Deprived areas lose out in plan for new school - Refurbishments worth £20m delayed
Published: 6 May, 2010
by TOM FOOT
FIVE schools in deprived parts of Camden have been told they must wait for multi-million pound refurbishments they were promised so that a Primrose Hill primary school can be expanded.
Labour politicians have criticised Camden Council for shelving around £20million of major projects at Edith Neville, Netley, St Dominics, Rosary and Carlton primary schools.
Education chiefs are instead focusing on solving a primary school places crisis affecting parents living in Belsize, Primrose Hill and West Hampstead.
Cllr Nash Ali, leader of the Labour group, said: “It is shocking that children in deprived wards are having to suffer while the money is diverted away to a rich area. Some of these schools are falling apart. The standards of education will fall.”
Camden Council is holding advanced talks with governors at St Paul’s C of E school about bulldozing its Elsworthy Road site and building a two-storey alternative and infants’ nursery.
But the proposals have been met by a powerful backlash from parents who launched a campaign against the “flawed” process on Thursday.
Steve McCauley, one of the founders of the St Paul’s Parent Group, said: “Parents are incredibly worried about this. We only found out the whole truth about this in April. We want the scheme to be considered over a decent period of time about whether this many places are actually needed.” He added: “We don’t want to be cast in the light of the people who are taking away resources from deprived schools that need desperate work to refurbish them.”
Parent Stephen Robinson added: “It has been agreed that architectural plans should be drawn up – at a cost to Camden taxpayers of £50,000 – at a time when two teachers have been made redundant and there is a cash crisis at St Paul’s. We are extremely cross”.
St Paul’s has already changed its admissions criteria for the next academic year so that 50 per cent of children will be admitted on religious grounds and the other 50 on distance criteria.
Parents fear the changes will destroy the “ethos” and damage pupil achievement at the school.
There are also environmental concerns including fears over rare bats living in the belfry of the neighbouring St Mary’s church.
Education chief Andrew Mennear, who came under fire last year after more than 100 parents in Belsize and West Hampstead found themselves without a primary school place for their children, said ensuring all Camden’s schoolchildren had places was the council’s priority.
He said: “There is a clear need for an additional two new school classes every year, that’s according to GLA [Greater London Authority] projected figures. We need to expand or build a new school. St Paul’s would be one half of what’s required.
“No one’s disputing that there is a good number of schools in need of additional investment – but we do not have all the money in the world. I understand the unhappiness of people at the schools that are queuing for investment.
“But we have got to cope with additional school places – we have a statutory duty to provide places for all children in Camden.”
A report into additional school places in Camden will be heard at a meeting of the executive in the Town Hall in July.