SecEduc 26th March 2009

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The ONLY weekly voice for secondary education Issue 208 • March 26 2009 Price £1.00
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School is crucial to community cohesion, campaigners say
address. It is completely free
and we will not pass on your
details to third parties. Just
Mr Baker said: “We feel the local However, Ms McDougall says it want them to go to a single-sex faith Mr Baker is calling for BSF
Exclusive
authority has failed to address the is not this simple: “We see Croxteth school.” funding to be used to allow his
email editor@sec-ed.co.uk
by Chris Parr
issue of community cohesion, which Community Comprehensive as Nicky Madden, another con- school to build a “community cam-
was one of the key aspects of a a safe-haven for our children. cerned local parent, and spokes- pus”, which would see Croxteth
Liverpool-wide city re-organisation. We feel that they are receiving a woman for the Parents Against Community Comprehensive
A headteacher at an inner city “Following the murder of Rhys really good education there,” she Closure campaign group, believes joined on site by a junior school
secondary school earmarked Jones, Croxteth and Norris Green explained. there is a real case for keeping and a skills centre for 14 to 19
for closure has vowed to fight were taken out of these plans because Ms Seddon added: “We know the school open. She said: “The learning.
the decision, claiming that his of the area’s issue with gangs. for a fact that students from different school has helped so many peo- These plans, which were origi-
school offers the best chance for “The new plan, to close this areas have been involved in inci- ple, and to just close it down is nally considered under initial BSF
community cohesion in the area. school and have only two single- dents of fighting each other, so you disgraceful. As a parent, it would proposals, have now been dis-
Under current plans, Croxteth sex schools in the area, does not can understand why we’re reluctant deprive me of choice. I just don’t missed by the council, which claims
Special section
Community Comprehensive in address community cohesion. to send our kids out of Croxteth. But feel they’ve looked at our plans the two-school system will be more
Liverpool will close completely in Teenage boys are the ones most this is our only option if we don’t closely enough.” effective.
– six pages inside 2010, and will lose its year 9 and at risk of joining gangs and get-
dedicated to CPD
year 7 from September. ting involved in that scene, and the
However, parents Katrina council is proposing that we put
McDougall and Chris Seddon last them all in the same place.”
This week SecEd joins forces
week took legal aid to investigate Mr Baker says that as a co-
with the General Teaching grounds for challenging the decision, educational non-faith school in
Council for England to bring
and the school is now hopeful that it the heart of Croxteth, they are in
you six pages of coverage
can push for a judicial review. the ideal position to create under-
dedicated to the future of
Ms Seddon, who has a 13-year- standing between different sections
old at the school and cares for a 12- of the community, and should be
CPD and teacher training
year-old special needs student who given the opportunity and funding
Pages 22 to 27
is also a Croxteth pupil, told SecEd: to develop their facilities.
“Our main concern is safety. There Under the council’s plans, any
are problems with students from parents wishing to send their child
different areas fighting, and if our to a co-educational non-faith school
children have to go to another site, will be forced to go to Fazakerley
then they could get beaten up.” High, around two miles away.
The area hit the headlines after A Liverpool Council spokes-
the murder of 11-year-old Rhys man told SecEd that he had heard
Jones in 2007, who was shot after nothing of a legal challenge to the
getting caught up in a gang-related plans, but said that the decision to
incident as he cycled home. close the school was “justifiable, if
The campaigners claim that if regrettable”.
the plans go ahead, then the only He said: “We received around
Home Access
secondary school options in the area half a billion pounds in Building
will be single-sex faith schools. Schools for the Future (BSF) fund-
Hazel Davis reports on the
This, headteacher Richard Baker ing, and had to review secondary
launch of the Becta ICT Home
warns, will leave parents with education across Liverpool. One
Access pilots in Oldham and
reduced school choice, and will of the challenges we faced was the
deprive them of the opportunity to issue of surplus places in schools. Signing up: The CLIC Sargent 2009 Kick for Children with Cancer campaign was
Suffolk
develop stronger community links For that area, we believe that two launched this week by footballing superstars including Chelsea’s Didier Drogba,
Page 10
in an area that has its fair share of small schools is the best solution, pictured above with Tiffany Bason, 18, who was supported by the charity. See page 4.
social issues. and provides sufficient places.”
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INSIGHT Ad SecEd 277 x 50mm banner .indd 1 19/03/2009 17:01:36
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