News
downsmail.co.uk School expansion still on track
FEARSthatplans todouble the size of a primary school had collapsed have proven unfounded, Downs Mail has learnt. Rumours had begun to circulate
that expansion of Harrietsham Pri- mary Schoolwas under threat,with one resident bringing news to the parish council that a land sale had fallen through. But Shellina Prendergast,who sits
on Kent County Council’s Chil- dren's,Young People and Education Cabinet Committee, insists it is no more than crossedwires. “I think there’s been a misunder-
standing,” she said. “This comes from a tweet or something the con- tractors had put on their website where they made a mistake talking
A SHORTAGE of school places for village children is being ig- nored in the interests of policy. That is the view of Kingswood
and Broomfield parents, who claim the issue of assigning chil- dren places out-of-area is putting unsustainable pressure on local families. They anticipate 20 childrenwill
be fighting for just three places at the village primary school in Sep- tember next year, with the rest of- fered places out-of-area.
“You’ve got loads of school kids
and the authorities don’t know where to sendthem,” he added. “It’s a classic case of the council putting the housing need before the infra- structure; this is what’s causing problems all over the place.” But Cllr Prendergast insisted that,
about land purchases falling
through,making previous plans un- workable, but they have since cor- rected it. That related to previous plans that fell through ages ago. “KCC approved the expansion
back in February – it’s all going ahead as normal, there’s no need to panic. “The intention was to get the
school running for September 2018 and I’mworking on that timescale.” The schoolwoulddouble from210
pupils to 420, with two classes in each year as opposed to one. But parish councillor chairman
Eddie Powell said: “There just isn’t the room there. The school is on a small street which is absolutely full up at school times already.
Policy over places anger The parish council says Kent
County Council should reviewits allocation system, especially in rural areas. Broomfield and Kingswood
Parish Council clerk Gail Gosden says displacing youngsters is ex- acerbated by the county’s sibling- link policy, which offers out-of-area places to subsequent brothers and sisters.
BOOK YOUR CHRISTMAS PARTY NOW Kent County Councillor Shel-
lina Prendergast said Leeds and Hollingbourne will have avail- ability, meaning “there is no ‘basic need’ anticipated for addi- tional pupil places…in the next five years”. Mrs Gosden said: “We have the
situation whereby children living next to the village school can’t get in, while youngsters from across
with a full public consultation car- ried out into the scheme, it is the right proposal to ensure those in the area are given the best possible edu- cation provision. “With the level of house building
and increased population we do needschoolplaces andit’s our statu- tory duty to supply them,” she added. “I don’t think anyone can deny that there’s a huge pressure on school places. “
the area are driven here to school. “While this is a difficult issue to
resolve, this policy remains in place when our roads are heavily congested, the birth rate is ex- pected to peak again in 2018, and the volume of traffic coming in to our village is such that the we are considering parking and speed re- strictions to improve road safety.” She says other local schools are
not within easy reach as there are no buses and the roads are unsuit- able for walking.
downsmail.co.uk
News
NewLine gets positive report
NEW Line Learning Academy in Loose has halted a decline in stan- dards and teaching is improving, sayOfsted inspectors,who visited the school in October . A new headteacher and new
chairman of governors, alongside a corporate management team, have seen improvements in pupil behav- iour and attendance. While the inspection concluded
the school,which caters for 570 boys and girls aged 11-16, requires im- provement in all areas, it acknowl- edged great strides forward have beenmade. Around 50%of the pupils atNew
Line Learning are disadvantaged – much higher than the national aver- age – as is the proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disabilities. Classes therefore have pupils of
differing abilities and their progress is inconsistent, although the cur- riculum has been adjusted to im- prove both its breadth and balance. The report says: “Pupils, staff and
visitors to the school all report a marked change in attitudes and leaders have undertaken a robust overhaul of policies and procedures to tackle poor attendance.” The report commends head-
teacher PaulMurphy for “getting to grips”with issues at the school. Inspectors state: “The headteacher
in his current role and in his role as deputy head last year, has worked effectively to get to grips with the
Pupils and staff at New Line Learning Academy have been pulling together to improve standards
school’s weaknesses. The impact of this approach is clearly evidencedin the calm, purposeful, school envi- ronment.” Mr Murphy was also praised in
the report for setting high standards and demanding them of his senior management team. But he expressed disappointment
at the report adding: "The inspection was carried out inmy first half term as head – somethingwhich is virtu- ally unheard of.Had the inspectors come a few weeks later, or early in the New Year, we would have new sets of data which would have clearly evidencedthe improvements beingmade.
Planning delays thwart progress on new school
MAIDSTONE MP Helen Whately has spoken of her frustration at de- lays to the opening of a new sci- ence school in Grove Green. She has vowed to “knock some
heads together”, to make sure the new college is open by 2019 –a time when Kent County Council predicts a shortfall of 74 secondary school places in 2020-21. The application hit delays after
Maidstone Borough Council's planning committee deferred out- right approval because of a host of concerns about traffic. The Valley Invicta Academies'
Trust (VIAT) has since sent the ap- plication to appeal, sparking a heatedwar ofwords betweenMBC and VIAT. Mrs Whately said: “Valley In-
victa Academies Trust [VIAT] had their application to open a new non-selective school specialising in science, technology, engineering and maths approved in 2015, and
14 Maidstone East December 2017
itwas originallymeant to open this September. But progress has been delayed by planningwrangles." She isworking to organise a joint
meeting with the regional schools commissioner, KCC, MBC and, hopefully, a representative from VIAT to discuss how to get the school open by 2019. TheMP added: “Every child de-
serves the chance to go to a good school – and preferably a good school close to home. We have some fantastic local schools but with more school-age children, there’s increasing competition for places. I know some people are concerned that a newschool in the same place as Valley Park and In- victa Grammar will add to traffic on New Cut Road. Hand in hand with the new school should be in- vestment in the road network, along with bus services and walk- ing routes to reduce the number of children dropped off by car.”
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