| |
More primary pupils but nowhere for them to go
Statistics uncover problem of placing a child in secondary school
NEW research has revealed the scale of the fight parents are facing in the search for a secondary school place for their children.
Figures dug up by David Bieda during a spring clean show the number of pupils at primary schools in Soho, Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia have rocketed in recent years.
Mr Bieda gave the figures to Holborn and St Pancras MP Frank Dobson, who circulated them on Monday.
The figures, below, show a rise of 197 per cent in primary-age pupil numbers at schools in Westminster since 1979:
• Argyle Primary in Holborn has doubled from 201 to 402.
• Soho Parish School has risen from 90 to 143.
• St Clement Danes in Drury Lane from 97 to 186.
• Christopher Hatton in Holborn had actually been closed for lack of pupils – it now has 194 and is highly-regarded for its performance.
• All Souls in Fitzrovia rose from 130 to 185.
But, while the primaries have been teaching more pupils, there has been no effort to provide extra secondary places for them when they are old enough to transfer schools.
Mr Bieda said: “Recently I spent some weeks clearing out 35 years worth of community involvement paperwork.
“I came across a file from our secondary school campaign from the late 1970s. The results are quite extraordinary and demonstrate a vast increase in the pupil numbers in our city centre junior schools.
“It’s time Camden, Westminster and Central Government recognised the need for a central London community school to cater for this increase and to take account of further increases in pupil numbers from major developments such as St Giles and the Middlesex Hospital.”
Mr Dobson added: “These figures show that strength of feeling about the lack of a local secondary school has lasted for a generation. We said at the time, the number of families and children would grow and it has. Our problem then was that there was no money for a new school and no site. Today, the Government’s ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme provides money for a new school and there will be two surplus sites in the area – The Eastman Dental Hospital site (Gray’s Inn Road) and the Post Office land at Mount Pleasant. The council has a once in a lifetime opportunity to put right this injustice to children and parents and help strengthen the ties that bind our communities together.” |
 |
|
| |
| |
