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MP at school to promote education
NORTH SOUTHWARK & Bermondsey MP Simon Hughes visited Southwark primary schools on Friday, showing children just what doors education could open for them.
The Lib Dem London mayoral candidate gave a rousing lesson to a full Assembly at Joseph Lancaster primary. Placing children on eight doors around the hall, he asked what education could lead to. The first child looked through his door and Mr Hughes asked what he saw education providing. “A great legacy,” he said augustly.
A second pupil, slightly confused, suggested “a playground”.
Mr Hughes spoke of the need to respect teachers, the bearers of this great levelling gift of education, and the lesson ended with a great round of applause for their resolute work. The compliment was repaid by Marie Williams, the acting deputy head: “He would make a very good teacher and is welcome back anytime.” (Southwark News- 29/4/04)
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Schools get eco prizes
THE MAYOR of London presented Charles Dickens Primary School, St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School and Walworth School with cash prizes for their work for the local environment in the London Schools Environment Awards last week.
Charles Dickens Primary School and St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School won a distinction award of £2000 and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and Walworth School won a highly commended award of £1000. Wildlife presenter Bill Oddie hosted the awards ceremony and the winners were entertained with a performance by Eurovision and Fame academy star James Fox. The awards have been developed to foster children’s sense of responsibility for their environment and the categories which the schools focused on were litter, waste and recycling, energy, transport and biodiversity. The children learned about the need to reduce, re-use and recycle waste and to save energy at home and at school. They were taught about biodiversity and learnt about a variety of plants, animals and habitats. Boroughs received the awards. 570 schools and 210,000 children in London took part in the scheme.
Southwark Council was the only authority in London to provide funding for secondary schools to take part as well. (Southwark News 29/4/04)
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Education plan criticised in Herne Hill and Dulwich
By Nick Griffin
SOUTHWARK Council’s five year plan for education in the borough came under heavy criticism last week after parents and councillors claimed it did not acknowledge a severe shortage of Primary school places in Dulwich and Herne Hill.
The School Organisation Plan (SOP) sets out a broad strategy for the provision of school places across all of Southwark. Statistics laid out in the plan suggest the south of the borough is enjoying a surplus of primary places, however, many parents have quite a different tale to tell. One such parent is Gordon Nardell, whose daughter was only given a place at Bessemer Grange Primary School after an appeals process. The experience prompted Mr Nardell to call for the plan to be altered to address the scarcity of primary places in Dulwich and Herne Hill.
He feels a more ‘sensitive and intelligent application of the admissions process’ is necessary to avoid needless ‘anxiety and uncertainty’. He also claims a ‘disproportionately large number’ of places in denominational schools with small parish catchment areas and the council’s ‘reliance’ on parents sending their kids into the private sector are exacerbating the situation. “I want my child to go to a local school and be part of local community. Private education in this part of the borough is effectively letting the council off the hook. So it’s all eyes on the review and its scope” Gordon explained.
A review of the area is planned for the summer but parents and councillors alike feel the statistics published in the SOP belie the true scale of the problem. According to the report Dulwich and Herne Hill had 73 surplus places in 2004 equating to 10.8 per cent of all primary places on offer in the area. But parents such as Gordon Nardell feel such numbers fail to highlight serious shortcomings in the provision of places.
Conservative Village ward councillor Toby Eckersley supported Gordon Nardell’s concerns when he told the ‘News’: “if people pay their taxes, why should they pay twice?” Cllr Eckersley went on to welcome the upcoming review, saying: “The fact that the review is now going to take place is a small step forward.”
Labour education spokesman, Andy Simmons, also expressed concern over credence of the statistics in the SOP. “I don’t have a large amount of confidence in the statistics” he said. He also claims some 250 children in Southwark went without school last year, a claim not acknowledged in the plan. However, he is also hopeful for the forthcoming review. “This is a scrutiny review and I will be asking both parents and schools to come forward with their views.”
The ‘News’ attempted to contact Education Executive Member, Cllr Bob Skelly, before going to press. (Southwark News 15.4.04)
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German Visit
By Eleanor Niblock
A GROUP of ten primary teachers from Southwark’s twin town in Germany were at the Town Hall on Monday April 5, to be congratulated on completing a week-long English course at the Wilsden Road Teacher Training Department in Camberwell.
Frequently exchanges from our twinned German town of Langenhagen take place in Southwark, but this time it was the turn of the primary teachers who teach English to German primary school children.
Last summer, it was made compulsory by the German authorities for children to start to learn English at the age of nine.
Teachers on the course, as well as being able to refresh their own English skills, were taught in lessons every day for a week about new approaches to teach English to nine-year olds.
As part of their education they were shown around some Southwark primary schools and were impressed by what they saw.
Teacher Allmuth Lindthaler said she thought the equipment in English schools was much better than that back home. “We also have much bigger classes to teach and don’t have any class-room assistants, which we think are a great idea.”
Manager of the teachers’ exchange said that German children loved to learn English.
“We sing songs and play games with them in English and they have a great time - they really love learning English.”
Southwark Major Columba Blango said: “I’m glad our long relationship with Germany is being continued and that successive mayors have kept this relationship going strong.” (Southwark News 15.4.04)
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Camberwell students share ideas across the Atlantic
By Nick Griffin
STUDENTS FROM a Camberwell School extended the arm of friendship across the ocean last week with a live video link with HRH the Duke of Gloucester and a group of American students.
The Duke was visiting pupils from Simon Gratz High School, Philadelphia, who have been engaged in a joint project with Sixth Formers at Archbishop Michael Ramsay Technology College.
The link was arranged to allow the students to exchange ideas on issues affecting them all. Those pupils involved chose the topic of violence and bullying, both major areas of concern for inner city schools. (Southwark News 8.4.04)
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Sacred Heart in the City
THE SQUARE MILE played host to Camberwell kids last a week in a bid to encourage them to pursue City jobs. Pupils from Sacred Heart School took part in the “City 4 A Day” scheme, joining the Lord Mayor of London, Robert Alderman Finch in visits to two city institutions, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Zurich. The Corporation of London initiative gave the Camberwell kids a chance to meet the employees and take part in simulated corporate exercises. (Southwark News 8.4.04)
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Mum goes the distance
By Nick Griffin
A BERMONDSEY mum has won a battle to secure her son a place at the City of London Academy (Southwark) after he was denied a space at the school in February.
In a welcome twist to the dispute, Sara McManara was told by the school that her ten year old son, Charlie, would be starting at the Academy in September after all. Last month the ‘News’ highlighted Sara’s bid to have the decision overturned after the Corporation of London’s assessments of how far she lives from the school sparked a row over ‘inaccuracies’ in the calculations.
In March Sara was astonished to learn that the Corporation’s estimates placed her home in Masters Drive 1,287 metres from the school gates in Lynton Road. She claimed the route used to calculate the distance was some 632 metres too long and used a road which would see her ten-year -old son walk along what she described as a “dangerous and isolated” street.
Sara had lodged an appeal countering the decision but the call ‘came out of the blue’ “The appeal form had gone in but we hadn’t been given a date yet. I’m so relieved” she said.
Debra Burgess, resources manager for the school, explained the reasoning behind the decision. “Some of the 180 people who had places have found places elsewhere” she said. “This is purely the process of going through the places and offering them to the next people on the list.”
Whilst Sara is thankful that Charlie has a place, she has expressed concern for the wider implications of the issue. “The situation has changed for Charlie but it is still the same for other kids”, explained Sara.
She is now calling for other parents to put up a fight. “They need to kick up a fuss and not accept that their kids haven’t got a place in September. I would encourage every mum to ring and contact everyone and anyone.”
But Sara feels there is a real lack of provision for parents with children who find themselves without school places. She is calling for an improved system to be put in place to ensure that in future parents are offered greater assistance in finding school places across the borough.
Simon Hughes, MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, is currently in the process of assisting a number of parents, who are also contesting distances. (Southwark News 8.4.04)
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Brushing up on art
Pupils at Grange Primary School in Bermondsey received an arts master class on Thursday.
Magic Lantern, an educational charity, arrived for three days of slide show tutorials on classic paintings.
The pupils were asked questions about light and composition in paintings, from Titan’s Bacchus and Ariadne to the very local The pool of London, by Andre Derain, of unloading ships at Rotherhithe docks. “It’s about demystifying art,” said Diana Schomberg, head of the charity.
“Children here are very lucky, They can go to see all these paintings at The National Gallery and The Tate.” (Southwark News 8.4.04)
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It’s fun to learn
MORE THAN 60 pupils from Lilian Baylis School in Lambeth, recently took part in a Widening Participation Unit taster day at LSBU.
The pupil’s took part in sports such as basketball, football and table tennis and team-building exercises as well as an exciting new programme called Brain Gym. Working with Errol McGlashan from LLU +, the students took part in a variety of games, exercises and activities, aimed at improving their retention of information and how to maximise this potential through development of learning styles which suit them best.
The day was a great success. “The Brain Gym activity was an experiment on this age group and was greatly received, so much so that we aim to repeat the programme with the new year 10 Summer School in July,” says Victoria Adrienne, Events and Projects Coordinator. “The Brian Gym was very hands-on and covered a great deal of information. By launch time, many of the pupils were reciting the regions of the brain and their function!”
Professor Deian Hopkin, who is a Governor of Lilian Baylis School, rounded off the day with a short speech to the pupils about the benefits of continuing with their education and the impact it makes on their future. Also present on the day was Rosemary Butcher, Education Co-ordinator for Lambeth. She was impressed at the activities and facilities LSBU offer and is looking forward to Brain Gym being offered for the year 10 Summer School.
The evaluations spoke for themselves. 80% of those questioned thought the overall day was either excellent or good, and well over half of year 9 pupils who completed the evaluations said they would consider going into higher education post-18. (Southwark News 8.4.04)
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Treading the boards
By Will Pavia
ARTISTS, WRITERS and architectural consultants, all year six pupils of Tower Bridge Primary School, gathered at the hoardings around the site for the new children's theatre last Thursday to exhibit their work.
The pupils have been at the centre of the developing Unicorn Theatre for three years, visiting theatres to gather ideas, working with the architects and interviewing public artists.
Last week images and writing, expressing their hopes for the new theatre, were displayed on boards skirting the building site, facing onto Weavers Lane, the walkway from Tooley Street to City Hall.
Students Josh and Kevin worked together on their print, a red shoe with text meandering beneath it, on a blue background, inspired by the play The Red Red Shoe. “Josh did the writing,” said Kevin. “I did the picture. It took me about an hour.”
Others had produced works of prose, displayed in bubbles between the prints. One reads: “And when there’s something going to happen to someone I feel like telling them to watch out, because in my heart, I am the author.”
Author Doreen told the ‘News’: “We just had to write what we think of the theatre.”
The pupils had worked with artist Bhajan Humjan and writer Susanna Steele. “They’re mono prints with card stencils,” said Mrs Humjan, “on what theatre means for them.”
Alison Barry, Education and youth Director for Unicorn, told the ‘News’: We knew we wanted to have children involved from the start. We had to make a decision: do we ask lots of kids one or two questions or have a smaller number and have them on board the whole time?”
The class started on the project aged eight. After their SAT exams this summer they are due to poduce a film on the site.
Unicorn Theatre was founded in 1947, but the company has never had its own premises. It currently plays to fifty thousand children a year – with the new building directors expect to double that.
The £11.5m theatre is part of the More London development. (Southwark News 8.4.04)
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Waverley division
By Eleanor Niblock
The proposal to use the lower site of Waverley school in East Dulwich as the site for a new secondary school for boys was backed by the school’s governors last Thursday.
The vote was carried, ten for two against, with one abstention.
The idea for the school came about after a group of local parents EDEN (East Dulwich Education Network) made the case for a new school to serve the area. After a feasibility study and an initial round of consultation last year, the council proposed that the plans should be realised and support was given by Dulwich Community Council.
Yet the Southwark division of the National Union of teachers (NUT) remains totally opposed to the idea. Ann Goss, Southwark NUT secretary said: “It was the unanimous view of the staff of Waverley School that the school should be maintained as a single sex community school and not federated to another school.
“There are a number of reasons for this but fundamental us the consideration that there are no demonstrable advantages. What Waverley is being asked to do is compromise itself in order to support a boys’ school, which the consultation paper stated is unviable by itself for budgetary reasons and because the lower site is not big enough. A further fundamental concern is the form that consultation has taken.” (Southwark News – 1/4/2004)
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Inspiring the Planners
By Eleanor Niblock
A Groundbreaking project that inspired kids from one of the poorest estates in Southwark to get involved with planning issues celebrated its achievements at an award ceremony last Monday.
MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, Simon Hughes attended the event at Inspire on Liverpool Grove to present certificates to the people involved in the project, which included a group of youths from the Brayards Road estate in Nunhead.
The youths have been involved with the project since January this year when they were invited to join the programmed being run by the Willowbrook Centre. The project, funded by the Southwark Alliance, says its aim is to ‘give communities a voice in urban change.’
Five of the most impoverished estates including East Camberwell, East Peckham, Nunhead, South Bermondsey and West Bermondsey were identified by the project as potentially needing help with planning issues.
The project trained around 80 individuals, including the youth team, in how to understand planning issues and developments, including how to fight against them.
The Willowbrook Centre identified the fact that many people in deprived areas cannot afford to pay professional fees for planning, development and regeneration issues and they consequently miss out on the decision making process. The centre hopes that through the scheme the trainees will have realised that they can directly influence and have a say in how their environment around them changes.
Sean 14, Emy, 14, Cem, 15, Abby, 12, Aaron, 14 and Alisha 14, known as ‘the cool club’ were all involved with the Willowbrook project.
Receiving their awards from Simon Hughes means the youth team have now done so much work in the community, including other projects, that they all qualify for a bronze youth achievement award.
The project they have been working on is one to put forward to a planning proposal for a football pitch on the Brayards Road Estate. Although a planning application has not yet been put forward, the youths have been doing a huge amount of work towards it.
In addition to their training in planning issues at the Willowbrook centre, the group travelled to parks across London to identify what they wanted to include in their football pitch. They also had sessions with the council’s architects who helped them to come up with their own design.
MP Simon Hughes spoke at the event about how important it was for people to get involved in planning issues, especially young people, he said: “Any one can put in a planning application and council will consider it, and potentially agree to it.
“It means the people really do have a chance for input.
“Not only this but the Southwark News are very good at telling people about planning applications that are coming up which also enables people to have a say. For example the final draft version of the Southwark Plan (UDP) is expected to be released late in spring and then people will be given a six week period with in which to respond. ‘A famous politician once said that all politics is local.’ – well I think all planning is local. This is a great project and my congratulations go to all who were involved.” (Southwark News – 1/4/2004)
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School Fights New Plan for Development in Rotherhithe
By Will Pavia
A Rotherhithe head teacher has said he fears for the welfare of his pupils if a proposed nine-storey development gets the go-ahead on a site next to his primary school.
At the same time, local resident groups have said there has been no advance warning of the development, which, they argue, contradicts Southwark Council’s plan for the area.
Stuart Hayter, head of Alfred Salter Primary School, said he had been shocked when the developers showed him the plans for buildings at the rear of the Mulberry Business Centre on Canada Street. “It’s a huge building,” he said. “It comes right up to the perimeter of the site. It’s going to overshadow much of the early years playground.”
He believed this would prove intimidating for pupils, particularly since the design included balconies overlooking the play area. “We just don’t like anyone hanging around outside the fence,” he said. “Sometimes the police have to move people on. But if this goes ahead we could have someone sitting on their balcony watching and there would be nothing we could do about it.”
He was also concerned that the plans for a “mixed use development” including industrial units required the removal of the width restriction the school had fought for to stop trucks and vans rattling past the school entrance on their way to Harmsworth Quay. “They have actually put in two delivery bays right opposite the main entrance of the school,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like the developers have done their homework as to what it’s like at the end of the day at school.”
Local residents claim the plans that were lodged with the council came as a complete surprise. “This flummoxed us,” said Pauline Adenwalla from the Canada Water Campaign. “We received a letter inviting a community consultation. However, they had also submitted planning applications at the same time.”
Local groups say the development does not fit the “mixed use” designation of site. “It’s flats!” said Brian Hodge at a meeting of the Campaign on Monday evening. “It came to light that the application was considered by the Major Applications Forum. It met and decided to change the designation without any consultation.”
A spokesperson for GL Hearn, who are acting as agents for Mulberry Park Investment Ltd, said there had been consultation before the planning application was lodged. As for the worries of the headmaster, he said: “This has been brought to the architect’s attention. There are design solutions around that.”
A council spokeswoman said: “It is up to the company involved as to whether they carry out their own consultation before putting in a planning application. The application will be considered by the planning committee in the same way as any other and will include a consultation carried out by the council. The committee will take the Unitary Development Plan into consideration when it considers the application.”
Objectors now have until April 15 to file their complaints to the Development and Building Control Manager at Southwark Council. (Southwark News – 1/4/2004)
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DfES Says No to Primary Plan
By Chris Mullany
The future of troubled Bermondsey school, Galleywall Primary, was once again in doubt this week, after the government ruled out providing the funding for a ‘fresh start’ recommending its closure instead.
Last week, consultation on the future of the school ended, and this Tuesday, Southwark’s Executive was due to make recommendations further to ruling out closure back in January. Parents, teachers and governors had argued that the school had fallen into special measures when it was under the direct control of WS Atkins, when they ran the borough’s education services, and that the school had been starved of funding to the extent that it could not even advertise for a permanent headteacher.
North Southwark & Bermondsey MP Simon Hughes told the ‘News’ last week that he had proposed a ‘fresh start’ for the school, which could involve using surrounding land in order to create a state-of-the-art learning facility. But the education department, which was pursuing the option, has learnt that the government will not consider funding a fresh start. A letter from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), states: “We are of the opinion that fresh start would be inappropriate for Galleywall and we would recommend that the best option for its future is to close as soon as possible. The main reasoning behind this recommendation is the availability of adequate places in neighbouring schools.” In the surrounding catchment area, availability of school places runs as high as 50 per cent, while the DfES normally rules out fresh start if there is availability over seventeen per cent. The letter adds: “We recognise that in future numbers might grow and the plan to develop a new school on another site at a later date would need to be pursued at that stage.”
The council was considering funding the fresh start itself, but has since received clear legal advice, indicating that such a move could leave the authority open to judicial challenges, or even government intervention.
Education Executive Member, Cllr Bob Skelly, said he remained committed to the January decision not to close the school ‘at the moment’, although he said it was impossible to rule out eventual closure, should the government refuse to consider a fresh start. “We’re doing our best to ensure the survival of Galleywall School,” he said.
In the light of the legal advice, Tuesday’s Executive meeting saw three recommendations made. The council had been considering fresh starting from September this year, but that has now been ruled out. In the short term, the education department will seek a meeting with DfES ministers to try to persuade them to change their mind about fresh start for Galleywall.
A report is also to be drawn up on primary and nursery school education in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, which will be presented to the two community councils and the Executive later in the year. All possible options will then be considered, including closure. It is also understood that the possibility of federating the school, as is being discussed with Waverley Girls’ in the south of the borough, could be investigated.
Labour education spokesman, Cllr Andy Simmons, was critical of the current situation, pointing out that he had warned of such a scenario back in January. He argued that a smaller scale solution could be found, without the need for a complete rebuild, and that the council had failed to factor this in to its budget. He also reiterated his concern over the figures being used to consider demand for places. “Now the Lib Dems are saying, as we did back in January, that the figures should be re-examined,” he said.
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Buried for Twenty Years
By Eleanor Niblock
Students from the Peckham Academy have been given a chance to make the history pages by placing some of their work into a time capsule.
As the £25 million project for the new school buildings comes to the end of phase one, sponsors Lord and Lady Harris of Peckham came up with the idea of commemorating the project with a time capsule.
All sorts of material was placed inside the capsule for future generations of students and staff to catch a flavour of the way today’s students see their world.
The packed ceremony last Wednesday saw a presentation giving by some of the students about what they hoped education would be like in the future.
Year 11 pupil, Christopher Senior, wrote and recited a poem at the ceremony entitled ‘Education’ which was given a huge round of applause by the one hundred strong crowd.
Inside the capsule was a copy of Christopher’s poem, along with other students’ work about what education is currently like.
In addition to this the Times newspaper, with the Budget analysis for 2004, was included to detail the current state of the economy, a Miller’s mug was also included (they are the contractors who are building the new extensions), along with a school prospectus and tie.
A CD Rom about a local performing arts centre in Peckham was also included, as the school wanted to emphasise its community links.
In 20 years’ time, the capsule will be opened, by which time a state-of-the-art new secondary school will have been built and generations of children will have benefited from its facilities.
Lord Harris, who has helped sponsor a number of City Academy schools said: “I am really pleased to be here. Peckham really needs a school like this and I hope that as soon as two years time we are going to start noticing improvements.
“City Academy’s are much better as parents actually have more control over how the school is run.”
Associate Principal of the Peckham Academy, Peter Blewett, said: “I think it’s great that the students have been given this opportunity and it’s a great way to commemorate the new buildings – one of which we hope will be open in September 2004.”
‘Education’ by Christopher Senior
Education will mean something,
Attention will be given to detail,
Teachers will be utilised,
Care and consideration is given to all.
Attainment will be a great celebration.
All the time will be used to the full,
Pupils will take their own initiative.
Onus will be on oneself to work from home.
No, no more negative influences
(Southwark News 1.4.04)
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