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Cross-border raid to fill school hit by academy
Islington school advertises for students in West Hampstead
A TOUGH secondary school in neighbouring Islington wants to poach would-be pupils from Camden as it battles competition from local city academies.
The headteacher of Highbury Grove School, in Highbury, hopes to receive up to 200 applications, which will be whittled down to 100, from Camden parents who might normally opt for schools such as Hampstead secondary or William Ellis.
It follows the opening of three academies in Hackney and another in nearby Holloway, which will accept its first intake of Year 7 pupils this September.
The New Journal discovered last night (Wednesday) that there were only 100 applications for around 200 places for next year’s Year 7 at Highbury Grove.
School sources say that Truda White, Highbury Grove’s headteacher, now wants to make up the shortfall by recruiting Camden youngsters and hopes to start advertising soon.
Unions fear a self-fulfilling prophecy after warning for years that the new academies will act as a “honeypot” for parents and other local schools will lose out.
Despite improving GCSE results, Highbury Grove – one of the worst-performing in Islington – is still considered a tough school with a number of pupils from deprived backgrounds.
There is a dedicated police officer at the school and incidents of anti-social behaviour, fights and weapon seizures are an almost weekly occurrence.
Last year, 47 per cent of pupils scored five A* to C grades at GSCE but only 27 per cent gained five A* to Cs including the vital English and maths subjects. The nearest city academy to Highbury Grove, St Mary Magdalene in Liverpool Road, Holloway, is already four times oversubscribed.
St Mary Magdalene, which has the Diocese of London as its £2million sponsor, will take around 180 Year 7 children when it officially opens in September.
There is also pressure on Islington’s schools from three new academies in Hackney.
A spokeswoman for CEA@Islington, the company that runs the borough’s schools, said: “It’s perfectly appropriate for Highbury Grove to be promoting their school to a wide variety of students.”
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