Amanda Taylor

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New Gunhild Way school contest: rival bidders set out their stalls to the community

by admin on 15 July, 2010

NetherhallThis evening over 100 people crowded into the Cambridge Professional Development Centre in Trumpington to hear the two organizations bidding to run the new school set to open next year on Gunhild Way, where Netherhall Junior School is now.

The Queen Edith’s Federation team, presented first. The Head, Caroline Peet, spoke of their vision over the next ten years of two schools working in partnership. The Queen Edith’s chair of governors, Pam Jones, described the other sort of partnerships that Queen Edith’s has in the community – with educational institutions, faith groups and bodes promoting wellbeing and inclusion. The schools’ deputy head explained how Queen Edith’s serves the needs of a community that is diverse in its ethnicity, religions and economic backgrounds.

Mr Rossi spoke for the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia, explaining the theological imperative for education and their belief in the uniqueness of every child as a child of God. He told us there are 26 Catholic schools in the diocese, so there is plenty of experience. They aim to serve South Cambridge, as there are many Catholic families from the local churches who would like to send their children to a catholic school if there were more provision.

The meeting was very well attended, mainly by parents from Queen Edith’s, but there has been scanty local publicity in the other local schools.

Questions were wide-ranging, covering special needs provision, school economics and the logistics of split sites, but the major concerns led back to the main difference between the two bids: admissions policy.

While the Queen Edith’s Federation if successful would serve the immediate community — children residing in the current catchment areas of Queen Edith’s, Ridgefield and Morley primary schools — the Roman Catholic school would cover half of Cambridge, but give priority to children baptized as catholics, and only then to local non-catholic children.

Concerns were expressed about the extra traffic that would be generated by children coming from across town. It is unlikely children would walk or cycle to school from Newnham or Newmarket Road … especially at the speed of your average 4 or 5 year-old. More importantly, many people expressed alarm at the prospect of the new school having insufficient places for children living near the school.

These are concerns that I very much share. While I appreciate the value of a faith school (I attended two myself), it is even more vital that a school is embedded in the local community. Children going to a school in their neighbourhood has to be a good thing, not just for parental convenience but for the social life of the child and community cohesion.

I am hoping there will be more opportunities for people to hear the two sets of proposals again between now and the end of the consultation period, 20th August. It would be good to have something actually in Queen Edith’s, at a time that’s more convenient for parents than the early evening, a time when many parents will be on bedtime duty and I shall be making this request of the County Council.

The Conservative Cabinet of Cambridgeshire County Council will make the final decision on which organization runs the school at the end of September.

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One Response

  1. mr & mrs sam ingle says:

    my wife and i are taking a keen interest on the decision whether to make the new school on gunhild way catholic or partnership with queen edith school. the local area is quickly becoming overcrowded and in need of a new primary school to ease the strain of queen edith school which has acquired an exceptional reputation over many years. my son has recently started at the queen edith nursery and i very quickly have become aware of the over crowding problem the school is about to face, there have even been talks of the children being taught in mobile huts which would surely have a devastating effect on the learning and function of the school. it seems ridiculous to even consider a faith school which would only except a handful of children from the local area when the area is in such great need for a school which accepts every faith and brings community together rather than excluding lots of children who need the places in the area they live in. also the traffic in the area would increase due to parents bringing children from across town if a catholic school was put in place, the roads around the area have only just been made from 30 to 20 miles per hour to improve the road .

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