All posts in category Schools

The top Primary School in London!

Congratulations to Grinling Gibbons Primary School in Deptford, unveiled as the top Primary School in London earlier today. Official figures from the Department of Education show that 100% of children achieve level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths, and an incredible 86% of children are achieving level 5 in those subjects.

But it is not just Grinling Gibbons performing well. I’m pleased to say that Lewisham’s primary schools are the 4th best in the country in getting children to level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths. 83% of our children achieve this level which gives them a great platform to go on and achieve in secondary school.

Thanks to all the staff and governors at those schools whose hard work made that possible.

by mayorsteve on December 13, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Deptford, Schools

Posted by mayorsteve on December 13, 2013

https://mayorsteve.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/the-top-primary-school-in-london/

Lewisham’s Building Schools for the Future Programme

Since I became Mayor one of my main priorities has been to modernise school facilities across the Borough.

In the last ten years more than £300m – a combination of central government and council money – has been spent on rebuilding or refurbishing 20 of the borough’s schools, with a further two brand new schools being built. 13 of these school building/rebuilding projects were funded through the Labour Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme, which was scandalously scrapped by Michael Gove.

The Building Schools for the Future has had a massive impact on schools in Lewisham. To mark the success of the programme, the council has produced the video below. It’s worth watching in full.

by mayorsteve on November 20, 2013 • Video • Permalink

Posted in Lewisham, Schools

Posted by mayorsteve on November 20, 2013

https://mayorsteve.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/lewishams-building-schools-for-the-future-programme/

Government must offer more help to solve Primary Places ‘Crunch’

Today’s headlines about the primary places ‘crunch’ comes as no surprise here in Lewisham.

The continuing rise in the number of children under five has lead to an unprecedented demand of primary places in our local schools. Many of the children starting this week will be taught in schools where an extra classroom has been added during the summer break just to meet the increase.

The LGA warns that some local areas, including Lewisham, will have to increase places by 20% just to ensure that every child gets a place. In Lewisham we have been dealing with this problem since 2008. When I was re-elected in 2010 I promised to “meet the challenge of rapidly-rising demand for primary places”. This year alone saw us install three permanent and 12 temporary classrooms across schools in the borough, enough for more than 450 children. Since 2008 we have developed 88 new classrooms, the majority of which have been added as temporary increases, known as ‘bulge’ classes.

We estimate that we will need to provide a further 28 new classrooms over the next three years just to keep up with demand. The problem is cost. The Government simply haven’t given us enough money to deal with the issue. Even with grants, we estimate a shortfall of £3.6m to meet the needs for 2014 and an additional £4.5m for 2015. Given the scale of cuts local authorities are facing, these are substantial amounts of money.

Michael Gove’s claim that the government is addressing the issue with free schools is nonsense. Not only are their numbers insignificant, but their locations are simply not in the places where they are most needed. Five of the free primary schools appear to be launching in areas forecast to have surplus places several years from now.

At present, it is Gove’s policies that are preventing local authorities from tackling the problem effectively. The process of creating much-needed school places is being impaired by a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and in some cases by the presumption in favour of free schools and academies.

To make matters worse, the Department for Education has used four different methods to allocate funding for school places since 2007 and we are still in the dark as to how it will be allocated in future.

What we need from Michael Gove is not just money, but a loosening of his rules and regulations about free schools and academies as well as some certainty about future funding. Somehow, I doubt he will see it that way.

by mayorsteve on September 3, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Council, Lewisham, Schools

Tagged Education, Michael Gove, Primary Places, Schools

Posted by mayorsteve on September 3, 2013

https://mayorsteve.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/government-must-offer-more-help-to-solve-primary-places-crunch/

Haseltine nominated for Primary School of the Year

Congratulations to Haseltine Primary School in Sydenham who have been nominated for Primary School of the Year at the TES School Awards.

I’m delighted for the leadership team at Haseltine, and in particular the Executive Head Teacher Mark Wilson, who has done so much to transform the school into one of the best in Lewisham.

Last year, 92% of pupils achieved Level 4 or above in both English and mathematics, well above both the local and national averages. It was just a few short years ago that Haseltine was performing poorly, and I am delighted that such a turn around has been achieved so quickly.

Haseltine is just one of a number of excellent primary schools in Lewisham. It is no accident that our schools have achieved real improvements in recent years as the Council has dedicated significant time and effort to assist our schools to get better and better.

I wish the school and all those involved the best of luck for when the winners are announced on 5^th July.

by mayorsteve on May 17, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Schools

Posted by mayorsteve on May 17, 2013

https://mayorsteve.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/haseltine-nominated-for-primary-school-of-the-year/

10,000 Hands – Making Lewisham City Safe

City Safe Haven, 10,000 Hands 2 April 2013

I was delighted to give my support to the 10,000 Hands campaign earlier today. The campaign aims to make Lewisham a safer place to live by becoming the first City Safe Haven borough.

The campaign is being led by young people in schools across Lewisham who are hoping to increase the number of Safe Havens in our shops and public spaces, which already includes the Town Hall. They are attempting to collect 10,000 hand prints which they hope to present to the Prime Minister in Downing Street.

London Citizens and The Jimmy Mizen Foundation are supporting the campaign and it is a good example of how a community can come together and support each other to create a safer place for us all to live. I’m delighted that so many young people are already engaged with the campaign and hope that many more will join in.

by mayorsteve on April 8, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Policing, Schools

Tagged Jimmy Mizen Foundation, London Citizens, Young People

Posted by mayorsteve on April 8, 2013

https://mayorsteve.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/10000-hands-making-lewisham-city-safe/

GCSE Grade Fiasco

Today (26 October 2012) Lewisham Council, on behalf of 42 other local authorities from across the country, formally served legal papers on Ofqual, AQA and Edexcel in our fight to get the GCSE English exams sat in June re-graded.

The claim challenges the inter-linked decisions first by the exam boards to increase the C grade boundary in the June 2012 English GCSE by an unprecedented margin and second by Ofqual to approve, or fail to reverse, that decision.

In Lewisham, 163 pupils are affected, but an estimated 10,000 students consequently missed out on a C grade as a result of the decisions.

This is an injustice that we cannot ignore. Lewisham students have been put at a unfair disadvantage by this position, and it is right that the council makes a stand on their behalf. Any costs that may arise will be shared between the councils involved in the action.

Most reasonable people will recognise that the decision to alter the grade boundary was unfair. We gave Ofqual and the exam boards the opportunity to re-grade last month but their failure to do so means we have no other option but to progress our legal action.

We are still hopeful that the exam boards will see sense and re-grade before it goes any further. We believe we have a strong case and are willing to see this through so that justice is done for our young people.

Legal Challenge to GCSE Grading Launched

Lewisham council, supported by a coalition of more than 150 other local authorities, schools, head teachers and students, has started legal action against exam regulator Ofqual and exam bodies AQA and Edexcel. We are challenging them over the GCSE English exam results, and are seeking the urgent regrading of the June exam papers inline with the papers taken by students in January this year.

We have taken this step on behalf of the 163 pupils in Lewisham left with a D grade who, had they sat the exam in January, would have received a C. It is rare that the council takes this sort of action but the scale of the injustice suffered by many Lewisham students has left us with no alternative and I am pleased that so many others from across the country have joined us in this challenge. The fact that students in Wales have already had their papers regraded adds to the unfairness. The administration in Wales recognised the importance of making an intervention to put an end to the debacle while students in England continue to suffer because of the mistakes of examining bodies. In Lewisham, we have been working with schools and colleges since GCSE results day to identify all pupils affected. We have worked with head teachers to ensure they were not prevented from attending the sixth forms of their choice.

You may wonder why, if the pupils have got their places in sixth form, we are pursuing this action however those affected will have to re-take their English GCSE in November. In many instances, re-sit classes are already full and colleges are struggling to meet demand. In some instances, pupils have the prospect of taking an exam set by a different exam board, cramming two years of work into just three months. Those affected will continue to be unfairly disadvantaged as through the rest of their education as they compete with their peers for university places and jobs. Faced with this injustice, it is only right that we as a council should stand alongside teachers, schools and parents to correct it. Ofqual have admitted they made a mistake. It is time for them to be fair to our young people and regrade the June exams.

Ready for School!

The beginning of September brings with it the start of a new school year. Shoes are polished, uniforms are crisp and pens are at the ready. But it is not just the pupils and teachers that have been preparing for the new term. This summer, building work has been taking place across the borough to expand and improve school facilities on a record number of sites.

Thanks to Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme, five of Lewisham’s secondary schools are opening new buildings this month. I was given a tour of them last week and was impressed by what I saw. I must give thanks to everyone who has been involved in making this happen not least the teachers who were busy unpacking boxes! These are buildings of high quality, which will no doubt provide the learning environment that the children of the borough deserve. The new building at Prendergast Vale stands out. The school incorporates the old Lewisham Bridge Primary, and will provide education for pupils from 3 to 16. The old Lewisham Bridge building was listed by English Heritage following a campaign by local residents and had to be retained in the site. This challenged the architects to produce a modern, state of the art building which complemented new with the old. I’m delighted with the results and I’m sure children will enjoy their new facilities. But it is not just secondary schools that will see new buildings opening.

Primary schools across Lewisham have had development taking place over the summer and many new classrooms will be opening in time for the new term. Not all of these are permanent places, with some primary schools taking on ‘bulge’ classes where an additional 30 pupils are taken on for one year’s intake only. The need to provide additional primary school places comes as a result of a boom in the number of five year olds living in the borough. In response, we have created 24 additional forms of entry for 2012/13 on top of the 19 new classes we created for 2011/12.

This year’s new primary places were the second highest in London. Lewisham, along with other authorities, have provided the new primary places without receiving enough support from central government. The Department for Education has ignored the growing school age population and instead prioritised their ‘Free Schools’. Young people will always be one of my priorities as Mayor. Ensuring that they have the best possible facilities to learn has been a long term focus of mine and I’m pleased that years of hard work on this are finally coming to fruition.

Sir Steve Bullock