Wednesday 12 October 2011

Crescent Road free school application approved

I just saw on the BBC website that the free school application for a new secondary school on Crescent Road has been approved.

However, the article talks about a technical college for 14-19-year-olds which isn't what I thought had been applied for.

Unfortunately poor engagement with the community and a lack of information have been hallmarks of this application. I will ask officers for more information.

UPDATE: I have now spoken to officers who have informed me that the bid was for 11-19-year-olds but the government has only approved funding for 14-19-year-olds so far. There is still room for negotiation on this though and officers have assured me that they will be pressing the need for places, from age 11 onwards.

5 comments:

OEM said...

Rob,

Quite aside from all the issues about what is planned for the 11-13year olds who will not find a place at the new school, could you please also look into the question of road access to the site?

If, as I understand it, it is to be at the college site on Crescent Road, presumably the current school-run nightmare of traffic in this area is going to be magnified several-fold.

Rob White said...

Thanks for the comment. They don't have this sort of detail yet, but as things progress I will keep an eye on this aspect of the development.

Rob M said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rob M said...

As I understand it from local press comment, the proposed school is a technical college to cover the whole of Reading and Wokingham, and hence the starting age of 14.

As such, it will not a replacement for Maiden Erlegh (or Bulmershe) for children in East Reading, as it does not meet the need for a new academic school in this area.

Indeed, it could potentially make it worse if the Wokingham schools were to be able to take it into account for setting their catchment areas.

Rob White said...

I agree!