Primary and secondary places in the east of Reading

In the east of Reading we have problems with shortages of both primary and secondary places. I have been working with parents to try and resolve this problem. There is an interesting report "additional school places" on the agenda of the next Cabinet meeting which provides some hope for primary school age children in Newtown, but it still looks pretty depressing for older children.

On the primary school places front the report recommends spending £165,000 on a new temporary classroom at St John's School to be ready for September 2011 which will provide a badly needed extra 30 places.

On the secondary schools side of things the report states that in addition to the loss of choice if Wokingham gets its way changing the Maiden Erlegh catchment area -- excluding Reading children -- over time -- unspecified as to exactly how long -- Reading will lose access to about 70 places if Wokingham's population increases as it continues to predict. The report then goes on to talk about there being a lack of funding for a new secondary school in east Reading and talks about a possible free school, but is then very vague.