The Diocese of Westminster in Partnership with The Archdiocese of Southwark
Pre-Statutory Consultation on a proposal to establish a Catholic Secondary School (for pupils aged 11 – 18 years) and a Catholic Primary School (for pupils aged 3 – 11) on the site currently occupied by Richmond Adult Education College, Clifden Road, Twickenham TW1 4LT
Period of Consultation: 20 January 2012 to 17 February 2012
For many years, the Catholic community within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has campaigned for a Catholic secondary school in the Borough. Catholic parents and carers have been pleased to send their primary school aged children to one of the popular and successful Catholic primary schools that serve the community but, at the point of secondary transfer, they have been compelled to send their children to schools outside of the Borough, and sometimes outside of the state education system completely, in order to secure a place in a Catholic Secondary School.
Within the Council, successive administrations have recognised that the absence of a Catholic Secondary School from the family of local schools has diminished the diversity of choice afforded to their residents. They have resolved to address this inequality at the earliest opportunity but, a lack of demonstrable need for additional secondary school places within the Borough has prevented affirmative action.
In recent years, demographic pupil projection data has convinced Councillors that demand for school places in both the primary and secondary sectors will exceed the available number of places and that they need to increase the number of available schools in order to ensure that the children of residents are able to access quality schools within a reasonable distance of their homes.
Having established the need for additional capacity in the Secondary Sector, the Director of Education for the Diocese of Westminster, on behalf of the Trustees of the Diocese, wrote to the Secretary of State for Education seeking consent to publish proposals under section 10 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, to establish within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames:
- A new 11 - 18 Catholic Voluntary Aided Secondary School, and
- A new 3 - 11 Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School.
On 20 December 2011, the Secretary of State consented to the application of the Diocesan Trustees to publish proposals. However, within his letter the Secretary of State emphasised the point that his consent did not provide approval for the establishment of the proposed new schools as the final decision on that matter rests with the Local Authority. His consent enables the Diocese of Westminster to officially commence the informal and formal consultation phases that are required under the Act.
Before publishing statutory proposals to establish a new voluntary aided school, the promoter is required to consult with a range of interested parties (individuals and organisations) and seek their comments. The respective arguments secured during this phase are then presented to the promoters, for their consideration; at this point they decide whether or not to formally publish statutory proposals. It is the qualitative, as opposed to the quantitative responses that are most likely to affect the promoters’ decision.
If you would like to comment on this proposal, you are invited to read the attached Consultation Document. You can then complete the response form at the end of the Consultation Document below and return this by post or you can complete the online Consultation Questionnaire from the link at the bottom of this page.
As part of the consultation, two drop-in sessions will be held:
- Tuesday 24 January 2012 at St James Catholic Primary School, Twickenham, TW2 5NP between 16:00 and 19:00.
- Tuesday 7 February 2012 at St Elizabeth Catholic Primary School, Queens Road, Richmond TW10 6HN between 16:00 and 19:00.
A parallel consultation will also be run by the London Borough of Richmond and details will be available the Council website
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