwich as outlined in the policy document available on The Charter School website?

If you are concerned about the issues above please answer ?No?.

In the comments box you might find some of the points below useful:

? I am concerned about how the new school will measure distance from the site.

? The area of greatest need for places from 2016 onwards is to the south east of Lordship Lane. The proposed policy does not take enough account of this need.

? There should be a second, off-site point from which to measure distance to make sure that it caters for the whole area of East Dulwich, including to the South East of Lordship Lane. The on-site nodal point would cater for the need that exists to the north and west, but an East Dulwich nodal point would also be fairer to the need of East Dulwich - and reflect the fact that the school is the result of a hard-fought campaign by East Dulwich parents. There is a precedence for off-site nodal points when the site location does not reflect the area of need.

Thanks so much for any support you may give,

Lynlea (ED Hummy Mummies)

As I said I am posting this in order to prove there are parents in East Dulwich seeking to organise other parents ( ?a Movement of people?) to shift the nodal point and to oppose the current admissions policy.

There are a number of factual inaccuracies in the suggested statements which I will refrain from raising here as they been well covered elsewhere.

THIS IS THE ENTIRE NEWSLETTER ??

Hummy Mummies - the choir for mums with tiny tots...Is this email not displaying correctly?

View it in your browser. Morning all

Well, I'm back from my travels in Greece - a marvellous time was had by all on the singing holiday and I even have something of a tan!

Just so you know, this is now week three of the half-term (for my groups).

Gigs

This weekend we have two gigs! If at all possible, please try to make one of them - it really helps me out. On Saturday we are going to be singing at the Stillness School fair at 2pm. The address is:

Stillness Infant School

Brockley Rise

London

SE23 1NH

Then on Sunday we will be singing at Chelwood School fair, also at 2pm. It's also in Brockley, but it's on the Nunhead side. The address is:

Chelwood Infant School

Chelwood Walk

St Norberts Road

Brockley

London SE4 2QQ

We will be singing for about 20-30 minutes, and we'll choose from:

Stay With Me

I Think We're Alone Now

Walking on Sunshine

Happy

What's Up

Everywhere

Sweet Dreams

Abba

Perfect Day

An urgent request from Lynlea, one of our East Dulwich mums:

Dear all,

This email is particularly for parents living in East Dulwich. You may feel a way off secondary schools but trust me it will come around quickly so this may well affect you.

A new Charter School East Dulwich (secondary school) is planned to open for September 2016 and will be using the East Dulwich Hospital site - some of the site being kept for NHS purposes.

This of course is great news however the current Charters admission policy proposes the nodal point (the point from which distances are measured from for admissions) at Jarvis Road, which is on Melbourne Grove to the far North end of the site ? ie the furthest point away from East Dulwich it could be.

This is worrying and surprising because the school came about as the result of a campaign for a new East Dulwich School by East Dulwich parents due to the need brought about by increasing number of children in the area. Nobody will want to have to send their children to schools miles away.

If distance is measured from the proposed point ? Jarvis Road ? that makes it much less likely that children particularly from the top end of East Dulwich will stand a chance of getting a place.

THE CONSULTATION CLOSES 5pm THIS FRIDAY, 26 June.

The online consultation can be found here.

Please take a minute to fill in the survey. It won't take long. Please make sure you express your support for the new school ? which still has lots of hurdles to overcome before it can open ? in all of the questions except question 3 on admissions:

3. Do you support the proposed Admissions Policy for The Charter School East Dulwich as outlined in the policy document available on The Charter School website?

If you are concerned about the issues above please answer ?No?.

In the comments box you might find some of the points below useful:

? I am concerned about how the new school will measure distance from the site.

? The area of greatest need for places from 2016 onwards is to the south east of Lordship Lane. The proposed policy does not take enough account of this need.

? There should be a second, off-site point from which to measure distance to make sure that it caters for the whole area of East Dulwich, including to the South East of Lordship Lane. The on-site nodal point would cater for the need that exists to the north and west, but an East Dulwich nodal point would also be fairer to the need of East Dulwich - and reflect the fact that the school is the result of a hard-fought campaign by East Dulwich parents. There is a precedence for off-site nodal points when the site location does not reflect the area of need.

Thanks so much for any support you may give,

Lynlea (ED Hummy Mummies)

Thanks all - see lots of you later this week and at the weekend!

Richard x

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[MsMaz]

I think your points 1 and 2 to stop overlapping catchment (which is massive) and thus maintaining the existing Charter 1 catchment, is an excellent proposal. And is much better than fighting about nodal points - as that way, everyone who is on the borders or beyond of potential catchments and fighting on this forum would actually be much more likely to get in (wherever the nodal point) as it would stretch the catchment further north, east and south.

Charter is now consulting on becoming a Multi Academy Trust and wants to align governances and best practices. So this kind of admissions arrangement surely should be possible? And at the same time, they could align their admissions so that Charter 1 is crow-flies, too, so that also stretches further to south camberwell and DKH estates.

[MsMaz]

My last post was referring to MickMac's post about ensuring there is no overlap of Charter 1 and 2's catchment - a few posts sneaked inbetween quickly!

I think it's the fact that Charter have refused to tackle the problems that this large overlap causes, that have caused all the fighting about nodal points, because people are worried the catchment won't go very far, especially after a few years.

RedJam, yes the overlap does matter for those with younger kids as eventually the areas around the hospital site will become Charter 2 catchment. Charter 1 may expand a bit because of this but in ALL directions, so borderline areas may still not get into either Charter 1 or 2 and you may end up with a better chance of getting into Charter 1 from Tulse Hill and Brixton...