Londonist was rather pleased to note that in one London borough at least, the public is fighting back against the difficulties faced in finding secondary school places. Urban legends abound as to the number of embryos currently signed up for good secondary schools, such is the state of educational play in London today.
Parents in Lambeth haven’t exactly taken matters into their own hands – we’re not talking underground education cells or guerilla schooling here – but have rather been supported and encouraged by the government ‘Building Schools for the Future’ initiative. The idea is to build new schools in areas where demand exceeds supply.
The new scheme has been given the august title of ‘Parent Promoters Foundation’: empowered parents are deemed to have part ownership of the school and make up more than 50% of the board of governors. The pilot in Lambeth, the Elmgreen School located in West Norwood, has been four years and 380 parents in the making, and opened its doors this Monday.
It’s gotta be good, we reckon. Many parents are woefully out of touch with their squiddlies’ schooling, so this drive should really get them rolling their sleeves up and getting stuck in. It will also give all those scarily ambitious PTA types something real to focus on. Education which is family focused is bound to cut through the bureaucratic twaddle that so called experts spout and cut to the core of the matter, which is ‘is my child getting what he needs out of school? And if not, why not?’
Londonist suspects, however, that this scheme is only going to come into force in areas where parents are particularly vociferous. So come on, campaigning types, start rattling a few cages…
Image courtesy of Fin Fahey’s flickr stream.
