| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Ealing Council Scrutiny Meeting | |
| Posted by: | Toby Young | |
| Date/Time: | 06/10/10 21:09:00 |
| Thanks for the thoughtful response Steve. I didn't mean to come across as defensive – but the vitriol can be quite vicious sometimes. To give just one example, a BBC radio disc jockey tweeted the following while watching the programme: "I don’t think there’s been one person yet on Toby Young’s BBC2 documentary about starting a school that I wouldn’t happily punch to death." That was a little upsetting given that all four of my children were seen throughout the documentary. I don't doubt your sincerity and I thank you for not doubting mine. Let me reassure you on a couple of points. You say that the West London Free School will destabilise state education across our community. In fact, we are taking great pains to minimise any disruption our school is likely to cause. We're in more or less constant touch now with officers and members in Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith and Fulham and we take any concerns they express very seriously. To give just one example, we want the majority of the children at our school to be admitted by lottery so we won't just be sourcing pupils from the local community. No danger, then, that any of the local schools will become undersubscribed as a result of our school opening. You said that my group didn't look ready to run a school, judging from the documentary, but that's a little unfair given that our group now includes John Macintosh who ran the London Oratory very successfully for 29 years. But, as you know, it won't be my group running the school. John is helping us recruit a head teacher and, once he or she is in place, we'll jointly recruit a Senior Management Team. They're the people who'll be running the school. Some of us will probably become governors, but nearly every school in the country has at least one parent governor. I don't suppose the governance of our school and the way it's run will be very different from the way most other schools operate, including Acton High School. Your third point, that there is a danger that the school will be hijacked by the affluent, is a good one. Another reason for proposing to admit a majority of students by lottery is that it will prevent middle class parents effectively buying a place at the school by moving into the catchment area. Of course, it's possible that middle class parents will be more likely to enter the lottery than non-middle class parents, but we hope to combat that with our communications strategy. Expect to get a leaflet about the school through your door in the not too distant future. There may be other things we can do to ensure it has a broad and fully inclusive intake, too. Michael Gove has talked about changing the Admissions Code to allow schools to give priority to applicants who are eligible for Free School Meals. If he does, we'll certainly take advantage of that mechanism. I honestly believe that a lot of your fears about the likely impact of our school – both on the children who go there and on those at surrounding schools – are misplaced. Time will tell, but I hope that thoughtful, sensible people such as yourself will eventually come to approve of the West London Free School. |