| Topic: | Re:Re:Overcrowding at Derwentwater Primary | |
| Posted by: | Sarah Jones | |
| Date/Time: | 23/03/10 23:27:00 |
| Further to Joanna Harvey and K J Pearce's comments, I too am genuinely interested as to why the new school planned is to be a Catholic school, when obviously the increase will cover children from a broad spectrum of religious and non religious backgrounds. Are all the influx of new children predicted to be of a Catholic background? As we know its hard to get into a religious school unless you can demonstrate a good background in the religion, in spite of the percentages of other faiths or non faiths they have to take. If when the Catholic school is built, will it be sufficient and accepting of all the different denominations of school children, if there are not enough Catholic children to fill the spaces? It seems to be further promoting the elitism generated by faith schools through their admissions policy, rather than tackling the bigger issue at large of providing a place in good education for children whatever their religious beliefs i.e a general state primary school. Is it to do with allocated funding available and or stipulations related to allocated funds for the new school? With regards to Derwentwater primary school, it has already been deemed unsuitable for permanent expansion, so why it would be deemed OK(!?) to be suitable and therefore detrimental for 7 long years of a certain number of children's educational life, (and probably more once the huts hit the floor), seems illogical, aswell as extremely flippant to those children whose education it will effect. Derwentwater for all its hard work seems to be the easy target to 'expediate' a permanent problem. The school has come on leaps and bounds in recent years but I have already spoken to parents living nearby of children in nursery years, that have said this has has been a decisive factor in deciding not to put their children into the school and look at moving out of the area entirely. This can't be good for Acton on the whole and for the future, as regeneration works on many levels. |