Waiting for the Historic Parks Survey
We are still waiting for the outcome of the Historic Parks Survey, originally due months back but now expected in late September. Until the Survey report appears, no project, whether it be for a school, sports facilities or a combination of the two, can even begin to proceed further. Having been recognised as a key stakeholder by the council, the GRA would expect to be amongst the first to hear, and we will let you know what is says as soon as we can. The GRA also been in regular contact with English Heritage, whose position on development of a Grade II* listed site is crucial. Despite any impressions that might have been given elsewhere, nothing is a "done deal".
Ashmole to reapply
Ashmole Academy has announced that, following an overwhelming response from the local community, it has decided to reapply for a two-form entry primary free school to open in September 2016. The Academy will re-apply to the new Secretary of State for Education in October 2014.
Our understanding is that Enfield Council supports the application. Large numbers of children living in the London Borough of Enfield attend the secondary school and there is no reason to suppose that this will not also apply to the primary school. In a paper recently submitted to the council's Cabinet, it states that if there is an Enfield-specific element to the catchment it could take the equivalent of one form of entry (1FE) from South West Enfield. Given the location of the proposed school, it seems likely that this could be achieved even without an Enfield-specific element, but it might affect which children attend; there have been suggestions that preference should be given to children living in the Fox Lane area.
We presume that planning permission will be required; this can never be taken for granted.
Current Council Plans for SW Enfield
The Cabinet paper referred to above proposes that an extra four forms of primary school entry are needed in South West Enfield, two by September 2016 and a further two by September 2018. One additional form has effectively been provided from September 2014 on the Broomfield site, to be run as a partner school of Bowes. The paper suggests that this school may be incorporated within the new two form entry school proposed for Grovelands. (This seems bizarre - would any parent want their child to go to a school in one location which may relocate more than a mile away after the first two years?).
The Cabinet paper describes the Grovelands school as "required by 2016". In other words it is the only option that is put forward for providing the two forms required by then. Presumably the council has at least one Plan B to resort to if the Historic Parks Survey makes it impossible to proceed, or if planning permission cannot be obtained.
Ashmole would potentially open at the same time. In the Cabinet paper, Ashmole is listed as an option, an odd description given that it is completely outside the council's control.
The further options that are presented in the Cabinet paper for expansion by 2018 are:
- a potential 2FE through school at Broomfield.
- a primary school expansion, providing 1FE.
The primary school expansion is said to have been carried forward from a previous plan and is subject to "further consultation, feasibility and funding". Looking back at past council papers it can only relate to Oakthorpe and Walker. For Oakthorpe "site constraints and the views of the Governing Body" were cited. For Walker it was simply stated that the Governing Body did not support expansion. Physical site constraints are presumably the more difficult to overcome.
A through school at Broomfield was also a discarded option last year, due to the secondary school being in special measures. This is presumably no longer the case.
One scenario would be for Grovelands and Ashmole to go ahead, leaving a requirement for one more form for 2018. Could Broomfield then go ahead, as it would increase the total new provision in SW Enfield to five forms? Surely not given the constraints on public expenditure?
An even more extreme scenario would be for Walker to be expanded, in addition to Grovelands and Ashmole. That would mean
all four additional classes being located close to each other, able to serve just one corner of SW Enfield.
Even if (say) just Grovelands and Broomfield went ahead, that would mean no extra provision in the Boundary area (bordered by the A10, the A406, the Bowes Park railway line and the Haringey boundary). Yet this is the area which sees the sharpest increase in potential demand, according to figures supplied by the council itself.
The council really needs to spell out how it is going to meet the needs in the Boundary area. This could be via provision just across the border in South East Enfield (or even Haringey) but absolutely nothing of this nature is visible in the Cabinet papers.
So where is Edmonton County?
Council papers appear to have sewn some confusion! In last year's Cabinet papers, the expanded Edmonton County primary was described as being in West Central Enfield. In this year's - hey presto! - it is in South West Enfield. This is in the context of what has already been done by September 2014. It is nothing to do with subsequent expansion; Edmonton County is not contributing to the planned extra four forms.
Looking at a map of the planning areas provided by the council, the main campus of Edmonton County is actually in North Central Enfield, However, the Bury campus, where the primary school is situated, is within South West Enfield. Just. The reality is that both schools are close to the points where five of the six planning areas bump into each other, so arguably could serve each of them to some extent. Edmonton County primary can undoubtedly serve parts of South West Enfield. But not, unfortunately, those areas where sheer pressure of numbers or the distance-based admissions policies have their greatest effect.
The precise location of a new school is much more important than which side of a council's planning boundary it happens to sit on. It is simply not sufficient to argue that everything is fine as long as enough places are available within a large area to meet demand. That can lead to wasteful overprovision in some areas, and sheer desperation for parents in others.
In particular, schools just across the border from SW Enfield (say) can realistically only serve a small area of SW Enfield.
By the way, Grovelands is (just) in West Central Enfield, which doesn't have a requirement for extra capacity until at least 2019.
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