Welcome to the November Newsletter for The Heights Primary, marking a full year since the inception of The Heights during the first meetings at Thameside School and the Grosvenor pub. A lot has happened since but there’s still an awful lot to do.
In this month’s newsletter you will find; some fantastic news about the recruitment of our Headteacher; a run-down of what to expect over the next year in the life of The Heights Primary; an interview filmed with Kevin McDaniel, Reading Borough Council’s Head of Education Commissioning; an article from a Caversham Heights Parent about why you might choose the Heights; a few words on location and some details about how those of you keen to get more involved can finally do it! We are also using this newsletter to launch our formal consultation on whether the school should open. This is your opportunity to share your views about our proposal to establish The Heights Primary School.
We hope you enjoy reading and, as ever, if you have any comments, please do get in touch as we would love to hear from you.
Warm regards and many thanks
The Heights Primary School team
Email: info@theheightsprimary.co.uk
Visit: www.theheightsprimary.co.uk
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We are delighted to announce that we have appointed an excellent Headteacher, to lead The Heights from April 2014.
This is hot off the press following interviews on the 20th November. We will be able to make an official announcement on who the new Headteacher will be in the next week or so, once Governors, pupils and parents of their existing school have been informed and final contracts have been signed.
We shortlisted three candidates, who were put through their paces in a full day’s interview, held at Caversham Primary School. They faced scrutiny from the school council, had to entertain a hall full of children at assembly time, complete various desk-based tasks and then had to face an 8 panel interview!
Our new Headteacher is extremely keen to meet with parents. They wish to reassure everyone of their enthusiasm, determination, as well as passion for The Heights and to personally explain how they can ensure the school will be an outstanding education provider for our community. During the interview, we were impressed with their inspiring approach towards teaching, leadership skills within their local community and genuine love of children.
Many thanks to Ruth Perry and everyone at Caversham Primary for hosting us as well as Jane Borgeaud for all her support in the lead up to the day.
Thanks also to the interview team on the day, which included:
Five members of The Heights Primary Trust: Ruth Rosewell, Emma Fallon, Matt Gale, Sean McCarthy, Jacqui Delaloye and Susan Jones, supported by Lisa Bedlow, Head of Newbridge Nursery and Caversham Childrens Centre, Ruth Perry, Headteacher at Caversham Primary, Isobel Ballsdon, Counsellor for Mapledurham Ward and Wiola Hola, Education Adviser to the DfE and an experienced Lead Inspector for Ofsted.
There are a lot of things to be completed before The Heights Primary opens in September 2014. So, what needs to be done, by when to make that happen?
Here is a run through of the key tasks that we will be focusing on over the coming year. Key dates are also provided on the new website: www.theheightsprimary.co.uk/key-dates
Recruitment of our Staff – As mentioned above, we have recruited our Headteacher. They will take up their post in April but you will have a chance to meet them before then. One of their first priorities will be to recruit their team of fully qualified teachers, teaching assistants and support staff.
Appointing the Governing Body – We aim to have appointed an experienced Chair of Governors early in the new year. We will be formally inviting people to put themselves forward for this exciting role soon but in the meantime please let us know if you are interested. From there, we will look to build the governing body, with involvement from the Headteacher. The governing body will reach full capacity in autumn 2014, when we will invite parents with children at The Heights to put themselves forward to become parent governors.
Formal Consultation Period – as part of our pre-opening tasks, we are required to undertake a formal consultation with the wider community. You can find out more about what this will involve below and there will also be an open meeting for members of the community scheduled for 7.30pm on Tuesday 7th January 2014. The meeting will be held in Mapledurham Pavilion and will be open to all.
Sign the funding agreement with the Department for Education – this is the formal document, which once signed means The Heights is able to open, pending the final checks. These checks include a Pre-Opening meeting with the DfE in June, when all our policies and procedures need to be in place. Finally, we will have an inspection by Ofsted by August, the final hurdle to the school opening in September 2014!
From 2nd December to 20th December 2013 and then from 6th January to 26th January 2014 we are formally consulting on our plans to establish The Heights Primary School. The Heights Primary School will open as a Free School under the Academies Act 2010 and that requires us to carry out a formal consultation to ask the community whether the school should open. It is being administered for us by BDO, a global accountancy and advisory company, who are very familiar with the free school process.
We wanted to take the opportunity to gather some wider feedback from the community about our plans. The formal consultation is therefore your opportunity to share your views about our proposal to establish The Heights Primary School. Learn more about the consultation and visit our dedicated consultation page to download the official consultation document and learn more about the formal consultation event. Please come along for a chance to ask questions to the team and also to meet our new Headteacher.
The consultation process is ultimately to ask the community: “Do you think The Heights Primary School Trust should enter into a Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State for Education?”. To answer that question and more, please complete our online survey to make your voice heard: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/theheightsprimaryconsultation
Why are we in this mess? What should parents do now? Reading Borough Council is responsible for our children, what happens if the DfE fails? It’s highly unlikely but we know you want answers, so here’s what the Council’s Head of Education Commissioning had to say:
Full interview
Section 1 – Background to the shortage of school places
Section 3 – Practical advice….what should parents do?
More questions? Take a look at our FAQs here. Not given you all the answers? Please let us know!
As a parent living in Caversham Heights, the lack of school places in the area is a major concern to me. I have two children, my oldest is four and the youngest is two. My four year old started school in September, she is in Reception at our 4th choice of school. Whilst we were happy with the school that our daughter was allocated to, we aren’t happy with travelling in the car 3 miles to get there each morning. Plus we pass 3 primary schools on our way (our first 3 choices). We are in catchment for Caversham Primary but we live one mile away and I believe only those who lived within 0.5 miles of the school got in.
It is clear there is a shortage of schools in Caversham Heights and I do think it is ridiculous that the council didn’t anticipate this and that they hadn’t thought of a solution before now. A new school in Caversham Heights is vital and a no brainer to me. Children should be able to walk to their local school and if anything this is to also reduce the number of cars travelling through Caversham and parking dangerously by existing schools.
I think I am 90% sure I am transferring my four year old to The Heights. Firstly, we are out of catchment for the school where my daughter is currently so I am not sure if my youngest will get in for the 2015 intake. We got in on a bulge year and rumour has it that there will be no more bulge classes. I am also not completely happy with my daughter’s school after her first year there in Reception as they have just had an Ofsted inspection which highlighted that the school “requires improvement”. Whilst other parents are fully supportive of the school and its improvement plan, I feel I have another opportunity in The Heights. My child will be in a smaller class size at The Heights which is so important. She will go from one of a 90 intake to one of 25. I would also love for both my children to walk to their local school. I believe this calms them and you can enjoy extra family time which is not overlooked by negotiating Caversham’s rush hour or subsequent parking issues.
I have faith in The Heights. I am fortunate to know personally a couple of the members of the Trust (the group who are spearheading the project). I respect these people greatly and I believe that they are doing their very best to open a fantastic school for our area. I am encouraged that The Heights teams are working closely with Caversham Primary as this is an outstanding school. I really liked Caversham Primary when I visited it and I know many families who send their children there who are very happy. The fact that they have support from such a great school speaks volumes to me. I know that the head teacher interviews took place last week and I’m excited about learning more about the new head. Once I know more about the head teacher and the team they recruit to support them I will make my decision.
It still must be said that I do of course still have concerns about sending my children to an unknown school, with an unknown location and no teachers as yet! It’s natural to be concerned about these major issues. I am in a lucky position that my child is already in a school in Caversham, and we can keep her there, we don’t have to transfer her but I would like to. I believe The Heights will find a location. It’s looking like a temporary location to start but when you take on a huge task like this, it takes time. I have spoken with parents of All Saints School which was one of the first free schools to be set up, they said that they started at the back of a church hall and it has recently been achieved ‘Outstanding’ status by Ofsted.
I do feel that parents of children for the 2014 intake are very lucky that they have a new choice in The Heights. Parents in Caversham heights are now guaranteed a school in their catchment. Last year, this was not the case so my child went to a school without any of her friends. When it comes to school places, I don’t think anyone actually has a choice about which school their child goes to as the council decides based on the admissions criteria and it doesn’t allow parents to choose really, unless they buy a house right next to the school. The Heights team are doing their best to give parents all the information they have but I believe they have no say on the location, they are waiting on the council. We will be told soon (surely the council must tell us before the admissions close in January!?).
It is a big decision to send your child to The Heights but they have already appointed the head teacher so everything is going in the right direction. The Heights has to work, existing primary schools cannot continue to take bulge classes. As a community we have to get behind and support The Heights. This started off as a group of very concerned parents trying to find a solution to getting their child into a good local school and look how it has grown, getting ready to open its doors in September 2014.
Now that we have a Head on board, what’s happening about the Location? When will you be able to tell us more?
The process of securing our location continues. This month the technical visits and reports required to progress negotiations were completed and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has started discussions with land owners for both permanent and temporary options. All locations are within our catchment area. We know that, faced with admissions decisions, this is a real concern. How can you make a choice when you don’t know where the school will be? This is a concern to all of us, but unfortunately this is a disappointingly normal feature of the Free School process. Decisions need to be made with all available facts and ministerial backing, which makes rapid progress at this stage a real challenge for the individuals at the EFA. We can’t change this, so we have no choice but to put our faith in the Education Funding Agency. Fortunately for us, once past this initial stage they do have a very solid track record of delivering in time.
In his interview, Kevin McDaniel, Head of Education Commissioning provides countless examples of existing schools that have been delivered within very short lead times. For example, The Thames Valley Free School (set up through the free schools programme in partnership with the National Autistic Society) opened in September 2013, only nine weeks after work began.
We appreciate that this may be of limited comfort. It’s not the “if” that most people are concerned about; it’s more the “when”. When can we tell you more?
We desperately hope to be able to tell you where it will be before the admissions process closes but, as we’ve made clear, it’s out of our hands for now. All options under negotiation are within catchment and the EFA hope to be able to make announcements soon. If the announcement doesn’t happen in time for the application process, what then?
This is something we can’t advise you on but we hope to have given you as much information as possible for you to feel fully informed when making your decision. The key thing to appreciate is that the admissions process allocates places to children at their highest preference school that can accommodate them. It assesses which school can offer you a place first, and then offers you a place at your highest preference. This means that, even if you stand no chance of getting in to your first two choices, your decision to put those two choices first will have no impact on whether your third choice will offer you a place. Putting The Heights down therefore will use one of your preferences, but it won’t affect your chances of getting in to any of the others on your list.
We’ve been overwhelmed with your offers for help, we have to admit that we have been struggling to respond to you while responding to all the requirements of the Department for Education. We just want to say, your support has been tremendous and we would like to say thank you. One of you came up with the fantastic idea of starting up a PTA-to be which we’ve called The Friends of The Heights. Our vision for The Friends is for the group to support the school by engaging with the Trust, offering feedback on everything that’s being done and to help on fundraising. We may not yet have all our teachers, but we certainly have parents and once we’ve secured our site there will be plenty tasks to be undertaken and funds required to get all those extras that will make school that little bit more fun and engaging for the children. That’s where we know you can really help. The ultimate objective for The Friends is to act as an independent body representing Parents’ views, not just those of the Trust, it is after all a community school.
We plan to arrange an event in early January to bring everyone interested together, elect a Chairperson and start to decide how The Friends would like to interact with the school. Interested? Please let us know by emailing us at: friends@theheightsprimary.co.uk